Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

209 | Brad DeLong on Why the 20th Century Fell Short of Utopia

Sep 5, 2022

Brad DeLong, an economics professor at UC Berkeley and author of "Slouching Towards Utopia," dives into the complexities of the 20th century's economic history. He discusses how despite technological advancements, society fell short of achieving a utopia, examining the tension between capitalism and social democracy. DeLong highlights pivotal transformations beginning in 1870, critiques market mechanisms versus social justice, and reflects on the impacts of inequality and the shifts marking the end of the long 20th century.

01:24:26

Episode guests

Brad DeLong

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

[[The Long 20th Century of 1870-2010]]

02:41

Thet Technological Progress More Than Quadruples Again

01:15

Agrarian Society

03:16

Did You Catch the Bubonic Plague?

01:04

Intro

2min

Exploring the Long 20th Century: Economics, Ideologies, and the Quest for Utopia

4min

Exploring Utopia and Societal Challenges

2min

Economic Evolution: The Turning Point of 1870

9min

The Interconnection of Science, Economy, and Technological Progress

5min

Transformations of the 20th Century: Growth and Inequality

24min

Market Mechanisms vs. Social Justice

25min

Shifting Paradigms: End of the Long 20th Century

15min

People throughout history have imagined ideal societies of various sorts. As the twentieth century dawned, advances in manufacturing and communication arguably brought the idea of utopia within our practical reach, at least as far as economic necessities are concerned. But we failed to achieve it, to say the least. Brad DeLong’s new book, Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century, investigates why. He compares the competing political and economic systems that dominated the “long 20th century” from 1870 to 2010, and how we managed to create such enormous wealth and still be left with such intractable problems.

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J. Bradford DeLong received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. He is currently a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. and chief economist at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He previously served as deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Economic Policy from 1993 to 1995. He has been a long-running blogger, now moved to Substack. He is a co-editor of The Economists’ Voice.

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