UnHerd with Freddie Sayers Quinn Slobodian on crack-up capitalism
Mar 30, 2023
Quinn Slobodian, a historian and professor at Wellesley College, explores the precarious state of modern capitalism. He discusses the rise of special economic zones and their impact on democracy, emphasizing tensions between political freedoms and economic efficiency. The conversation shifts to 'CEO democracy,' critiquing how business principles infiltrate governance. Slobodian also examines anarcho-capitalism and its historical roots, along with the implications of tech companies gaining governance-like power, questioning our future freedom in an increasingly fractured landscape.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Capitalism Operates Through Subnational Zones
- Global capitalism functions through concentrated subnational nodes rather than uniform national or planetary scales.
- Quinn Slobodian calls these 'zones' and argues they reshape political imagination and power.
Milton Friedman Praised Hong Kong's Model
- Milton Friedman praised Hong Kong in 1978 as a 'wonderful free space' free from labor conflicts and democracy.
- That Hong Kong model influenced Thatcher's attempt to recreate a mini-Hong Kong at Canary Wharf in London.
State Power Enables 'Free' Zones
- Canary Wharf succeeded not by pure deregulation but through substantial state subsidies and infrastructure.
- Slobodian highlights the paradox: the state enabled corporate zones rather than withdrawing entirely.
