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New Economics Podcast

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Apr 7, 2023 • 39min

How we can all have a home

You can’t paint your walls, you can’t have a pet, you can’t guarantee you’ll have somewhere to live in six months time. Millions of us are paying sky-high rents but struggling to make a home in a housing system where safety and security takes second place to landlords’ profits. Some private tenants face mould and broken boilers but daren’t complain. According to Shelter, complaining to your landlord about conditions in your home more than doubles your chance of being evicted. How did private renting become so prevalent? Why are the rights of tenants so weak? And what does this mean for our ability to make a home? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Vicky Spratt, housing correspondent at the i and author of Tenants, and Kieran Yates, journalist and author of the upcoming All the houses I’ve ever lived in. Further reading: - Grab a copy of Vicky's book Tenants https://profilebooks.com/work/tenants/ - Kieran's book All the houses I've ever lived in is out on the 27 April https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/All-The-Houses-Ive-Ever-Lived-In/Kieran-Yates/9781398509832 - Kojo Koram's book Uncommon wealth is available here https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/kojo-koram/uncommon-wealth/9781529338652/ - Find out more about about the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's work on home-owners and poverty https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/home-owners-and-poverty ----- Music by Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Produced by Becky Malone, Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
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Mar 13, 2023 • 41min

Right to Roam

On a sunny day in January, a ghostly figure covered in green ribbons appeared on a moor in south-west England. It was a person dressed as Old Crockern, the guardian spirit of Dartmoor. He was greeted by 3000 people who had gathered to protest a court ruling that took away the right to wild camp in the area. It was the biggest countryside access protest in living memory. The ruling reignited a long-running concern over land in England: who owns it? And who is allowed to use it? The aristocracy and landed gentry still own around thirty per cent of English land, and half of England is owned by less than one per cent of the population. How did we get here? What does land ownership have to do with wealth and power? And is there another way? Ayeisha is joined by Nadia Shaikh, naturalist, conservationist and land justice activist with Right to Roam and Frances Northrop, associate fellow at the New Economics Foundation. Further reading: - Find out more and get involved with Right to Roam https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/ - Listen to the Land for Who podcast series sharedassets.org.uk/resources/land-for-who-land-justice-podcast-series - Find out more about the Ecological Land Cooperative https://ecologicalland.coop/ - Read the Sold from Under You investigation https://council-sell-off.thebureauinvestigates.com/ ----- Music by Chad Crouch and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. With thanks to Katrina Gaffney. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
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Feb 27, 2023 • 58min

The UK's political battlegrounds

Last year the UK had three different prime ministers, four different chancellors and five different housing ministers. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister for close to a decade, recently announced her resignation - and it’s not clear who will replace her. British politics now seems to be permanently tumultuous. And with a general election peeking over the horizon, political parties are gearing up to win over the public. What are the big ideas influencing UK politics? How much appetite does the public have for change? And what will be the key battlegrounds at the next general election? Ayeisha is joined by Anoosh Chakelian, Britain editor at the New Statesman, and James Meadway, director of the Progressive Economy Forum. - James' new book The Cost of Living Crisis (and how to get out of it)is out next month versobooks.com/books/4259-the-cost-of-living-crisis - Read Anoosh and Ben Walker's piece on the “the new social groupings of the inflation age” newstatesman.com/economy/2023/02/britain-cost-of-living-classes - More on Scottish independence in this article by Jonathon Shafi jonathonshafi.substack.com/p/after-sturgeon-a-new-era-in-scottish - Listen to James' podcast Macrodose patreon.com/Macrodose - Latest from the New Statesman podcast here newstatesman.com/podcasts ----- Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. With thanks to Katrina Gaffney. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
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Nov 7, 2022 • 27min

How we win a new economy - changing the rules

Note to listeners: this episode was prerecorded in September 2022. Over the last five episodes we’ve looked at how the UK is being torn apart. Our economy is built on huge inequalities: between working people and big business, between families and fossil fuel giants, between tenants and landlords, and between marginalised groups and law enforcement. Are such massive divisions in our society inevitable? Can we share the wealth hoarded by the rich? And what do we need to do to build a better future? Ayeisha is joined by Jeevun Sandher, head of economics at the New Economics Foundation, and political economist and author of The Case For A Green New Deal Ann Pettifor. - Subscribe to Ann's substack, System Change, here: https://annpettifor.substack.com/ ----- Music by Chad Crouch and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
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Oct 28, 2022 • 48min

How we win a new economy - fighting for our human rights

Note to listeners: this episode was prerecorded in September 2022. This summer, on a small road in south-east London, a crowd of people prevented immigration officers from detaining a local man. Protestors sat on the ground in front of the van he was held in for hours, shouting “Let him go!”. From Pollokshields to Peckham, over the last couple of years we’ve seen how people can come together to physically stop immigration raids in their communities and protect their neighbours. But with the government giving the police more powers to crack down on protests, will actions like these be able to continue? What is happening to civil liberties in the UK? And who is fighting back? Ayeisha is joined by Zehrah Hasan advocacy director at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and Charlie Whelton, policy and campaigns officer at Liberty (@zedhas3 and @cwhelton on Twitter). Want to join the movement? You can get involved with groups like: - JCWI jcwi.org.uk - Liberty libertyhumanrights.org.uk - Migrants Organise migrantsorganise.org - SOAS Detainee Support soasdetaineesupport.co.uk - Stop Deportations @StpDeportations on Twitter - Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants lgsmigrants.com Further reading: - Who’s Paying The Price? The Human Cost Of The Rwanda Scheme by Medical justice medicaljustice.org.uk/whos-paying-the-price-report-released/ - The gal-dem guide to stopping a deportation flight by Zehrah Hasan gal-dem.com/guide-stopping-deportation-flight-immigration/ ----- Music by Chad Crouch and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
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Oct 14, 2022 • 39min

How we win a new economy - fixing the housing crisis with social homes

Note to listeners: this episode was prerecorded in September 2022. The cost of living scandal could force 1.7 million households into homelessness this winter, according to the charity Crisis. In the UK, we can no longer rely on social housing to protect people from sleeping rough or sofa-surfing. If you were alive in 1979, you had a 40% chance of living in an affordable council home. Today, that figure is just under 8%. What happened to all our council houses? Did Thatcher’s right to buy policy create the housing crisis we see today? And how would our lives be different if we could depend on warm, comfortable social homes? Ayeisha is joined by Becki Winson, NEF senior organiser and Suzanne Muna, secretary of the Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) (@RebeccaWinson and @Muna_Suz on Twitter) -Join NEF's Homes for Us Campaign https://homesforus.org.uk/ -Find out more about SHAC and get involved https://shaction.org/ ----- Music by Broke for Free and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
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Sep 30, 2022 • 45min

How we win a new economy - solving the cost of living and climate crises together

Note to listeners: this episode was prerecorded in August 2022. 2022: a year of extremes. During the 40 degree summer heat, roads melted and railway lines buckled. The London Fire Brigade had its busiest day since the Blitz as record temperatures led to hundreds of fires across the city. When it finally rained a month later, the Met Office warned of flood risk. But after a dangerously hot summer, we’re now worrying about whether we can afford our energy bills during a long, cold winter. This was the year that the climate crisis collided with the scandalously high cost of living. But how are the two related? Why are fossil fuel companies making bumper profits while the rest of us are worried about paying our bills? And can we stay warm while making sure oil and gas stay safely under the North Sea? Ayeisha is joined by Mika Minio-Paluello, climate and industry lead at the Trades Union Congress and Tessa Khan, environmental lawyer and founder and director of Uplift. -Want to join a union? You can find the right one for you on the TUC website: https://www.tuc.org.uk/joinunion - Get involved with the Stop Cambo/Jackdaw and Warm this Winter campaigns: https://www.stopcambo.org.uk/ and https://www.warmthiswinter.org.uk/ ----- Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
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Sep 16, 2022 • 46min

How we win a new economy – a hot strike summer?

Note to listeners: this episode was prerecorded in August 2022.  As the first week of rail strikes came to an end in June, Google searches for the phrase “join union” had increased by 184%. News channels and politicians didn’t seem to know what to make of the broad public support for the striking rail workers. Inspired by the RMT union, the unrest spread: criminal barristers, BT workers, posties and teachers are just some of the people exploring strike action. After decades of union busting, wage stagnation and decimated rights, are workers finally saying enough is enough? Why has the public suddenly got behind striking workers? And what would happen if we held a general strike? Ayeisha is joined by the TUC's Sian Elliot and Sarah Jaffe, journalist and author of “Work Won’t Love You Back”(@SianCElliott and @sarahljaffe on Twitter). -Find out more about Sarah's work at https://workwontloveyouback.org/ -Want to join a union? You can find the right one for you on the TUC website https://www.tuc.org.uk/joinunion ----- Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
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4 snips
Sep 2, 2022 • 47min

How we win a new economy - the end of neoliberalism?

In this mini-series of the New Economics Podcast, we’ll discover how our economy has been run over the past few years - and look at the key battlegrounds for those fighting to change the rules. Over the last few years, neoliberalism – the economic model that has dominated since Margaret Thatcher was PM – has taken a hit. Big spending and state intervention have been the name of the game, as the government scrambled to get to grips with the pandemic. While Boris Johnson gets ready to pack up his things, we still don’t know who will be replacing him in Number 10. The two final contenders, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, have been described in the press as “channelling the blue-suited ghost of Thatcher”. So, have the last few years solidified a new kind of economic mainstream? Or will Johnsonism be swept aside once the new PM has unpacked their toothbrush? In the first episode of this special mini-series we’re asking: has neoliberalism hit the buffers? Ayeisha is joined by Ellie Mae O’Hagan and Laurie Macfarlane (@elliemaeohagan and @L__Macfarlane on Twitter). -Read Laurie's piece with Christine Berry for Renewal on the Conservative's political economy: https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/renewal/vol-30-issue-2/abstract-9553/ -More on the Race Class Narrative here: https://classonline.org.uk/pubs/item/the-uk-race-class-narrative-report ----- Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
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May 30, 2022 • 50min

How did the British Empire write the rules of today’s economy?

Outside of the frenzied headlines about woke warriors cancelling Jane Austen and stately homes, we’re living in a period of renewed consideration of Britain’s colonial history. The British Empire began before the English Civil War, and shaped our country for 400 years. At its height, it covered almost a quarter of the entire world’s population. Beyond statues and street names, how is the empire still shaping our lives today? Ayeisha is joined by Dr Kojo Koram, lecturer in law at Birkbeck and author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire. - Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/kojo-koram/uncommon-wealth/9781529338652/ - Further reading from Perry Anderson here: https://www.versobooks.com/authors/81-perry-anderson - And from Tom Nairn here: https://www.versobooks.com/authors/821-tom-nairn - More from Kojo here: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745342047/empires-endgame/ ----- Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. Music by Poddington Bear under Creative Commons license. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

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