

Macrodose
Planet B Productions
Your weekly fix of everything economics. Hosted by James Meadway.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 10, 2024 • 13min
Vive La Révolution? w/ Olly Haynes
This week on Macrodose, as James takes a summer break, Olly Haynes breaks down the weekend's French election results, in which the New Popular Front left alliance surprisingly emerged as the largest party ahead of Le Pen's RN and Macron's Ensemble.
Olly unpacks how the French left snatched a tentative victory from the jaws of defeat, potential outcomes of the gridlock, and a mixture of hope and warning signs for the future of France.
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Jul 5, 2024 • 38min
Election Debrief: What Happens Next? w/ Ayeisha Thomas-Smith & Phil Burton-Cartledge
Today's episode of Election Economics is a post-election debrief - hosted by Ayeisha Thomas-Smith who is joined by Phil Burton-Cartledge. They touched on their immediate reactions and analysis of the results, if the Tory losses were inevitable, what next for a Labour government, and the openings & contradictions of the new political UK landscape.
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is host of the New Economics Podcast for the New Economics Foundation and Executive Director at NEON, the New Economy Organisers Network
Phil is the author of The Party's Over: The Rise and Fall of the Conservatives from Thatcher to Sunak from Verso Books and is a senior lecturer in Sociology at Derby University. Phil has written extensively about the decline of the Tory party for Tribune and Jacobin, as well as on his blog, All That Is Solid.
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jul 1, 2024 • 1h 10min
UK Election Special w/ Politics Theory Other
Today's episode of Election Economics is a crossover show with Politics Theory Other, where PTO host Alex Doherty invited James Meadway and Richard Seymour to discuss their outlooks on the post-election political horizon in the UK.
They discussed potential new right-wing formations between Reform and the Conservatives, the echoes of populism and anti-populism in this campaign, the left-wing purges of the Labour party and the nuances of the current overlapping ecological and social crises.
Politics Theory Other is a podcast with a focus on radical politics, critical theory and history - you can listen wherever you get your podcasts, and support their work over at their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother
Alex Doherty is writer and host of Politics Theory Other.
Richard Seymour is a writer and broadcaster, and founding editor of Salvage magazine. His most recent work is 2022's The Disenchanted Earth: Reflections on Ecosocialism and Barbarism.
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 28, 2024 • 18min
Labour's Corporate Lobbying Links w/ Polly Smythe
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Polly Smythe, to unpack her research on the links between oil, gas and arms companies and 31 Labour MP candidates. They also touch on the upcoming organizing and union ballots with Amazon workers in the UK.
Polly is a writer and journalist, and currently the labour movement correspondent for Novara Media.
You can read Polly's full pieces for Novara here: https://novaramedia.com/2024/06/13/meet-the-labour-candidates-lobbying-for-oil-gas-and-arms-companies/
https://novaramedia.com/2024/06/21/amazon-says-gmb-leaflets-could-be-a-hazard-amid-union-busting-allegations/
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 27, 2024 • 53min
The Break Down: What Economics Gets Wrong About Climate Change w/ Ha-Joon Chang
What would you say a human life is worth? According to the US government, for an American it’s about $7.2 million, compared with the global average of approximately $1.3 million. If you’re Swiss though, you’re worth a pretty penny at $9.4 million.
While these estimates might sound absurd, they're really important to understand: these kinds of figures and the models that produce them are a core part of how mainstream economics understands and shapes policy, and they have had a significant role in shaping our approach to the climate crisis. Indeed, as Adrienne and celebrated economist Ha-Joon Chang break down in today's episode, mainstream economics gets a lot wrong, and has proven strikingly ill-equipped for addressing a challenge like climate and ecological crisis, not least through its tendency to reduce complex decisions to abstracted cost-benefit analyses.
Ha-Joon Chang is an economist and Professor at SOAS University of London. Ha-Joon has been an advisor to several international organisations, and is the author of many books, most recently ‘Edible Economics’.

Jun 26, 2024 • 15min
Post-Pandemic Health Crisis
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down a post-pandemic rise in diseases across the world, and how this overlaps with our ideas of health, work and care in the UK (1:10), before looking at how the political uncertainty in pre-election France has caused the European Central Bank to withdraw it's borrowing support, and what this means for future power balances in the Eurozone (08:23).
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 25, 2024 • 26min
French Elections: Far Right On The Brink Of Power w/ Olly Haynes
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Olly Haynes to talk through the upcoming French elections, the far-right’s resurgence, and how the French left is mobilising to counter it.
Olly is a freelance writer and journalist, and host of the FLEP24 podcast - a regular podcast covering the French 2024 elections in further detail: x.com/flep24pod
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/MacrodoseWe want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 21, 2024 • 17min
We Are The Economy w/ Maeve Cohen
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Maeve Cohen to discuss the We Are The Economy coalition project, and different ways to frame the relationships between austerity, work and social wellbeing.
Maeve is project lead at The Social Guarantee, and convenor at We Are The Economy - a coalition of organisations who are coming together to call for more investment in public services: https://www.wearetheeconomy.co.uk/
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 20, 2024 • 28min
Are Greens the Party of the Left? w/ Zack Polanski
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Zack Polanski to talk through the Green Party's current campaign, and their ideas for economic, ecological and social futures.
Zack has been the deputy leader of the Green Party since September 2022. He is a Londonwide member of the London Assembly, where he is chair of the Environment Committee, and the national spokesperson for the Green Party for Democracy & Citizen Engagement.
TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

Jun 19, 2024 • 23min
Reform UK's Plan for Opposition
On this week’s Macrodose James Meadway breaks down what Reform UK’s “contract” for voters tells us about the future battlegrounds for economic policy (1:46), a preview of the upcoming French election (13:25) and a quick recommendation - a new paper from economist Isabella Weber, proposing responses to an age of “overlapping crises” (20:35).
You can find the report here: https://t.co/zaYDO6fFvS
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk


