Macrodose

On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: the argument around the expansion of London’s Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (0.48), extreme weather events across the world and their effect on global supply chains (6.38) and Belgium's approach to dealing with inflation (10.33)? 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. 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 https://planetbproductions.co.uk/

MACRODOSE EXTRA takes you behind the scenes to go in-depth with some of the leading voices from the world of economics. Subscribe today at patreon.com/macrodose to hear the full version of this interview and many more.  Our guest today is Cecilia Rikap, who is lecturer in International Political Economy at City University in London. Cecilia's research focuses on the political economy of technology, and her last book, Capitalism, Power and Innovation, describes the emergence of what she called “intellectual monopoly capitalism” as giant tech companies come to dominate our economic life. She summarised some of her arguments in a recent piece for the New Left Review, “Capitalism as Usual?”, which challenges some recent accounts by economists like Cedric Durand and Yanis Varoufakis, who argue that we are moving out of capitalism altogether, and into something they call “techno-feudalism”. Links: You can read Cecilia's article here: https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii139/articles/capitalism-as-usual

On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: new research in Nature Sustainability examining the prospect of collapsing ecosystems (1.45), and a listener question - what are the alternative models to economic growth, and how can we get there (8.05)? 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. We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk Links: Read the Nature Sustainability article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-023-01157-x Check out Planet B: Everything Must Change here: https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/planet-b/ And grab a copy of Half-Earth Socialism: A Plan to Save the Future from Extinction, Climate Change and Pandemics here: https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2650-half-earth-socialism

On this week’s Macrodose, Grace Blakeley breaks down what is driving the crisis in the NHS, and answers a listener question about what policies the Labour Party should be considering in its next manifesto.  You can find the series Planet B Productions co-produced with openDemocracy on the care crisis here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/the-uk-care-crisis-explained/ 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. We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: Thames Water teetering on the brink of collapse - is it time to bring our water systems back under public control (0.48), proposed new deep sea mining projects in the Pacific (8.38) and a listener question - what’s different about Labour’s fiscal rules now compared to when James was working with former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell (14.08). 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. We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: Britains debt growing bigger than national income - how worried should we really be (0.46), the Bank of England’s decision to raise its interest rate to 5% (8.39) and some listener responses to last week’s call out - what are the other economics podcasts you keep an eye on (12.50)? 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. We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

MACRODOSE EXTRA takes you behind the scenes to go in-depth with some of the leading voices from the world of economics. Subscribe today at patreon.com/macrodose to hear the full version of this interview and many more.  Our guest today is Richard Jones. Richard is Professor of Materials Physics and Innovation Policy at the University of Manchester. His blog ’Soft Machines’ provides excellent insight into nanotechnology, and the UK government's wider science and technology policies. In this interview we talked specifically about semiconductors, which are fuelling resource conflicts and trade wars around the world. What is a semiconductor? Why should we care about them? And how are they shaping global economic trends?

On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: the inflation figures due to be released this week and the Bank of England's likely response (0.56), and a listener question - what are some recommendations for right-wing economics podcasts, is there a free-market “Macrodose of the Right” (10.00)? 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. We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: a listener question - Universal Basic Income vs Universal Basic Services (0.47), Labour shrinking its £28 billion-a-year Green Prosperity plan (10.26) and Kerala's new, publicly-owned broadband scheme (14.56). 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. We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk

MACRODOSE EXTRA takes you behind the scenes to go in-depth with some of the leading voices from the world of economics. Subscribe today at patreon.com/macrodose to hear the full version of this interview, as well as all our fascinating chat with Kojo Koram about the economic legacies of Empire, and our recent conversation with Richard Seymour about the making of political subjectivities in an era of climate breakdown. You’ll also gain access to our upcoming interviews with housing reporter Vicky Spratt, and economist Ann Pettifor. Our guest today is Isabella Weber. Isabella is an economist working on inflation, China, global trade and the history of economic thought. She is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a Berggruen Fellow, and an Associate in Research at the Fairbank Center, Harvard University. In this interview we discussed her most recent research into the causes of inflation. Greedflation? Excuse-flation? Sellers' inflation? What does it all mean, and are the mainstream starting to change their tune?