51 | Ha-Joon Chang

July 19, 2017 by Catherine Carr in politics, current affairs

With arguments about austerity and public spending back at the heart of British politics, we ask economist Ha-Joon Chang to help us make sense of it all. Why is tax always described as a 'burden'? Are the Tories trapped in their austerity narrative? Where should the government invest for the best return? Plus we discuss why it's so hard to solve Britain's productivity problem: it goes back a hundred years. Ha-Joon Chang is the author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism (2010) and Economics: A User's Guide (2014).

37 | Thomas Piketty

May 05, 2017 by Catherine Carr in politics, current affairs

We're joined by internationally best-selling economist Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century, to talk about the French elections and what inequality is doing to democratic politics. Recorded a few days before the 2nd round of the French presidential vote, we discuss Macron vs. Le Pen, the failure of mainstream social democracy, and why Brexit was such a gamble. We also talk about what needs to be done to reform the EU. With Hugo Drochon.