On Reality Asserts Itself, Prof. Leo Panitch says it’s a dilemma that the gradualism of European social-democracy and attempts at a more radical transformation have so far both failed; Panitch says a first step towards democratizing the economy is to make finance a public utility – with host Paul Jay
Adam Hanieh: Well, we’ve seen over the last few days a wave of repression [in Bahrain] that’s ongoing, repression against the protests after the Saudi troops went in on March 15, about a month ago. As you said, there have been reports that up to 31 people have been killed during the demonstrations. And now […]
Paul Jay: The title of your upcoming book, Syria’s Democratic Experiment, first of all, what is the experiment? And then talk a little about how we got there. Joshua Landis: Well, the book really deals with a period at the time of independence — 1946, ’45, ’46 — in Syria, when the French left and […]
Paul Jay: So, first of all, talk about what happened on Friday. The protesters, the opposition, were hoping for a big turnout, and apparently they didn’t get it. Bassam Haddad: On Friday, a few hundred people, in some places more than a thousand, came out in protest, to continue the string of protests since last […]
Joshua Landis: Well, this [speech delivered by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 30 March 2011] was a classic hard-line speech. It was a nationalist speech. It was an us-against-them speech. And he rallied the nation. And that’s what he sought to do. He was fairly relaxed. He made some jokes. But he said this is […]
Mohammed Ezzeldin: We have two main scenarios now regarding the relation between the people and the army. We have the Tunisian scenario. There’s a division in the ruling elites, there is division in the regime, so the army will be neutral: the tanks and soldiers and officers in the streets, they are just maintaining the […]
Paul Jay: Nancy Folbre, in her blog on the New York Times, wrote the following: “The Great Recession has sometimes been dubbed the Mancession because it drove unemployment among men higher than unemployment among women.” So how is this affecting families? How is this affecting the future outlook for the population as a whole […]
Paul Jay: So if you’ve got more or less zero percent inflation and you’re getting 3 percent on your bond, you’re making 3 percent. But if inflation’s 3 percent and you’re getting 3 percent on your bond, you’re down to zero. Now, the Fed is saying that we can do this quantitative easing, increasing […]
Paul Jay: On November 7, the president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, issued a statement calling for the reintroduction of some form of gold standard to establish the value of money. Why now? . . . Is Robert Zoellick’s proposal grasping at straws? Jane D’Arista: Well, what you’re saying is quite right. The […]
Paul Jay: Certainly President Obama had more support for the war in Afghanistan from the Republican Party than he ever did from within his own party. But might this mean increased pressure for a more aggressive stance towards Iran? . . . What’s your take? How do you think this election might affect US foreign […]
Paul Jay: You recently wrote a piece in the Guardian. The title is “Who Pays the Bill for the Fed’s QE2? By Depressing US Interest Rates, Quantitative Easing Forces Developing Countries to Defend Their Currencies at Crippling Cost.” What do you mean by that? Kevin P. Gallagher: One of the unintended effects of QE2 […]
Paul Jay: Now, some of the critique is coming from the left; it’s not all coming from the right or from the elite. And I guess one of the critiques is: why isn’t there more of a rainy day fund? You know, when oil was riding high, why wasn’t there more reserves established for […]
Jordan Flaherty: I think some of the voices that really haven’t been heard in these five years of recovery are those that are still displaced: a hundred thousand or more former residents who were dispersed around the country in the aftermath of Katrina and still have not been able to come home. One recent […]
Paul Jay: So there’s elections coming up in Venezuela, September 26, for the National Assembly. Tell us who controls the National Assembly now in Venezuela and what’s at stake in these elections. Gregory Wilpert: Well, right now the National Assembly is entirely controlled by Chávez supporters. That’s because the last elections, 2005, the opposition […]
Paul Jay: In China in June, leaders of the Chinese Communist Party said that it’s time for workers’ wages to go up. And there’s been a lot of discussion about whether China’s actually restructuring its economy to try to boost domestic demand. Certainly in what leaders say in other parts of the world they […]
Paul Jay: So we’ve been talking about macroeconomic policy, the G-20, austerity. And there was one little line in the G-20 document I thought was interesting, and it’s sort of buried in amongst everything. It said countries could facilitate wages going up proportional to productivity, which is rather interesting, ’cause it’s the only time […]
Paul Jay: So, first of all, your take on what the G-20 decided, this idea of cuts in Europe and North America and maybe some expansion in China. And is there some alternative to this? Robert Pollin: Well, the notion of imposing austerity at a moment when we may — may — be slowly […]
Paul Jay: One of the moments of the war that we hear, as we’ve been in Beirut, people talking about is one point during the war where Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, is making a speech and tells people to look out to the sea. Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General, Hezbollah: Now . . . […]
Paul Jay: So, in talking to people in Israel, one thing I hear constantly is the fight here is about national identity, it’s about the defense of the Jewish state. I don’t hear very much about economics of Israel or the economics of occupation. So how does national identity relate to the economics here? […]
Paul Jay: So there’s a lot of talk about the growth and expansion in India and China, and especially India these days. We’re hearing again about the Indian miracle. Whose miracle is it, anyway? And is it such? Jayati Ghosh: No, it’s not actually a miracle. First of all, let me clarify. India and […]
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