Crash Course Economics

Mar 11 2024 19 ep. 63 mins 89
Crash Course Economics Podcast artwork

Crash Course is a platform designed to open up debate on how we can move out of the current crisis and make the necessary steps towards achieving social, economic, ecological and regenerative justice. Crash Course is inviting global experts to break down complex issues in lay terms and make them accessible to all so that we can understand how to shape our economic system for a just recovery and future. We are a collective of engaged activists and experts from a number of organisations. Being motivated by the challenges and opportunities that the Corona-crisis presents us, we have decided to join forces by starting this initiative.

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Monopoly Power and EU Competition Policy — with Angela Wigger

Mar 11 2024 59 mins  
During the pandemic and its aftermath, the world witnessed a revival of new narratives and strategies related to industrial policy in a geopolitically competitive environment. We invite Angela Wigger to reflect on the history of competition policy in the EU and provide a deeper understanding of the latest “come-back” of EU industrial policy. She will explain how EU competition

Rentierism and Big Pharma — with Nick Dearden

Feb 20 2024 59 mins  
In this episode we do a deep dive into the realm of Big Pharma. As with Big Tech, this industry epitomises large-scale rentier income extraction by corporations. Despite the industry's assertions that the costs associated with drug research and development justify high prices, the stark reality of profit margins unveils a different narrative.We will further ask Nick: How did pharma

Asset Managers and the Rise of Rentier Capitalism — with Brett Christophers

Feb 05 2024 61 mins  
Embark on a journey encompassing Brett Christophers' latest three books in this Crash Course Episode. He provides a comprehensive overview of the ascent of rentier capitalism, observed in diverse forms across political economies, and hones in on the pivotal role of asset managers in value extraction and shaping a rentier economy.Key questions we will explore with Brett:What exactly

Enshittification: The Rise and Fall of Big Tech — with Cory Doctorow

Jan 24 2024 58 mins  
In this first Crash Course episode of the new series, we invite writer-activist Cory Doctorow to explore the rise of Rentier and Monopoly Capitalism in the tech sector. Is the platform economy in the last phase of what he calls Enshittification?“First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse

The future of the EU fiscal framework — with Ludovic Suttor-Sorel

Oct 18 2021 63 mins  
In this special one-off we focus on European fiscal policy, following FiscalMatters' week of debate in which the future of the EU fiscal framework is discussed: “Too often important policy decisions happen behind closed doors. We need an open and accessible debate on Europe’s fiscal future”.Together with Ludovic Suttor-Sorel from Finance Watch we look at the current EU f

Big Tech vs The Public — with Francesca Bria

Jun 28 2021 51 mins  
Innovation economist and digital policy expert Francesca Bria joins us to talk about her experiences trying to counter the power of Big Tech and using technology for democratic decision making. Bria is the former CTO of the City of Barcelona and has been leading European Research and Innovation projects related to digital sovereignty, digital democracy and crypto platforms.In 2015

Big Tech & the Global South — with Nandini Chami

Jun 08 2021 60 mins  
In this fourth Crash Course episode of the series on Big Tech, Techno-feudalism and Democracy, we take a closer look at how we could resist the enormous and all-encompassing influence Big Tech and platform economies have on our lives. How can we regain control over our individual and collective data as they are being increasingly commodified and traded? Nandini Chami, deputy direct

Platforms and the limits of Competition Policy — with Farwa Sial

May 24 2021 60 mins  
In this third episode, we discussed the challenges that Big Tech confronts us with in terms of regulation. The platform economy has fundamentally changed our societies and has made more and more citizens dependent on less and less companies. Due to lobbying efforts as well as ignorance and incompetence on many policy levels, this sector has massively expanded without much governmen

Intellectual Property & Monopoly Capitalism — with Cecilia Rikap

May 10 2021 63 mins  
In this second Crash Course episode of the series on Big Tech, Techno-feudalism and Democracy, we will zoom in on intellectual property. We have invited political economist Cecilia Rikap to explain where intellectual property comes from, what its role is in fabricating monopoly power, and why it is important to understand the rise of Big tech and Big Pharma. Rodrigo and Sara asked

The rise of Technoscientific Capitalism with Kean Birch

Apr 26 2021 62 mins  
In this first Crash Course episode of our series on Big Tech, Techno-feudalism and Democracy, we take a bird’s-eye view before we dive into more specific issues in the episodes to come. To introduce you to the topic, we have invited York University professor Kean Birch, specialised in Big Tech and emerging forms of digital rentiership. Rodrigo and Sara ask Birch: What are the key