EQUALS: Reimagining Our Economy

On International Women’s Day, Max and Nafkote interviewed Bhumika Muchhala, a development and feminist economist, on the possibility of being a feminist in an economic system that thrives on the exploitation of people and nature. This episode explores the importance of the way our global economy is organized in understanding the fight for gender equality. How issues like labour rights, fair taxation and debt cancellation are feminist issues.Bhumika is the Political Economist and Senior Advisor at Third World Network.As always remember to share the podcast on social media and leave a review! You can find us on X at @EQUALShope.

Nafkote and Max interview Dr. Faiza Shaheen on how capitalism has failed on its main selling point – work hard and you will succeed. The idea that everyone has equal opportunity in life is just a myth. Your success in life is significantly influenced by where you are born, your social class, race, and education.This episode is a powerful critique of our system - one that perpetuates wealth concentration among the rich while leaving the majority behind.Faiza Shaheen is Professor of Economics at London School of Economics and the author of the book Know Your Place.Remember to share the podcast on social media and leave a review! You can find us on Twitter at @EQUALShope.

Max and Nafkote interview the brilliant Dr. Clara Mattei on the history of austerity and how it was created to maintain “the capital order”. Austerity today the world over remains a favored tool of policymakers. And yet it is far more than just a policy. We examine the roots of austerity and its fundamental role in entrenching capital, and disciplining people to never dare to create alternative economic systems. Dr. Clara Mattei is Associate Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research. She is the author of The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved The Way to Fascism. Remember to share the podcast on social media and leave a review! You can find us on Twitter at @EQUALShope.

Nafkote and Nabil welcome the pioneering Senegalese development economist Ndongo Samba Sylla onto EQUALS.We talk about the untold vision of former Burkina Faso President Thomas Sankara for economic liberation.The role of the French colonial currency in today’s world.What Modern Monetary Theory can mean to the Global South.And what a Green Bandung Woods – picking up from where liberation leaders left off – can do to rethink the global financial architecture.Ndongo Samba Sylla is a Senegalese development economist. He has previously worked as a technical advisor at the Presidency of the Republic of Senegal, and is Programme manager at the West Africa office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. He is the co-author of Africa’s Last Colonial Currency: The CFA Franc Story and author of The Fair Trade Scandal.As always, do leave us a review and follow us on social media. We’re at @EQUALShope on Twitter.

Max and Nafkote interview the world-famous economist Professor Ha Joon Chang to ask what is causing the inequality crisis and what governments can do to stop it.How are traffic lights, neoliberalism, and the Catholic Church in medieval times linked? How can we create a new generation of developmental states that face down corporates and build equal societies? An EQUALS episode not to be missed, with a giant of economic thinking.As ever follow us on Twitter and leave us a review. Tune in to our new season’s previous episodes on Wall Street Consensus by Daniela Gabor and Climate inequality with Oxfam’s Climate Inequality minds.Read Inequality Inc., Oxfam's latest inequality report.

EQUALS is back. Max and Nabil speak to Dr. Daniela Gabor, who says we’ve entered a new era of the “Wall Street Consensus”. Her macro analysis is lighting up debates around the world about how much power we’re giving up to global private finance - and what exactly comes after neoliberalism.Daniela, Professor of Economics and Macro-Finance at UWE Bristol, breaks down what is driving this new paradigm, how it drives inequality, and what a true alternative - a Big Green State - looks like.As ever follow us on Twitter, leave a review, and tune into past episodes from interviewing Professor Verene Shepherd on reparative justice to PilAto on music as political power. 

Introducing a new EQUALS season and our new podcast co-host, Nafkote Dabi, Climate Policy Lead at Oxfam International.Joining Nafkote and Max in this episode are Astrid Nilsson Lewis and Ashfaq Khalfan. Together, they delve into the latest Oxfam report “Climate Equality: A planet for the 99%” How are the climate and inequality crises intertwined?In this episode, we expose the profound disparities stemming from the dual crises of climate breakdown and staggering inequality. We uncover the extent of this twin disaster that is currently gripping the world.As always, we provide a ray of hope by exploring how a global redistribution of incomes could raise everyone to a level of $25 a day, all while effectively curbing carbon emissions. Astrid Nilsson Lewis, Oxfam Sweden's Lead Researcher on Climate, and Ashfaq Khalfan, Oxfam America's Director of Climate Justice, offer their insights on these critical issues.Don't miss out on this important conversation! Share the podcast on your social media platforms and be sure to leave us a review. Connect with us on X @EQUALShope.

A season five wrap-up with just the co-hosts! Nadia is sadly leaving the podcast (and Oxfam). The co-hosts get together to look back on their time together and reflect on over fifty episodes of EQUALS. We’ll be back for season six folks. Inequality’s sky-high. The fight’s on this decade but there’s hope. You’ve asked us to cover issues from the global debt crisis facing developing countries to the new scramble for minerals across the world. Join us then - watch this space!Follow us on @EQUALShope on Twitter and as ever share the podcast with your family and friends.The EQUALS team has launched an Equals Substack newsletter. Please Read our newsletters and subscribe now.

Nadia and Nabil interview Nobel Prize Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz to ask just how dire the state of inequality is - and what we’ve got to do about it.  Is it realistic to tax the richest at rates above 70%? What’s the connection between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and IMF-backed austerity in low income countries?An EQUALS episode not to be missed with a giant of economic thinking.Make sure you share the podcast on social media and write a review! We’re at @EQUALShope on Twitter.With Nabil Ahmed and Nadia Daar.The views expressed in episodes do not necessarily represent the views of the podcast and its producers.