The Rhodes Center Podcast

What's the role of a university in a democratic society? What responsibility do universities have to foster the public good, and what responsibilities does the public have to support centers of education and research? These have become some of the most fraught and pressing questions in our current moment. But of course, they're also timeless questions — ones that are as old as the United States itself. On this episode, Mark explores these questions (and more) with literary scholar Kevin McLaughlin and historian Karin Wulf. In addition to having thought deeply on just these types of issues, Kevin and Karin are also the co-chairs of “Brown 2026,” an initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. and exploring the past and future role of universities in a democratic society. Guests on this episode:Kevin McLaughlin is a literary scholar and director of the John Nicholas Brown Center for Advanced Study at Brown. Karin Wulf is a historian and director and librarian of the John Carter Brown Library.Learn more about Brown 2026. Transcript coming soon to our website.

On this episode, Mark talks with two guests to try and understand why, despite growing right populist movements emerging and winning elections in countries around the world, the left seems to be stalling. It's a simple question with an incredibly complex answer. Hopefully, though, these two guests will help you to see both the question and its possible answers in a new light. Guests on this episode:Björn Bremer: political scientist at Central European University, John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) at Harvard University, and author of “Austerity from the Left: Social Democratic Parties in the Shadow of the Great Recession”Paul Pierson: professor of political science at UC Berkeley and author of, most recently, “The American Political Economy Politics, Markets, and Power” Transcript coming soon to our websiteLearn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts

On this episode, Mark Blyth talks with Małgorzata Mazurek, a historian, associate professor of Polish Studies at Columbia University, and author of the forthcoming book “The Economics of Hereness: The Polish Origins of Global Developmentalism 1918-1968.”Mazurek explores how, between World Wars I and II, a group of thinkers led by economists Michał Kalecki and Ludwik Landau began to re-envision Poland's economy – and future. Their work, and Mazurek tells it, threatened many of the assumptions held by those in power about economic development in the mid-20th century, and would go on to influence thinkers around the world in the decades to come. In telling the story of these thinkers, Mazurek also recounts a fascinating moment in Poland's history, when a unique confluence of attitudes towards trade, immigration, and ethnic diversity created a laboratory for new economic ideas. Listen to other podcasts from the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University

In this episode, Mark Blyth talks with two inequality experts to try and understand something that's been bugging him for years.It goes like this: inequality has profound effects on our economy, society, and lives. It has also been growing, and today is at historically high levels. Given all that, why does inequality never seem to be a topic around which we organize our politics? Too complicated? Too boring? Too unsolvable? The answers that Mark got made him rethink the question itself, and hopefully will make you see inequality in a new light, too. Guests on this episode:Charlotte Cavaille is an assistant professor of public policy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and author of “Fair Enough? Support for Redistribution in the Age of Inequality”.Branko Milanovic is a senior scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality at the CUNY Graduate Center.Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts

To state the obvious, there are many hurdles to addressing the climate crisis in a meaningful way. However, there's been one relatively bright spot on this front in the last decade: the price of renewable energy — particularly solar and wind power — has dropped dramatically. By many measures, they're now cheaper to produce than fossil fuels. So does that mean when it comes to a “green transition” can we just sit back and let the market take care of it? According to Brett Christophers, a professor at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University and author of the new book “The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won't Save the Planet”: absolutely not.On this episode, Mark and Brett discuss the many reasons why cheap renewable energy production won't lead to renewables dominating the energy market. In doing so, they also put the entire energy economy under a microscope and challenge the notion that the private sector will ever be able to lead us through a green transition.Learn more about and purchase “The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won't Save the Planet”Watch Brett's October 2024 talk at the Rhodes CenterLearn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts

This is a new experiment we're trying at the Rhodes Center Podcast. From time to time, going forward, instead of focusing on one expert and their latest research, Mark will take a deeper dive into one issue (or one question) that's been bothering him. Future episodes will examine the politics of immigration and the persistence of inequality. But the first episode in this new series will explore a topic especially near and dear to Mark: inflation. Specifically, the stories we tell about what causes inflation, how those stories affect our efforts to curb it, and who wins and loses depending on which stories our leaders believe. In the first half of this episode, Mark talks with economist Nicolò Fraccaroli about a book he and Mark wrote called “Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers” (coming out in Spring 2025). In the second half, Mark talks with economist Claudia Sahm about the history of inflation, the role central banks play in it, and what's lost when we try to take politics and politicians out of the inflation debate. (One thing to note: both of these conversations were recorded before the election, but the ideas explored in these conversations are just as relevant now as ever.)Guests on this episode:Nicolò Fraccaroli is an economist at the World BankClaudia Sahm is Chief Economist for New Century Advisors and former Section Chief at the Federal Reserve's Board of GovernorsLearn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts

Remember the supply chain problems of 2020 and 2021? The story we were told was that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the global economy's ability to make and transport goods of every type imaginable: Surgical masks. Car parts. Infant formula. But as New York Times' global economic correspondent Peter Goodman explains in his new book, “How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain,” the story is more complicated than that. On this episode, Goodman and Mark Blyth discuss how, over decades, consulting firms and shareholders built a system that drove up profits but imperiled our economy, ultimately making COVID-related supply shocks (and the inflation that followed) much worse than they needed to be. Furthermore, if Goodman is right, it's only a matter of time before we risk running out of everything again.Transcript coming soon to our websiteLearn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts

When it comes to governing our economy, estimates rule the day. We want to know what effect a policy might have on the government's budget, on economic growth, on employment…in the next 1 year, 5 years, 10 years…you get the idea. If you want to make (or critique) public policy, you better have numbers to back it up. To get those types of estimates, economists and politicians often rely on institutions like the Office for Budget Responsibility in the UK, or the Congressional Budget Office in the United States. As a result, their estimates and fiscal projections form crucial data points in our modern politics and policymaking. We like to think that these estimates and projections (not to mention, the people who make them) come from somewhere outside of our partisan politics. That while our values might be debatable, the numbers, at least, aren't.But, as Mark Blyth's guest on this episode explains: that idea is a fantasy, and to the extent it obscures the values and politics that are baked into organizations like the Office of Budget Responsibility, it's a dangerous one. On this episode, Mark Blyth talks with Ben Clift, author of “The Office for Budget Responsibility and the Politics of Technocratic Economic Governance.” In it, he pulls back the curtain on Britain's Office for Budget Responsibility, and reveals the hidden processes and ideologies that shape the estimates and projections that come out of it. In doing so, he shows how the OBR – and other institutions like it – are much more political than they appear. Learn more about and purchase “The Office for Budget Responsibility and the Politics of Technocratic Economic Governance”Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcastsTranscript coming soon to our website

When you think of high-end luxury commodities, you might imagine yachts, private jets, or even whole islands. But in the last few years, another commodity has started to receive a lot of attention from the world's wealthiest people: citizenship. With enough money, people can buy their way into becoming a citizen of a growing list of countries around the world. While this trend has garnered lots of attention in the last few years, as our guest on this episode explains, there's so much more to the story than meets the eye. Kristin Surak is a sociologist and author of the new book “The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires.” In it, she pulls back the curtain on this rarified luxury market — who's buying, who's selling, and the complex web of middlemen that make it all work. On this episode, Mark Blyth talks with Surak about what might be called the “citizenship industrial complex”' and what it says about our global economy. Learn more about and purchase “The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires”Learn more about our other podcasts at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs Transcript coming soon to our website

Listeners of the Rhodes Center Podcast have probably heard of companies like Black Rock, State Street and Vanguard. You've also probably heard how, through ETFs and other investment products, these types of investment firms own a staggering share of the world's biggest companies (20-25% of the S&P 500 by some estimates). But in this episode, you'll hear about a whole other side of asset management; one that's more opaque, and possibly much more influential (and corrosive) to our daily lives. Brett Christophers is a geographer and professor at Uppsala University's Institute for Housing and Urban Research, and author of the new book “Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World.” In it, he explains how asset management companies like Blackstone and Macquarie Asset Management do more than passively own shares. Over the last few decades, they've begun to invest in and actively run a growing portion of our infrastructure and essential services: hospitals, care homes, water treatment plants, bridges and even parking meters. On this episode, he talks with Mark Blyth about the economics of this new subspecies of asset management, and how they've begun to reshape our society, economy and planet in ways we don't fully understand. Learn about and purchase “Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World”Learn more about other podcasts from the Watson Institute at Brown UniversityTranscript coming soon to our website

On this podcast, you've heard from a range of experts about the policies and politics of decarbonization. But what does the fight against climate change look like from the business side?Sophie Purdom is the Founder and Managing Partner of Planeteer Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in early-stage climate technology companies. She also writes Climate Tech VC, an industry newsletter that goes deep into the business side of the green transition. On this episode, Sophie Purdom talks with a special guest host for the Rhodes Center Podcast, political scientist and director of the Watson Institute's Climate Solutions Lab Jeff Colgan. They talk about the world of “climate tech,” as it's known in the startup community, how the industry started, where it's going, and what it can teach us about the relationship between private enterprise and the global fight against climate change.Learn more about and subscribe to Sophie Purdom's newsletter, Climate Tech VCLearn more about the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson InstituteLearn more about the Watson Institute's other podcastsTranscript coming soon to our website

In 2015, economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton published a paper that revealed something startling: an increase in mortality rates in the United States among white middle-aged men and women between the years of 1999 and 2013. They published a book in 2020 that aimed to explain the trend, which they attributed to — among other factors — economic stagnation, social isolation, and the opioid crisis. The book, titled “Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism,”, caused a stir inside and outside the field of economics, as people tried to make sense of America's economy and society in the Trump years. On this episode, Rhodes Center Director Mark Blyth talks with Deaton about his newest book “Economics in America: An Immigrant Economist Explores the Land of Inequality,” which takes a broader view of the issues brought up in “Deaths of Despair.” They explore the pervasiveness of inequality in America, how it relates to the “deaths of despair” phenomenon, and why the field of economics often seems blind to the most pressing issues facing individuals and communities.Learn more about and purchase “Economics in America: An Immigrant Economist Explores the Land of Inequality”Learn more about the Watson Institute's other award-winning podcastsTranscript coming soon to our website

This is part three in our companion series to the book “Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation” (co-edited by Mark Blyth, Lucio Baccaro and Jonas Pontusson). On this episode, Mark talks with four contributors for the book: Alex Reisenbichler, Aidan Regan, Oddný Helgadóttir, and Jonas Nahm. They look at case studies in a handful of countries, as well as some of the cross-cutting trends affecting all growth models across the world. They explore the role of finance and politics in growth models, and how the climate crisis is making us rethink this all even further. Learn more about and purchase “Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation”Listen to part one of this seriesListen to part two of this seriesLearn more about and listen to Watson's other podcastsTranscript coming soon to our website

This is part two in our companion series to the book “Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation” (co-edited by Mark Blyth, Lucio Baccaro and Jonas Pontusson). In part one (which, if you haven't listened to, we'd recommend you go back and do), Mark and his guests discussed how growth models are almost like the business model for a country. But of course, countries don't exist in isolation. They can rise and fall together, and operate as regional economies tied into wider global networks. So…what do growth models look like at scale? How should we even think about them? To explore this concept, Mark spoke with two contributors to the book. Jazmin Sierra is an assistant professor of political science at Notre Dame, whose work focuses on the political economy of Latin America. Alison Johnston is an associate professor of political science at Oregon State University, whose work focuses on the European Union. Learn more about and purchase “Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation”Listen to part one of this seriesLearn more about and listen to Watson's other podcastsTranscript coming soon to our website

This is the first in a three-part series on Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation, a book co-edited by Mark Blyth, Lucio Baccaro, and Jonas Pontusson. Using examples from around the world, the book offers a new understanding of what happens to our politics when growth slows down. In this episode, Mark grills his co-authors about how the book came to be, and the big questions that guided its creation. Guests on this episode:Lucio Baccaro, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of SocietiesJonas Pontusson, Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of GenevaLearn more about and purchase Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and StagnationLearn more about the Watson Institutes' other podcasts Transcript coming soon to our website

In 1849, the historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle referred to economics as the “dismal science.” The pejorative stuck, and is still slung by critics of the field today. But what if economics is worse than “dismal”? What it's…harmful? George DeMartino's recent book, “The Tragic Science: How Economists Cause Harm (Even as They Aspire to Do Good)”, makes exactly that claim: that economists aren't just ineffective at solving social problems; they often end up creating new ones. Worse still – since economics lacks a meaningful criteria for defining what harm is, economists often don't know how to measure (and fix) the problems they create. George is an economist himself, and his work isn't just a pile-on against the field. Rather, his critique points a way towards a more socially engaged version of economics – one that takes the notion of harm seriously. Learn more about and purchase “The Tragic Science How Economists Cause Harm (Even as They Aspire to Do Good)”Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcastsTranscript coming soon to our website

On this episode Mark Blyth talks with this year's invited speaker at the Rhodes Center's annual 'Ethics of Capitalism' lecture series, journalist D​​avid de Jong. David's groundbreaking book “Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties”, looks at the individuals and companies that accumulated unimaginable wealth under the Third Reich. Through his incredible investigative work, he exposes how these companies – including iconic German businesses like Volkswagen, BMW, and Allianz – thrived under the Nazi regime. He also looks at how, despite their dark history, most have never fully reconciled with their past – and how the families that founded such enterprises have only grown more wealthy in the decades since. David and Mark discuss this dark history, and explore the questions it poses about the nature of capitalism: how can businesses operate responsibly in a world where it's so easy to profit off the suffering of others? And what do private companies owe the rest of us, above their bottom line? Learn more about and purchase “Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties”Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcastsTranscript coming soon to our website

The history of international politics since 1945. The role of values in the global economy. The future of America's relationship with China. All three of these would be ambitious topics for a work of political economy. But combining them? That's not for the faint of heart. However, that's exactly what Sir Paul Tucker has done in his new book, “Global Discord: Values and Power in a Fractured World Order”. Tucker is a former central banker, and a current research fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. In this episode, Mark Blyth talks about the book with Paul and political economist Aditi Sahasrabudde. Learn more about and purchase “Global Discord: Values and Power in a Fractured World Order”Watch Sir Paul Tucker's recent talk at the Rhodes CenterLearn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts

One concept that comes up a lot on the Rhodes Center Podcast: the idea of the 'free market'.The idea, as you might know it, begins with John Locke, is fashioned fully by Adam Smith, and is delivered to us gift-wrapped (after some delays) by the likes of Hayek and Friedman in the mid 20th century.But as our guest on this episode explains, the idea of the free market is hardly so straightforward. Jacob Soll is a professor of philosophy, history, and accounting at the University of Southern California, and in his book “Free Market: The History of an Idea,” he begins way back in ancient Rome, stops in 17th-century France with Louis XIV's minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, and, on the way to the present, barely mentions Adam Smith at all. No matter what you think of when you hear the words ‘free market', Jacob's incredibly informative – and highly readable – history will make you see the concept in a whole new light. Learn more about and purchase Jacob's Book “Free Market: The History of an Idea”Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts Transcript coming soon to our website

On the last episode of the podcast, Mark talked with two experts regarding the Inflation Reduction Act, and the political and logistical challenges of accelerating a ‘Green Transition' in the US. Which makes for an interesting comparison to our topic today.Because these days, when people want to critique how slow and ineffective the US government can be, they often compare it to another country – one that we tell ourselves is where big government projects happen faster and better than almost anywhere: China.But as Iza Ding, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh, explains to Mark on this episode, China's government might not be quite as dominant and proficient as we think. And nowhere is this more clear than at the local level, as Iza explores in her recent book, “The Performative State: Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China.”Even though the book focuses on aspects of environmental governance like conservation and pollution mitigation, her conclusions are far-reaching. Primarily, the idea that even so-called strong states have weaknesses, and when they are asked to address them, they often ‘perform' the task of governing in informative and surprising ways. Watch Iza Ding's talk at the Watson Institute. Learn more about and purchase her book "The Performative State: Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China".Learn more about other podcasts from the Watson Institute. Transcript coming soon to our website.

Over the last two years, if you had asked Mark Blyth if the Biden administration would ever do anything meaningful to fight climate change, he'd have said “no.” These feelings only got stronger in 2021, after the Democrats failed to pass their first big attempt at climate legislation, known as ‘Build Back Better.'But then, something changed. The Inflation Reduction Act became law. And despite the name, it's a decarbonization bill, and a better one than Mark ever thought we were going to get. (It might also reduce inflation, but that's for another episode).In this episode, Mark talks with two experts about why climate legislation was finally able to get passed in the United States, and what it means for the country and the planet. Tim Sahay is a physicist, Senior Policy Manager of Green New Deal Network, and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Ted Fertik is a historian, and Senior Strategist for Policy and Research with the Working Families Party. As they both see it, this bill has the potential not just to curb the worst of climate change, but to transform our society. Watch Mark, Tim, and Ted's recent event at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. (An updated slide deck for presentation can be found here.)Learn more about the Rhodes Center.Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts. Transcript coming soon to our website.

In the last few years, globalization has gotten an increasingly a bad rap. Whether because of increasing geopolitical tensions over high end computers chips, or the realization that when you outsource your manufacturing base it's quite hard to make things in a hurry (see: the pandemic), people across the political spectrum are calling time on ‘make it there, ship it here.' It seems that politicians of all stripes want to roll back global supply chains and ‘friendshore' all our wants and needs. The problem with doing so however lies at the level of the firm, as has recently been pointed out by Jonas Nahm. And for a number of reasons, it won't be an easy transition. Jonas is an Assistant Professor of Energy, Resources, and Environment at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and author of the recent and excellent book Collaborative Advantage: Forging Green Industries in the New Global Economy. On this episode, Mark talks with Jonas about all the ways that private firms, domestic institutions, and national industrial policies mesh together to produce outcomes that are more than the sum of their parts. Watch Jonas's presentation at the Rhodes Center.Learn more about and purchase Collaborative Advantage: Forging Green Industries in the New Global Economy.Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts. Transcript coming soon on our website.

This episode is a little different than the type of conversation you normally have on the show.  Last year, Mark spoke with Oded Galor about his book https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Humanity-Origins-Wealth-Inequality/dp/0593185994 (The Journey of Humanity), a long-run take on why humanity changed so little for so long, and then all of sudden changed tremendously, mostly for the better.  It's a fascinating idea, but of course nobody actually experiences that long-run journey, or compares their daily life to distant ancestors. People typically think on the much shorter timescale of a lifetime, maybe a generation or two.  At that scale, for many people in America today, it can seem like much of life has gotten worse, and are continuing to do so.  Put another way: it looks like the American Dream is dead. But is that true? What does it mean for a dream to die, anyway? And if it is dead, is there a way to revive it?  These sound like questions for a philosopher.  Someone who has thought about this a great deal is Josh Preiss. He's a philosopher, Professor at Minnesota State University, and author of Just Work For All: The American Dream in the 21st Century.  On this episode, Mark talks with Josh about the ideas behind what we call ‘The American Dream,' and looks at the reality behind its decline: what's gotten worse for who, and what's needed to make things better.  https://www.amazon.com/Just-Work-All-American-Century/dp/0367694883 (Learn more about and purchase Josh Preiss's book). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXt1NyHscCg (Watch Josh's talk at the Rhodes Center.) https://rhodes-center-podcast.captivate.fm/ (Find more information about all our episodes, including transcripts, on our website.)  Transcript for this episode coming soon.  

On this episode Mark talks with Oded Galor, Professor of Economics at Brown University, and author of the new book The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality.  In this book Oded survey's 200,000 years of human history to create a theory for why societies and economies grew so slowly for so long – and why, starting about 200 years ago, that began to change very rapidly.  It's a sweeping history that puts the work of many influential economists into a new light – from Adam Smith to Karl Marx to Paul Romer. But Oded's story is about much more than economics. It's about technology, geography, psychology, and politics. In short, it's about the nature of humanity.  Mark and Oded discuss all of this, as well as how – as we stumble through a global pandemic and catastrophic climate change – we can grow in ways that benefit us all. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/679024/the-journey-of-humanity-by-oded-galor/ (Learn more about and purchase Oded's book The Journey of Humanity). https://watson.brown.edu/news/podcasts (Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts.)

There's a standard story economists and historians use to explain the global economy over the last 100 years: there was the gold standard, which gave way to the Bretton Woods system, which gave way to “neoliberal globalization”.  But on this episode of the Rhodes Center Podcast, Mark talks with someone whose work challenges this story by attacking its foundational myth with deep archival work.  James Ashely Morrison is an associate professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and author of the new book England's Cross of Gold: Keynes, Churchill, and the Governance of Economic Beliefs.  In it, he recounts the fight over Britain's return to the Gold Standard after World War I, and comes to a bold conclusion: there never really was a “gold standard” – at least, not as we understand it. As James makes vividly clear, the “gold standard” was always more of an idea about a perfect state of the world, rather than an economic reality. As such, fights over it have always been less about actual monetary policy, and more about how people believe the economy is supposed to work.  James' work not only adds depth and nuance to this misunderstood turning point in 20th century economics. As he and Mark discuss, it also forces us to reconsider so many of the more contemporary stories we've been told about how our economy works, and why.  https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501758423/englands-cross-of-gold/#bookTabs=1 (Learn more about James' book England's Cross of Gold: Keynes, Churchill, and the Governance of Economic Beliefs).  https://watson.brown.edu/rhodes/events/2022/james-ashley-morrison-englands-cross-gold-keynes-churchill-and-governance-economic (Watch the talk James' gave at the Rhodes Center this Spring).  

From 2019 to 2021, Frances Haugen worked as a Product Manager in Facebook's Civic Integrity Department. During that time she got an inside view into how Facebook's algorithms are deliberately designed to influence its users. She also saw something deeply worrying: that this influence was often used to grow Facebook's profits at the expense of users' safety and wellbeing.  In 2021 she anonymously leaked tens of thousands of internal documents to the Wall Street Journal. Since then she's testified before Congress on the matter, and helped start a global movement to better understand and regulate Big Tech.  On this episode Mark talks with Frances about her experience whistleblowing on one of the world's most powerful companies, and what she thinks we need to do to create social media platforms that are compatible with a functioning democracy.  https://watson.brown.edu/news/podcasts (Learn more about and listens to the Watson Institute's other podcasts.)

In the last few years we've seen critiques of free trade from across the political spectrum. Trump focused on the US-China trade imbalance, while the left focuses its ire on free trade agreements themselves.  It's, of course, not the first time that protectionist ideas have found currency in a globalizing economy.   In the late 18th century a theory known as ‘neomercantilism' began to thrive in a number of western countries. It was a theory, most famously espoused by the German thinker Friedrich List, that focused on protectionism and government activism to create an industrial state. But as Eric Helleiner, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo explores in his new book ‘The Neomercantilists,' this movement did not start in Europe and diffuse out to the rest of the world. Rather, it was a truly global phenomenon, with intellectual roots springing up everywhere from Africa to Asia to Latin America. On this episode Mark talks with Eric about the neglected intellectual traditions that gave rise to varieties of neomercantilism. Eric's analysis not only helps explain the protectionist revivals of today. It also challenges Western readers' assumptions about how economic theory develops, and how economic ideas gain influence around the world.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4X2qTxtwVM (Watch Eric's live conversation with Mark here).  https://watson.brown.edu/news/podcasts (Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts). 

On this episode Mark talks with Dr. Fiona Hill about her new book There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century. A foreign policy expert and key witness in President Trump's first impeachment trial, she reflects on growing up in the deindustrializing North of England in the 1980s and how that upbringing attuned her to developments in both Russia and America that we are coping with today. This talk was recorded in late February 2021.  Learn more about and purchase https://www.amazon.com/There-Nothing-You-Here-Twenty-First/dp/0358574315/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1646666290&sr=8-1 (There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_n2Z3oLobE (Watch Fiona Hill's full talk at the Rhodes Center on YouTube). 

The Rhodes Center Podcast explores the most important issues in finance and economics through straightforward, candid conversations with the world's leading experts. The show is hosted by Mark Blyth, political economist and Director of the Rhodes Center, at the Watson Institute at Brown University.  On this episode Mark talks with Manuela Moschella about the recent transformations to central bank policy and orthodoxy. Central banking used to be straightforward - fix short term rates and get price stability. 2008 changed that. Engineering asset price instability and massive bailouts became the norm and, despite all that, deflation, not inflation became the problem. The Fed and the ECB were late in waking up to that fact, and just when they did, COVID hit and inflation came back. So Mark asks Manuela: what is a central banker to do?  Manuela is an Associate Professor of International Political Economy at the Scuola Normale Superiore and Associate Fellow at the Europe Programme at Chatham House.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uc4muVsfE0 (Watch Manuela's talk at the Rhodes Center).  https://watson.brown.edu/news/podcasts (Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts). 

On this episode Mark talks with Elizabeth Popp Berman, Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan, and author of Thinking Like an Economist: How Efficiency Replaced Equality in US Public Policy.  In it, she explains how in the middle of the 20th century a new kind of economic thinking took hold among policymakers at all levels of government. It replaced bold visions of justice and equality with a more technocratic style, one whose goals could be summed up in one word: efficiency.  Over the last half century this quest for efficiency has guided policies in everything from public education to defense to environmental management. It's dominance is also reflected in the wild proliferation of MPA programs that exist in American universities today that have cost-benefit analysis at their heart.  Elizabeth and Mark discuss where this thinking came from, and why it appealed (and continues to appeal) to so many policymakers. They also talk about what's lost in this focus on efficiency, and why it isn't the panacea its advocates claim.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDiVLekucmQ (Watch Elizabeth's talk at the Rhodes Center). https://watson.brown.edu/news/podcasts (Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts).

On this episode Mark talks  with Ron Schatz, Professor of History at Wesleyan University and author of the new book The Labor Board Crew. In it, Ron  tells the story of a groups of young professionals who, during WWII, took on roles that hadn't really existed before: they were hired as mediators, recruited by the government to help end strikes at a time when the US government felt the country couldn't afford to have factories sitting empty.  They weren't union organizers, businesspeople, or politicians. They were mostly economists and lawyers. They were also quite young. But they were very good at this new kind of job. And the techniques they pioneered changed not only labor relations in the US, but how conflicts were resolved in settings ranging from higher education to international relations.  https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p085598 (Learn more about and purchase “The Labor Board Crew”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UzVsZGhGVo (Watch the video of Ron's virtual visit to the Rhodes Center) https://watson.brown.edu/news/podcasts?gclid=Cj0KCQiAosmPBhCPARIsAHOen-MkSXmOz3GAca42kCVWpCn7i5dHNbqfifwpj2vzM9EKcTP24B6DqCYaAo9wEALw_wcB (Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts)

On this episode: a conversation with Claire Priest. Claire is a historian and Professor at Yale Law School, and author of the book Credit Nation: Property Laws and Institutions in Early America.  In it, she explains how even before the United States became a country, laws prioritizing access to credit set colonial America apart from the rest of the world. This reality didn't just shape colonial economies -- it was also a key factor in the explosive growth of American capitalism in the nineteenth-century. This episode was guest-hosted by Rhodes Center Fellow Ann Daly. She's a historian, Assistant Professor of History at Mississippi State University, and an expert on the economics of the American colonies.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUgkdOAalxo (Watch Claire Priest's talk at the Rhodes Center. ) https://watson.brown.edu/news/podcasts (Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts. )

The Rhodes Center Podcast explores some of the most important and complex issues in the world of finance and economics through straightforward, candid conversations. The show is hosted by Mark Blyth, political economist and Director of the Rhodes Center at Brown University.  On this episode Mark talks with Zsófia Barta and Alison Johnston, authors of the upcoming book Rating Politics: How Sovereign Credit Ratings Reward and Penalize Political and Policy Choices in Prosperous Developed Countries. They explain how agencies like Moody's, Fitch, and Standard and Poor's go about rating sovereign credit, and the surprising role a country's internal politics play in the process. Zsófia Barta is an associate professor of Political Science at the University at Albany SUNY. Alison Johnston is an associate professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Oregon State University.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX6Ezezcrjc (Watch Zsófia and Alison's full Rhodes Center talk).

On this episode Mark talks with economist and Brown Professor John Friedman. They discuss why decreasing income inequality is good for economic growth, the challenge of assessing inflation risk on the heels of a global pandemic, and whether 'Bidenomics' is an evolution of Democratic economic policy or a genuine paradigm shift. You can watch the full video of this conversation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkPu0I6PlV4 (here).

Most discussions about AI and the future of work tend to go in one of two directions: either excitement for a ‘post-work' utopia, or alarm over the end of work. On this episode Mark talks with Aaron Benanav, an economic historian, postdoctoral researcher at Humboldt University of Berlin, and author of ‘Automation and the Future of Work,' about why this whole debate sort of misses the point. You can learn more about and purchase Aaron's book https://www.versobooks.com/books/3717-automation-and-the-future-of-work (here).

On this episode Mark talks with Albena Azmanova, IWM Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Human Studies in Vienna and author of ‘Capitalism on Edge: How Fighting Precarity Can Achieve Radical Change Without Crisis or Utopia'. In the book, Albena explains how precarity (not inequality) is the central driver of our current political, economic, and social woes. Mark and Albena explore the roots of economic precarity, the reasons it's more dangerous and destabilizing than inequality alone, and why addressing it will require mixing tried-and-true economic policies with a radical rethinking of how our economy is structured. You can learn more about Albena Azmanova's book here.

On this episode Mark talks with economist Pavlina Tcherneva about a policy proposal that's bubbling under in the US policy debate: the creation of a federal jobs guarantee. Pavlina is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Bard College and author of 'The Case for a Job Guarantee.' As Pavlina describes it, a federal jobs guarantee isn't just a good idea; in the face of our economic, environmental, and epidemiological crises, it may be a necessary one. You can watch her virtual visit to the Rhodes Center https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EmlviHQT7M (here). You can learn more about and purchase her book https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Case+for+a+Job+Guarantee-p-9781509542109 (here).

On this episode Mark talks with Thea Riofrancos. Thea is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Providence College, and author of two essential reads on the challenges facing global left movements today: 'Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador' and 'A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal.' Mark and Thea discuss why the Left in Ecuador fractured under the progressive Correa government starting in 2007, and the role resource extraction played in those divisions. As Riofrancos explains, this intra-left conflict isn't just about political strategy or economic inclinations -- it's also about competing visions of modernity, and it has lessons for progressive movements around the world. You can learn more about 'Resource Radicals' and 'A Planet to Win' https://www.dukeupress.edu/resource-radicals (here) and https://www.versobooks.com/books/3107-a-planet-to-win (here). You can learn more about the Watson Institute's full network of podcasts https://watson.brown.edu/news/podcasts (here).

On this episode Mark talks with Luke Messac, physician, historian, and author of ‘No More to Spend: Neglect and the Construction of Scarcity in Malawi's History of Health Care.' They discuss how Malawi's politics over the last century has - like in many countries - been defined by a rhetoric of scarcity and austerity. As Luke shows though, this scarcity is more often the product of political decisions rather than structural pressures, with devastating consequences for the country's healthcare system. If you're interested in how geopolitics and economics affect the health of nations, this is the book (and podcast) for you. You can learn more about and purchase Luke's book https://global.oup.com/academic/product/no-more-to-spend-9780190066192?cc=us&lang=en& (here).

On this episode Mark talks with economist Dan Davies about his book ‘Lying for Money: How Legendary Frauds Reveal the Workings of the World.' Dan and Mark look at some of the great scams of modern history to explore how fraud works, why it persists, and what it can teach us about modern economies.

On this episode Mark talks with political economist Brett Christophers. Brett's a Professor at Uppsala University, and author of ‘Rentier Capitalism: Who Owns the Economy, and Who Pays for It?'. In the book, Brett explains how neoliberalism and financialization have led to an explosion of rent-seeking businesses in a variety of sectors, from natural resource extraction and finance, to tech and hospitality. And while it allows some companies to thrive, Brett argues that mostly it stifles innovation, hurts competition, and defangs what's left of organized labor. In Brett's view, this new model of capitalism is one of the key economics challenges we face. After reading his book, you might agree. You can learn more about and purchase Brett Christopher's book here: [https://www.versobooks.com/books/3683-rentier-capitalism] You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/16-3YA3_gQpvbt29ESkZJGe5nuDtOHzEL/view?usp=sharing]

In this episode Mark talks with Boston University Professor Vivien Schmidt. Schmidt is an expert in the political economy of the European Union, and one of the keenest analysts of its institutions. Her new book, ‘Europe's Crisis of Legitimacy: Governing by Rules and Ruling by Numbers in the Eurozone (2019),' asks questions that each year grow more pressing. Why does the EU seem to have a constant legitimacy problem within its own membership, and what does this persistent legitimacy gap mean for Europe and the world? You can learn more about and purchase Schmidt's book here: [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/europes-crisis-of-legitimacy-9780198797067?cc=us&lang=en&] You can find a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/19GIO_qZSfKlq_ityoMfO5_Bt_H8Cfw7r/view?usp=sharing]

On this episode Mark talks with Stephanie Kelton, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Stony Brook University and author of 'The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy'. Kelton is one of the leading experts on modern monetary theory (MMT), a view of macroeconomics that upends many long-held assumptions about federal government spending. Mark and Stephanie start by unpacking a key tenet of MMT: when it comes to spending, debt, and savings, governments are NOTHING like households. But as you'll hear, that's only the tip of the MMT iceberg. You can learn more about and purchase Stephanie Kelton's book here: [https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/stephanie-kelton/the-deficit-myth/9781541736184/] You can read or download a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Th_TsKlZLpDPl7pznRz-_G5HPVuVe-b/view?usp=sharing]

On this episode Mark talks with Martin Sandbu, a journalist at the Financial Times and author of 'The Economics of Belonging.' In addition to having a great title, the book provides a penetrating explanation for why so many people have come to feel so left behind in wealthy Western countries. Mark and Martin discuss the role economics plays in this discontent, and look at how radical economic policy could help not just boost national GDP's and employment rates in the West, but renew a widespread sense of citizenship and belonging. You can read or download a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zj_lSC-q7JOXG2lqkeNQWqL_Comg83Az/view?usp=sharing] You can learn more about and purchase Martin's book here: [https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691204529/the-economics-of-belonging]

On this episode Mark talks with Jonathan Hopkin, author of 'Anti-System Politics: The Crisis of Market Liberalism in Rich Democracies.' Unlike most analyses of populism and the breakdown of party systems, Hopkin argues that the way countries' have governed their markets in the last 30 years has shaped not just the rise of populism, but a form of politics opposed to market liberalism that spans the ideological spectrum.  You can read or download a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/12E8x0QEsi0PR7RbUPs9ysl7DXrthCEht/view?usp=sharing] You can learn more about and purchase John Hopkin's book here: [https://www.amazon.com/Anti-System-Politics-Crisis-Liberalism-Democracies/dp/0190699760]

On this episode Mark talks with Alex Cooley and Dan Nexon, authors of 'Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order.' Scholars and pundits have been predicting the US's decline as the singular world power since at least the 1970s. Now, with President Trump's isolationist, nativist politics, many are saying this decline has finally arrived. Cooley and Nexon agree that the US's exit from hegemony has begun -- but as they explain, it started long before Trump's inauguration. You can learn more about and purchase they book here: [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/exit-from-hegemony-9780190916473?cc=us&lang=en&]

Megan Greene is an economist who actually sticks her head out the window, and takes real world observations as seriously as the models. For that reason (and many others), she's currently a Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and a Fellow at the Rhodes Center. On this episode Mark talks with Megan about what a post-Covid economy might look like, whether we're already in a global Depression, and how the American unemployment model is a little more European than many people think.

At a time when globalization is being contested by nationalists and battered by coronavirus, Mark talks to Samuel (Sandy) Zipp, Associate Professor of American Studies and Urban Studies at Brown, about the first American globalist: ex-Republican Presidential Candidate Wendell Willkie. Sandy is the author of 'The Idealist: Wendell Willkie's Wartime Quest to Build One World,' and as he describes in it, after losing to FDR, Willkie circumnavigated the globe in 1942, steeled the Allied countries' resolve to fight Nazism, and in the process picked up a new politics of globalism. Back home Willkie wrote 'One World,' a wildly successful book that briefly pushed Americans to embrace the causes of decolonization. Mark and Sandy discuss Willkie's odyssey, and its relevance for the world we find ourselves in today. You can learn more about Zipp's book here: [https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674737518]

Something strange happened in late April: the price of oil went negative. This below-zero price tag didn't last long, but it remains unusually cheap. And thanks to the coronavirus, it will likely stay that way for a while. In this episode Mark talks with Watson Associate Professor Jeff Colgan, an expert on the oil industry and the geopolitics that define it. They get into oil's current price fluctuations, how it's related to the coronavirus pandemic, and how changes to this singular commodity will affect industries and countries in a post-pandemic world. You can watch the extended video of this conversation here: [https://watson.brown.edu/events/2020/live-corona-oil-shock]

In this episode, Mark talks with Jazmin Sierra, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame, who is a specialist in the political economies of Latin America. This interview was on the books before the coronavirus pandemic; Mark and Jazmin were planning to talk growth models in Latin America - that is, what bits of GDP the different economies tickle to generate growth. Now of course, there's a more pressing topic at hand. But surprise, surprise: the two topics are deeply connected. They discuss how different countries in Latin America are responding to this crisis, and what it's revealing about the strengths and vulnerabilities of their different growth models in this moment. Plus, the eerie feeling of deja vu one gets when watching Brazilian politics from the US.

For decades, left-leaning political parties were defined by their advocacy for the working class. But in the 1990s that started to change, as left voters were asked to adapt to a more technocratic, market-driven world and parties themselves changed, becoming more technocratic. Parties changed internally with finance-friendly economists and political strategists taking over from trade union economists and party activists. We're living with the consequences of that transformation today, from the rise of inequality to the surge of anti-immigrant nationalist political parties. To better understand this strange new political world, Mark talks with Stephanie L. Mudge, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Davis and author of 'Leftism Reinvented: Western Parties' from Socialism to Neoliberalism (Recorded on 3/5/2020). You can watch Stephanie Mudge's March 5th talk at Watson here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP86Fk5AMQI&feature=youtu.be] You can learn more about and purchase 'Leftism Reinvented' here: [https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674971813]