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55 episodes with ayeisha thomas smith
We are living in a time of contradictions. For the last forty years, our politics and media have been dominated by neoliberal, right-wing voices - yet pundits insist that the UK is dominated by a woke, left-wing elite. Our politicians claim to champion the voices of the forgotten working class - yet working-class people are not seeing better wages, housing or healthcare. And the majority of people in this country are being screwed by the economic system - yet for some reason we seem unable to secure a better future for ourselves. So where did it all go wrong? Are we really ruled over by a censorious woke mob? Or is it all a convenient story, to distract us from the real villains? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Ash Sarkar, journalist and author of Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War. Music by A.A Aalto (available: freemusicarchive.org), used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
Half a year ago, the Labour Party swept into power with a huge parliamentary majority and Kier Starmer celebrated by saying that the country could “get its future back”. Today, Labour are dogged by low approval ratings, having upset everyone from environmentalists to pensioners, farmers to small-business owners. And just last week Reform overtook both the Conservatives and Labour in a poll of voting intentions - suggesting the public are already looking for an alternative. So, why has the public seemingly turned on the Labour Party? Should they be threatened by the rise of Reform? And how can the progressive movement push this government to create the world we want? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Grace Blakeley, economics commentator and author of Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom, and David Edgerton, historian and author of The Rise and Fall of the British Nation: a Twentieth Century History. Music by A.A Aalto (available: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_A_Aalto/Bright_Corners/Corps_Of_Discovery/), used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
On this week's episode of Over the Top, Under the Radar, Gary is joined by guest co-host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith. They discuss discuss JD Vance's spicy speech at the Munich conference, the German anti-fascist fightback, why left-wing activists are apparently not playing nice, and Britain's special relationship with the US. Are they really that into us?You can also find Ayeisha on the New Economics Foundation podcast.Support us on PATREON - get bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter and become a part of our members-only WhatsApp community.Email us at info@overunderpod.comSign up to the newsletter at www.overunderpod.comFollow us on all socials @over_under_pod_Over The Top Under The Radar is made by the production team of Andrew Spence, Bernard Achampong, Emma Stephens, Pat Younge and Sarah MylesVisuals by J10XJJ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The price of your food shop rocketed because of inflation and now your mortgage is going up hundreds of pounds because the Bank of England decided to increase interest rates. You might be struggling to make ends meet and wondering why our central bank has made your life more difficult. Across the pond Donald Trump is putting pressure on the American central bank to lower its interest rates, saying he knows more about it than Federal Reserve policymakers. It might seem a tempting proposal to the average American who feels that their central bank has not provided them with the stability it is supposed to. So what is the role of central banks in all of this? Are they under threat from right-wing populism? And what are the progressive alternatives to dealing with inflation? This week Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Dominic Caddick, economist at NEF, and Sebastian Mang, senior policy advisor at NEF, to discuss. Music by A.A Aalto (available: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_A_Aalto/Connections/Focus/), used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
Do you work from home? Then you're probably not doing proper work, and you're causing the UK's economic decline! At least that's what the former boss of Asda and M&S said last week. Meanwhile, gig economy Deliveroo riders have launched a new campaign for greater openness around the opaque algorithms that rule their working lives. It's clear with new technology comes new battles for workers. So what is working life like in the UK right now? After pandemic lockdowns and high inflation, have we changed our expectations of what work provides? And are unions ready to lead the fight back against bad work? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Kate Bell, assistant general secretary at the Trades Union Congress. Music by A.A Aalto (available: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_A_Aalto/Bright_Corners/Coast_Highway/), used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
Last week hundreds of tractors drove through Parliament Square. It was the latest protest by UK farmers against changes to inheritance tax announced by the chancellor. From farmers' protests to the poll-tax riots in the 90s, the amount of tax we pay to the government churns up intense emotions. We want to rescue our cash-strapped public services - but most of us are reluctant to pay more tax. Do Labour's tax plans go far enough to fix our broken economy? Is the UK really a high-tax nation? And if we want an economy that meets everyone's needs, do we all just need to pay more tax? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Sara Hall, deputy director at Tax Justice UK, and Hannah Peaker, director of policy at NEF, to discuss. Music by A.A Aalto (available: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_A_Aalto/Bright_Corners/Corps_Of_Discovery/), used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
From housebuilding to sewage systems to the NHS, private companies are deeply intertwined with our essential public services. But is partnering with big corporations the only way of improving people's lives? Is private investment a vital ingredient in economic renewal? Or will it just lead to price gouging for us and soaring profits for corporate execs? This week Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Daniela Gabor, professor of economics at SOAS, and Aveek Bhattacharya, research director at the Social Market Foundation, to discuss the role of private investment in our economy and public services. Music by A.A Aalto (available: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_A_Aalto/Fest/Sneak), used under Creative Commons licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney, Margaret Welsh and Amy Clancy. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
The International Energy Agency has said that the world cannot develop any new oil and gas fields if we are to stop climate breakdown. Keir Starmer has promised that the UK will slash its emissions faster than ever before and his government is banning new licences to drill for fossil fuels in the North Sea. Drilling in the wild waters of the North Sea has been a major Scottish industry for decades. Now, its time may be coming to an end. But what about the people who depend on the industry for their livelihoods? What will happen to workers and communities in places like Aberdeen? And how do we square this with the need to kick our addiction to destructive fossil fuels? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Anna Carthy, senior policy researcher at Uplift, and Mika Minio-Paluello, industry and climate lead at the Trades Union Congress, to discuss. Music: Curious by Poddington Bear (available: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Curious/Curious/), used under Creative Commons licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney, Margaret Welsh and James Rush. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
The Autumn Budget was the most significant since George Osborne implemented austerity in 2010. Rachel Reeves announced one hundred billion pounds for infrastructure, forty billion in tax rises and a whole host of policy changes, which she hopes will deliver Labour's mission of national economic renewal. But what does an extra hundred billion pounds mean for the UK? Are we finally taxing the wealthy properly? And has the chancellor gone far enough to rescue our public services? Ayeisha Thomas Smith is joined by economist James Meadway and NEF Director of Policy Hannah Peaker to discuss. Music: Caterpillar Tunnel by Poddington Bear (available: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Curious/CaterpillarTunnel/), used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney, Margaret Welsh and James Rush. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
By the time this episode comes out, the new Labour government will have been in charge of the country for one hundred days. So what do we know about how they'll run the economy? Can they rescue our threadbare public services while promising a tight grip on government spending? And will their focus on growth deliver real change for those who need it most? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Aditya Chakrabortty, senior economic commentator at the Guardian, and Ailbhe Rea, associate editor at Bloomberg UK, for the first episode in a new series of the New Economics podcast. ....... Music: Gathering by Poddington Bear (available: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Encouraging/Gathering/), used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney, Margaret Welsh and James Rush. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
A few weeks ago, far-right rioters gathered outside a hotel hosting asylum seekers in Rotherham and tried to set it on fire. Across the country this horrific act of violence was replicated, as mosques, libraries and people driving home from work came under attack. But in the face of this racist and Islamophobic violence, people gathered to protest the presence of the far right in their communities and to rebuild after the attacks. It was people showing solidarity with their neighbours which ultimately seemed to stem the riots. As the dust settles on the violence, how do we combat the rise of the far right? Are economic deprivation and austerity to blame for that week of violence? And can communities come together to combat racism and Islamophobia? For a one off special episode of the podcast, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Minnie Raham, Chief Executive of Praxis, and Abi O'Connor, researcher at NEF. Find out more about: Praxis: https://www.praxis.org.uk/ Green and Black Cross: https://greenandblackcross.org/ Music: What happened in the past doesn't stay there by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Today's episode of Election Economics is a post-election debrief - hosted by Ayeisha Thomas-Smith who is joined by Phil Burton-Cartledge. They touched on their immediate reactions and analysis of the results, if the Tory losses were inevitable, what next for a Labour government, and the openings & contradictions of the new political UK landscape. Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is host of the New Economics Podcast for the New Economics Foundation and Executive Director at NEON, the New Economy Organisers Network Phil is the author of The Party's Over: The Rise and Fall of the Conservatives from Thatcher to Sunak from Verso Books and is a senior lecturer in Sociology at Derby University. Phil has written extensively about the decline of the Tory party for Tribune and Jacobin, as well as on his blog, All That Is Solid. TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
In the recent European elections, the far right won unprecedented gains. From the success of the AfD in Germany, to Le Pen's National Rally in France, the elections saw nationalist and eurosceptic parties sweep up nearly a quarter of the seats in the European parliament. In the UK, the next general election is just days away. Voters will be heading to the polls against a backdrop of decades of economic failure, crumbling public services and a cost of living crisis that has left more than four in 10 households unable to afford life's essentials. But you wouldn't know it from the way a lot of our political leaders are talking. Voters are being told, yet again, that times are tough, government spending power is weak, and there is no magic money tree. Oh, and of course, it really is time to crack down on migration, once and for all. So, how can we understand the promises, or lack thereof, of the people vying for our votes, within a broader context of political upheaval across Europe? In a time of such great need, why are Labour and the Conservatives offering so little? And as the dust settles on the European elections, is the UK really an anomalous country leaning the left, while our continental neighbours lurch rightward? This week, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Yanis Varoufakis - economist, academic, formally Greece's finance minister, and author of a number of critical books, the latest of which is Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism. They discuss: how do we build a Pan-European progressive movement that can win? ....... Music: Melting Ground by Jangwa, used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Amy Clancy, Margaret Welsh and James Rush. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
We live under an invisible ideology. It tells us that we are not citizens but consumers. That intervening in the free market compromises our freedom. That we are all millionaires-in-waiting - and if we are struggling to make ends meet, then we only have ourselves to blame. This is capitalism on steroids. But few of us can even identify the doctrine we live under. It's called “neoliberalism”, and it's been the dominant economic ideology for the past four decades. So what does this ideology have to tell us about the world? How is neoliberalism shaping our democracy? And what has almost half a century of neoliberalism done to our lives? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by George Monbiot, journalist and co-author of the new book The Invisible Doctrine: the secret history of neoliberalism, to discuss: how do we tell a new story about neoliberalism? ....... Music by Inaequalis is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Produced by Amy Clancy, Margaret Welsh and James Rush. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent or NEF. New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
In February, the prime minister warned that “mob rule is replacing democratic rule” in the UK. He encouraged police to take action on pro-Palestine protests which, he said, had descended into “intimidation, threats, and planned acts of violence”. Over 50 organisations responded by accusing this government of placing draconian restrictions on the right to protest. A UN expert has claimed that before the 1930s, it was almost unheard of for peaceful protesters to be imprisoned in the UK. But last year two climate protestors who scaled a bridge on the Dartford Crossing received the longest sentences for peaceful protest in modern British history. Are we witnessing a protest crackdown? Why are politicians referring to some protest groups as “extremists” and “militants”? And how can we defend the right to protest? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Akiko Hart, Director of Liberty, and Audrey Cherryl Mogan, Criminal Defence and Civil Liberties Barrister. ....... Music by Aldous Ichnite, used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Amy Clancy, Margaret Welsh and James Rush. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
Almost three million people in the UK are unemployed and unable to work because they are ill or disabled. According to the right-wing media, these people aren't nearly as unwell as they claim. Meanwhile a UN committee warned that disabled people in the UK are subjected to a “traumatising” benefits system. We have a social security system that's been stripped to the bone and millions of people are struggling to afford the essentials as a result, yet both of the main political parties are desperate to be seen as “tough on benefits”. So what's gone wrong with our social security system? Why are politicians so intent on alienating those who rely on it? And how can we build a system that gives everyone the support they need? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Kaliya Franklin, freelance disability policy expert and campaigner, and Mikey Erhardt, campaigner at Disability Rights UK. ------- Music: Thoughtful by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/lee-rosevere/music-for-podcasts-serious/thoughtful-2/, used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney, Margaret Welsh and James Rush The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
Britain's favourite broadcaster David Attenborough once said: “Anyone who thinks you can have infinite growth in a finite environment is either a madman - or an economist.” But our political leaders don't seem to agree. Both our major political parties have made growing the economy a key metric for their success in government. So what is economic growth? How did it become so central to our understanding of the economy? And should we really be striving for infinite growth on a finite planet? Ayeisha Thomas Smith is joined by Kate Raworth, economist and author of Doughnut Economics, and Michael Jacobs, professor of political economy at the University of Sheffield. ------- Music: Under Suspicion by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/lee-rosevere/music-for-podcasts-serious/under-suspicion/, used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney, Margaret Welsh and James Rush The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
We're waiting longer than ever for hospital appointments, our kids' schools are literally crumbling, and homelessness has sky-rocketed in the past year. This week's spring budget was a vital chance for chancellor Jeremy Hunt to respond to the huge problems our country is facing. But instead of trying to fix any of our problems, the chancellor announced a cut to national insurance that will benefit the richest households twelve times more than the poorest. So what do Jeremy Hunt's announcements mean for people across the UK? Why are the opposition talking about maxed out credit cards? And what needs to happen to save our public services and boost living standards for all? Ayeisha Thomas Smith is joined by Hannah Peaker, director of policy at the New Economics Foundation, and Lydia Prieg, head of economics at the New Economics Foundation ----- Music by Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney, Margaret Welsh and James Rush The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
Worried about your carbon emissions? Don't stress! You can pump out as much as you want - as long as you buy some offsets to balance it out. Scared of the collapse of wildlife? No problem! We can figure out how much money our ecosystems are worth, and let the market do the rest! Welcome to the logic of green capitalism. Fossil fuel giants claim to celebrate sustainability while pumping out toxic emissions. Governments are relying on carbon offsets to make their climate promises add up. And we're told that we can fight the climate crisis with the magic of economic markets. Why have corporations got so interested in sustainability? Will carbon offsets save us - or are they just a cute accounting trick? And if wind and solar energy are so cheap, why haven't we embraced them? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Adrienne Buller, author of The Value of a Whale: On the illusions of green capitalism, and Brett Christophers, author of The Price is Wrong: Why capitalism won't save the planet. ------- Music by Serge Quadrado, used under Creative Commons licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Produced by Katrina Gaffney, Margaret Welsh and James Rush The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
Becky Ripley and Sophie Ward take a cold hard look at the psychology behind each of the seven deadly sins, in the order established by Pope Gregory the Great: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and lazy old sloth. Why have we evolved these ugly emotions? What's going on in the brain and the body when we feel them? And how best can we live alongside them - in ourselves and with others?Greed is in the spotlight today. And we're not talking food. (That's gluttony, we come to that later in the series.) We're talking greed for money, for land, for material things – and ultimately for control, status, dominance, power. The kind of greed that separates the "haves" from the "have nots". On one hand, greed is a great motivator, driving us all forward in our pursuit to get more of whatever it is we want. But at its ugliest, greed can come at a huge cost to other people, and to the planet. When does self-interested behaviour become selfish? And can we be greedy for the good? To guide us through this mess is evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, psychologist and social scientist Professor Paul Piff from the Department of Psychological Science at the University of California, Executive Director of the New Economy Organisers Network, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith, and a few wise words from Sir David Attenborough.Producer: Becky Ripley
This spring, swimmers in Kent were told to avoid ten beaches in the county due to sewage leaks. Public outrage at sewage pouring into our rivers and beaches has so far focused on water companies. But is someone else to blame? The pipes that carry sewage in Kent are not owned by Southern Water, or even Kent County Council. They belong to a massive Australian asset management firm that most of us have never heard of. Asset management firms are not household names, but they've come to own our energy systems, hospitals, schools, and even the pipes that supply our drinking water. So who are these shadowy companies? What even is asset management? And why are they buying up the things we need to keep our society going? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by political economist and economic geographer Brett Christophers to discuss his new book Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World. Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2985-our-lives-in-their-portfolios-why-asset-managers-own-the-world ----- Music by Chad Crouch and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Produced by Becky Malone, Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
The friend who has to cancel plans to look after their elderly mum. The colleague who leaves their phone on loud so they don't miss a call about their disabled child. The neighbour you've barely seen since their partner's diagnosis. We're surrounded by people who are dealing with the challenges of caregiving, but they often go unseen. According to Carers UK, there could be over ten million people providing unpaid care in the UK. We'll all have to care for someone or be cared for over the course of our lives. So why are the challenges caregivers face so overlooked? And how can we build a system that supports their wellbeing? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by writer and activist Emily Kenway to discuss her new book Who Cares: the hidden crisis of caregiving and how we solve it. Grab a copy of the book, out now: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/who-cares-the-hidden-crisis-of-caregiving-and-how-we-solve-it-emily-kenway/5956477?ean=9781472288486 ----- Music by Chris Zabriskie and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Produced by Becky Malone, Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
As the chancellor stood up in Parliament to present his spring budget in March, half a million people went on strike to demand better from their bosses. Teachers, junior doctors, Tube drivers, civil servants and more all walked out of work, in the biggest day of strike action in over a decade. As the strikes rumble on into another summer, how can workers keep up the momentum? Will new legislation make it harder to fight for better pay and working conditions? And should more of us be trying to unionise our workplaces? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by workplace organiser Lydia Hughes and researcher Jamie Woodcock, authors of Troublemaking: why you should organise your workplace. Grab a copy of Troublemaking: Why You Should Organise Your Workplace – out now www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2889-troublemaking ----- Music by Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Produced by Becky Malone, Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Nurses struggling without PPE, the frantic search for hospital ventilators, even the dreaded ping from NHS test-and-trace. To most of us, these memories represent some of the worst of the Covid pandemic. But for a select few companies, they were an opportunity to make millions. Consultancy firms won over seven hundred million pounds worth of government Covid contracts to do things like run the test-and-trace system and vaccine rollout. This February, ministers dropped restrictions on Whitehall spending on consultants, allowing these firms to potentially rake in millions more. So why is the government so dependent on consultants? Whose interests do they serve? And how worried should we be about their effect on public life? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Rosie Collington, co-author of 'The Big Con: How the Consultancy Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilises Our Governments and Warps Our Economies'. Grab a copy of The Big Con out now https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/451193/the-big-con-by-collington-mariana-mazzucato-and-rosie/9780241573082 ----- Music by A. A. Aalto and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. Produced by Becky Malone, Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
In August this year Jake Davison, a 22-year-old from Plymouth, went on a shooting rampage that left six dead, including his mother and himself. In the aftermath it emerged that Davison had been a member of ‘incel' forums online. He's not the first mass shooter to have links to online groups espousing extreme hatred of women. Since Elliot Rodger killed six people in California in 2014, self-proclaimed ‘involuntary celibates' have carried out multiple mass murders, mostly in North America. What's driving this extreme misogyny? Is incel ideology on the rise? And are Big Tech companies to blame for allowing these groups to thrive online? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined Debbie Ging, associate professor in the school of communications at Dublin City University. - Find out more about Zizi Papacharissi's work on affective publics oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/1…999736 - Michael Kimmel's book Angry White Men is available here uk.bookshop.org/books/angry-white…era/9781568589619 - Read Amnesty's report on Toxic Twitter www.amnesty.org/en/latest/researc…-women-chapter-1/ - The New Patriarchs of Digital Capitalism by Ben Little and Alison Winch is available here www.routledge.com/The-New-Patriarc…ok/9780367260156 - Find out more about Debbie Ging's work www.dcu.ie/communications/people/debbie-ging ----- Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. Music by Poddington Bear and Chris Zabriskie under Creative Commons license. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Fatima Zahra-Ibrahim, co-dir of Green New Deal UK and Chaitanya Kumar, Head of Environment & Green Transition at New Economics Foundation, talk with Ayeisha Thomas-Smith about how do we keep climate in the picture? Should we bail out struggling polluting industries? & how can we make sure our Covid recovery is green? This Aug 2020 episode of Weekly Economics Podcasts was produced by NEF www.neweconomics.org & now available on The Real Agenda Network of podcasts for progressive change. www.realagenda.org
Setting up a desk area in the kitchen, Zoom call-induced headaches, or getting furloughed and paid to not do any work - this year has shaken up the world of work like never before. The pandemic has made us reimagine how work fits into our economy and our lives. So, with 79% of business leaders and nearly two-thirds of the public open to bringing in a shorter working week in light of the pandemic, should we be thinking more about working less? Could a shorter working week help us recover from coronavirus? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Alfie Stirling, NEF Director of Research and Chief Economist, and Anna Coote, Principal Fellow at NEF to discuss their new book with Aidan Harper, The Case for a Four-Day Week. The book will be out on the 27th November, go to the Polity website to grab a copy https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509539642 ----- Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone. Music by Poddington Bear and Blue Dot Sessions under Creative Commons license. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
After the death of George Floyd, Katie and Dr Radha chat to Ayeisha Thomas-Smith about how we can use our emotions to create positive change. They discuss the definition of anti-racism and the steps you can take to be better.
Last week, the big red briefcase was handed over to new Chancellor, Rishi Sunak. But many of Sunak’s Budget promises were overshadowed by new measures to deal with the coronavirus. With the stock market hitting a four-year low, the outbreak is pushing us towards recession. So what do we know about the government’s economic plans? Are they doing enough to avoid a recession? And in focusing on coronavirus, what other crises are they ignoring? In this special episode, recorded shortly after the Budget, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Alfie Stirling, NEF’s Head of Economics, and Carys Roberts, Executive Director of IPPR. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Chad Crouch, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK’s only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
If you’ve been listening to the Weekly Economics Podcast for a while, you’ll know that we think there’s much more to economics than GDP. But it still dominates the way politicians and much of the press talk about the economy. Now though, there are lots of new proposals for measuring what counts. So what should replace GDP? And how would it change society? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith discusses with Guardian economics correspondent Richard Partington and NEF fellow Annie Quick. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Mr. Frisby's Beat Pocket and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
It’s been a busy year for the climate movement since last summer’s scorching heatwave. Extinction Rebellion shut down the streets, the school strikes saw thousands of young people take a stand, and the Green New Deal has shot to the top of the political agenda – for now, at least. Last month Parliament passed a motion to declare an ‘environment and climate change emergency’. Meanwhile, Theresa May is trying to use the last weeks of her premiership to build some sort of legacy, including a new target for net zero climate emissions by 2050. So, against that backdrop, what should the climate movement do next? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined this week by Hannah Martin from Greenpeace and Green New Deal UK. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Recorded live at Birkbeck University on March 16th 2019, @Suite-212's founding co-host Juliet Jacques presents a panel in which Jack of Reel Politik, Riley of Trashfuture and James Shield, producer of the New Economics Foundation's Weekly Economics Podcast (standing in for his host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith) discuss the radical political potential of podcasting, or lack thereof, its place in a media landscape with a reactionary homogeneity, and the nuances of copyright law.
Knife crime is at a nine-year high. Everyone agrees: something must be done. Some politicians want more police on the streets, or tougher sentences. Others want cuts to mental health services to be reversed. One MP has suggested every knife in Britain should have a built-in GPS tracker – good luck with that. But knife crime it is a complex issue, and young people’s lives depend on policymakers getting it right. So today, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is taking a big-picture look at the issue with one of the journalists who’s covered it more than perhaps any other: the Guardian’s editor-at-large, Gary Younge. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music this week is by Candlegravity and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
We’re away this week, but in the meantime thought we’d listen back to one of our favourite episodes from last year. If house prices are too high for people to be able to buy houses, how can we bring them down? And can we do it without upsetting homeowners and crashing the economy? Beth Stratford is a PhD student at Leeds University. Last February she published a blog post at OpenDemocracy that was so interesting we knew we had to get her on the podcast to talk about it. She argues it just might be possible to lower house prices without crashing the economy. Joe Beswick, head of housing and land here at the New Economics Foundation, joined Beth and Ayeisha Thomas-Smith, to chat through the idea. We hope you enjoy! And we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
The Green New Deal has rocketed to the top of the agenda in the US. It's an ambitious plan, spearheaded by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to decarbonise the US economy and eliminate economic insecurity at the same time. But in fact the Green New Deal has some of its origins here at the New Economics Foundation. So what's the story behind the development of the idea? And how would a Green New Deal actually work, both in the UK and across the pond? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined this week by: - Ann Pettifor, director of Prime Economics and one of the co-authors of the Green New Deal report published by NEF in 2008; - Miatta Fahnbulleh, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation; - Waleed Shahid, communications director of the Justice Democrats, who also worked on the campaign to elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music this week is by Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Public ownership is back on the agenda. Opinion polls show high levels of support for taking all kinds of things back into public hands, from the railways to water to energy, and the Labour party is committed to a vast expansion of public ownership. But if privatisation has failed, what kind of public ownership should replace it? As the critics of nationalisation are quick to say, British Rail wasn’t that great. What should be done differently this time? If these services were nationalised, would the state even know how to run them? And are there other ways of putting them back in public hands? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Cat Hobbs, director of We Own It campaign, Hilary Wainwright, co-editor of Red Pepper magazine and fellow of the Transnational Institute, and Sahil Dutta, lecturer in political economy at Goldsmiths University. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music this week is by Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
This Thursday is Time To Talk Day, a day meant to encourage people to talk about mental health. But what are the wider social and economic factors that are causing poor mental health in the first place? Is the economy itself damaging our mental health? Is modern life making us sick? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith talks to Hana Riaz, who is researching the impact of gentrification on mental health, New Economics Foundation organiser Becki Winson, and NEF wellbeing researcher Annie Quick. If you, or someone you know, have been affected by mental health issues, the following organisations may be able to help: The Mental Health Foundation provides a guide to Mental Health problems, topical issues and treatment options via their website. http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/ Mind provides advice and support on a range of topics including types of mental health problem, legislation and details of local help and support in England and Wales. http://www.mind.org.uk/ Phone: 0300 123 3393 (weekdays 9am - 6pm) YoungMinds offers information, support and advice for children and young people. Help for concerned parents of those under 25 is offered by phone. Phone: 0808 802 5544 (Mon–Fri 9.30am-4pm) http://www.youngminds.org.uk/ Inspire (Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health) provides local services to support the mental health and wellbeing of people across Northern Ireland. http://www.inspirewellbeing.org/ Phone: 028 9032 8474 SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) can provide general mental health information and signpost you to your local services. Phone: 0141 530 1000 (Mon-Fri 9 – 5) http://www.samh.org.uk/ Community Advice & Listening Line offers emotional support and information on mental health and related matters to people in Wales. Phone: 0800 132 737 (24/7) or text "help" to 81066 http://www.callhelpline.org.uk/
Last week saw a record number of the world's elite flying their private jets to Davos for the World Economic Forum. Oxfam reported that in the 10 years since the financial crisis, the number of billionaires around the world has nearly doubled. It’s fair to say, the economy isn’t working for everyone. Every week on this podcast we look at a different economic problem and how to solve it, but what if economics itself – the way we teach it, talk about it and think about it – is the real problem? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by three people working to democratise economics and change how it's taught across the country: co-director of Rethinking Economics Maeve Cohen, Chief Exec of Economy Joe Earle, and Polly Trenow from the Women's Budget Group. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music: Podington Bear and Mr Frisby's Beat Pocket, licenced under Creative Commons. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Can populism be progressive, and what role did it play in the US mid-terms this year? We’ll be back with a brand new series in the new year, but in the meantime we wanted to bring you something a bit different: the best bits from a live event hosted by the New Economy Organisers Network in London in November about progressive populism. The guests were the political theorist Chantal Mouffe, who literally wrote the book on progressive populism ('For A Left Populism'), and the American campaigner Jonathan Smucker, author of 'Hegemony How-To: A Roadmap for Radicals'. Podcast host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith chaired the debate. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music: Podington Bear, licenced under Creative Commons. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith discovers how when we suffer a scarcity of mental resources, we fail to plan for our futures. That means, according to Princeton psychology professor Eldar Shafir, that millions of people on low incomes where money is scarce are finding it much harder than others to improve their lives. Not because they are untalented or do not want to, but because their brain circuitry is overloaded. And the professor believes even people who are not short of money but are trying to lose weight, could also be impacted by this scarcity mindset. Ayeisha hears about experiments in the US and India which seem to show that as our mental “band-width” diminishes and we become overloaded by problems, our chances of thinking our way out of our situation reduces as well. (Photo: An Asylum Seeker. Credit: Getty Images)
We’ve just had a few days of respite from the craziest temperatures, but this summer’s heatwave has felt unusual. Parks turning to dust and reservoirs running out. Record temperatures and sweeping fires. It feels as though, this summer, we’ve had a glimpse at what our ‘new normal’ might look like. It’s a disaster on a global scale and it’s been taking hold for some time. So why aren’t we in a panic? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Dave Powell, head of environment at the New Economics Foundation, who's been feeling a bit Thom Yorke about it all. Links: Dave's NEF blog: 'Climate breakdown: where is the left?' https://www.neweconomics.org/2018/07/climate-breakdown-where-is-the-left Dave's Business Green article: 'In praise of mild discombobulation' https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/opinion/3036945/in-praise-of-mild-discombobulation Sustainababble - the weekly comedy podcast about the environment that Dave co-hosts with Ollie Hayes: http://www.sustainababble.fish Enjoyed this series? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music this week is by Andy Zeus and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Last week the Bank of England moved interest rates to their highest level in almost a decade. If you’ve got a mortgage, it might get more expensive. If you’ve got savings, you might get a bit more interest on your money. Does this tell us anything about what the Bank of England thinks is going to happen to the economy? And was it the right decision? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith speaks to Alfie Stirling, head of economics at the New Economics Foundation. Find Ayeisha's new 4-part BBC Radio 4 series, Economics with Subtitles, on iPlayer Radio: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bf9lbd Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Jeremy Corbyn and Donald Trump; Erdogan in Turkey and the Five Star Movement in Italy; Podemos in Spain and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines. All of them have been described as populists. But what does ‘populism’ actually mean? How can it include people with wildly different ideologies under the same umbrella? Is it possible to be a progressive populist – and even if it is, should progressives use that label? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by academic and writer Eliane Glaser, and Michael Walker from Novara Media. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
In between the resignations and the reshuffles, what have we learned about about where Brexit will go next? Much of the focus has been on the response to the deal the prime minister reached with her cabinet at Chequers, but what was in the deal itself? How practical is the government’s position on Brexit? And what are the alternatives? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Marley Morris, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, and Andrew Pendleton, NEF's director of policy and advocacy. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music by Anamorphic Orchestra and Podington Bear used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Is British shopping in crisis? Major names are struggling or closing down, nearly 22,000 jobs are at risk, and the UK now has an estimated 1,800 fewer high street shops than it had a year ago. Are we all just moving online and shopping from our sofas, or is this a sign that our economy might be in deeper trouble? Does Brexit have anything to do with it? Will Greggs be okay? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Krissie Nicolson, founding organiser of the East End Trades Guild, and Will Brett, NEF's director of communications. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music by Yung Kartz, Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
One of the most fashionable economic ideas of the past decade has been ‘nudge’ theory – the idea that a little prod from government can encourage us to change our behaviour and be better citizens, maybe without even realising it. Meanwhile, good old-fashioned regulation seems to have been decidedly out of favour with recent governments – and leaving the market to just do its thing isn’t all that popular with campaigners. When it comes to the environment, do all of these approaches have their place? What works best? And are there better or worse ways to make sure our economy doesn’t wreck the planet? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Dave Powell, head of environment at the New Economics Foundation, and Alice Bell, director at climate charity 10:10. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music by Podington Bear and Messer Chups used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Happy birthday, NHS! That was the message from the prime minister last week, as she announced an extra £20bn of funding for the NHS in England by 2023. But is that enough? And where will the money come from? There’s been talk of a ‘Brexit dividend’ – does that mean the infamous battle bus promise has come true? Or will some of us have to pay more tax to keep our NHS on life support? And whatever happened to fixing our broken social care system? This week, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Sarah Bedford, head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation, and Andy Cowper, comment editor of the Health Service Journal. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music: The Blank Tapes, Jahzzar and Podington Bear. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
The fire at Grenfell Tower a year ago last week was, above all, a tragedy for its residents, their friends, and their families. It’s also come to symbolise a deeper crisis in British society – at least in the eyes of many people. On this week's podcast, we’re giving you an update on what we’ve learned since that night; what the inquiry has heard; and the shifting national conversation about Grenfell. Ayeisha Thomas-Smith speaks to Luke Barratt, business reporter at Inside Housing, and Katya Nasim, a campaigner with the Radical Housing Network. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Papers destroyed by the Home Office. Forced out of work. Denied cancer treatment. Held in detention. Deported. Those are just a few of the terrible stories we’ve heard about the treatment of the Windrush generation over the past few months. We’ve had a change of Home Secretary, but will there be a change in policy? The government set up a ‘Windrush taskforce’ in April – but will it right these wrongs? And what does the ‘hostile environment’ policy say about the UK’s difficult relationship with its own history? This week, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Omar Khan, director of the race equality think tank, the Runnymede Trust, and writer and researcher Maya Goodfellow, who is writing a book about the immigration debate in Britain. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Music: Eklektik Ensemble and Podington Bear. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Universal basic income – an idea that almost no one had heard of just a few years ago – is now one of the most fashionable concepts in progressive politics. With automation increasing and wages stagnating, the theory is that giving everyone a set amount of money each year will liberate them to do what they want with their lives – and keep them out of poverty. But some people think universal basic income is a utopian impossibility. Others think it’s dangerous. So there’s a proposal for another solution: universal basic services. Instead of giving people money, why not guarantee all of the public services they need to live a full life? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith explores the two ideas with Barb Jacobson, Co-ordinator of Basic Income UK, and Anna Coote, New Economics Foundation Principal Fellow. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
A nerve agent attack on an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury has led to a retaliation by the UK government – expelling diplomats and ramping up a war of words. With Putin winning another huge election victory last week, some people are worried that we’re entering a new Cold War. Meanwhile, UK gas supplies have run low thanks to the recent winter freeze. What if Russia were to switch off our gas? Has it done it to other countries? And how would we get by? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Dave Powell, who leads on the environment for NEF, and Dustin Benton, Policy Director for the environmental think tank Green Alliance. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music: Bengale, Eklektik Ensemble, Rockabye Baby, and Prokofiev. Produced by James Shield. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's people-powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
It’s one of the biggest contradictions in British politics. Across the country, baby boomers who own a house cheer as the value of their property rises. Meanwhile their millennial children watch on in horror, as owning their own home increasingly falls out of their reach. Politicians talk about building more homes but very few of them talk about directly reducing house prices. If house prices are too high for people to be able to buy houses, how can we bring them down? And can we do it without upsetting homeowners and crashing the economy? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Joe Beswick, who leads on housing for the New Economics Foundation, and housing campaigner Beth Stratford, a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Universities up and down the country have been shutting down as lecturers have walked out, arguing that the changes to their pension schemes could leave them thousands of pounds a year worse off in retirement. If you don’t know the difference between your defined benefits and your defined contributions, getting your head round the issues can feel like doing an economics PhD before you’ve done your 101. So this week we’re breaking down what the university strikes are all about, and what they tell us about everyone else’s pensions too. Ayeisha Thomas-Smith speaks to two striking lecturers: Nadine El-Enany, co-director of the Centre for Research on Race and Law at Birkbeck, and SOAS Senate chair Meera Sabaratnam. They are joined by writer and researcher Christine Berry, who is also a postgraduate student at Sheffield University. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. Music: Podington Bear, licenced under Creative Commons. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
As the Guardian's US correspondent, Gary Younge documented America’s social and economic challenges, the role of race in the country’s politics, and the deadly consequences of US gun laws. Now the Guardian’s editor-at-large, Gary took an unusual approach to covering the 2016 presidential election, reporting from one small town in Indiana, called Muncie, nicknamed ‘Middletown, America’. In this week's podcast, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith asks Gary about Middletown today. Can it help explain a US election result that few people predicted? And do we have ‘Middletowns’ in the UK that can help us understand our own political upheaval? Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. Music: Podington Bear and Jahzzar, licenced under Creative Commons. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Technology is transforming the world of money. Or at least that’s what the Bitcoin junkies would have you believe. They say digital currencies have arrived and are about to revolutionise the way we buy things. But recent downturns in their prices have led some to wonder whether digital currencies have fuelled a dangerous speculative bubble that needs to be curbed by regulators. Is the Bitcoin boom over? Or was it just the start for digital currencies? This week, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Carl Miller from Demos, Fran Boait from Positive Money, and Duncan McCann from NEF. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. Music: A Life in Pictures by David Hilowitz, licenced under Creative Commons. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
There's been a panic in the stock markets in recent weeks after the Dow Jones plunged more than 1000 points on a single Monday in the first week of February. When the stock market plunges should we all be worried? Or does it only affect those wealthy enough to be trading? This week, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Frank van Lerven, NEF economist, and Anna Isaac, economics correspondent at The Telegraph. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Pro-Brexit campaigners have argued leaving the EU means Britain can "take control" of its fisheries. But what does Brexit really mean for fishing communities, and for the future of our fish stocks? This week, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Fernanda Balata, Senior Programme Lead for Coastal Economies at the New Economics Foundation, Griffin Carpenter, NEF Senior Researcher, and James Wilson, a mussel farmer in Bangor, North Wales. We also ask NEF Principal Director for Policy and Advocacy Andrew Pendleton for his predictions and expectations of this week's budget. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. This week's music: Dolphin by Candlegravity http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Candlegravity/Dolphin/ Fishing by David Szesztay http://freemusicarchive.org/music/David_Szesztay/Acoustic_Guitar/Fishing Lilywhite by Podington Bear http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Background/Lilywhite The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
The single market. The customs union. Making a deal with the EU or leaving on WTO terms. There’s a lot of jargon to contend with when we’re discussing the economics of Brexit. Sometimes it feels like we get so caught up in pretending we know what it all means that we forget to talk about the impact it’s going to have on people’s everyday lives. When we leave the EU, will some people lose their jobs? Will the things we buy become more expensive? Will businesses do better or worse under new trading rules? This week, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Annie Quick, Subject Lead for Inequality at the New Economics Foundation and Sam Lowe, who leads on trade and Brexit at Friends of the Earth. — Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! — Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
Last month, Transport for London announced it was withdrawing ride-hailing firm Uber's license to operate in the capital. Despite complaints over passenger safety and poor treatment of drivers, many Londoners came to Uber's defence, valuing its convenience. But what if we could build something better than Uber – something that is just as convenient and competitive on price, but treats its passengers and drivers with respect? This week host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by NEF's Principal Director for Unions and Business, Stefan Baskerville, and researcher Duncan McCann. — Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! — Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
A characteristic feature of British society in 2017 is division. Leavers are pitched against Remainers, young against old, graduates against non-graduates. But perhaps the starkest way of understanding social division in the UK is to consider the places where people live. A new report by the New Economics Foundation and Professor Will Jennings shows how electoral divisions have opened up between towns and cities in England. To explore this more, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is this week joined by Lisa Nandy MP and Will Brett, Director of News and Media at NEF. — Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! — Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
After its recent ban in Scotland, fracking is firmly back on the media and political agendas. But is fracking a necessary economics boost for the country, or an environmental disaster we should avoid at all costs? This week host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith welcomes back NEF’s Environment Lead, David Powell alongside Weekly Economics Podcast newbie Hanna Wheatley, Researcher at NEF. — Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! — Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
We’re in the midst of political party conference season and we've already had more headlines and drama than most years... But apart from politicos and journalists gossiping about party splits, are the party conferences actually offering any answers to the problems this country faces? Lots of the headlines have been about internal disagreements in Labour and the Conservative party, but what have they and the other parties had to say about housing, Brexit, investment, our environment and the pound in your pocket? This week host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith welcomes back NEF’s Senior Economist, Sara Mahmoud and Principal Director, Policy and Advocacy Andrew Pendleton. — Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! — Produced by James Shield and Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org
The housing crisis is a hot topic at the moment. We often talk about who can buy, sell and rent houses - and how much they cost - but we rarely talk about the land beneath them. Lots of land in the UK is owned by the government and local authorities - public land. But a load of it is being sold off, from old hospitals to sites owned by the Ministry of Defence. The government says that we should sell it to developers to build houses on to deal with the housing shortage. But is that really happening? Is selling off our public land really helping to solve the housing crisis? This week host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith welcomes back NEF’s Subject Lead on Housing, Alice Martin, to talk us through these thorny questions. She’s joined by NEF researcher Duncan McCann and journalist and author Dawn Foster, both experts on the issues of housing and land. — Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! — Produced by James Shield. Programme editor for the New Economics Foundation is Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org.
Personal debt is at record levels with one in six of us at risk of a debt crisis. Credit cards, overdrafts and payday loans are propping up households across the country as wages continue to fall in real terms. And many people are struggling under the pressure of paying back what they owe. But what is the effect on the wider economy? And what should we do about it? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is back with us this week and is joined by Sarah Lyall, NEF's Social Policy Lead and special guest Dr Jo Michell, Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of the West of England. — Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! — Produced by James Shield. Programme editor for the New Economics Foundation is Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org.
Big data. It’s one of those terms that’s far more widely used than it is understood. What is it? And just as importantly – who benefits from it? To get the full picture on big data, we are joined this week by a special guest – Will Davies, Director of the Political Economy Research Centre and a Senior Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. Our regular host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith returns next week – so Will Brett, NEF’s Director of News and Media, steps into the role of host. They talk about the impact of big data on how we understand society, and on how we experience the world of work. Also joining the discussion are NEF’s Stefan Baskerville, Director of Unions and Business and Alice Martin, Subject Lead for Housing and Work. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Programme editor for the New Economics Foundation is Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org.
The latest episode of the Weekly Economics Podcast asks whether The Great Repeal Bill will mean we 'take back control' of our laws. Stepping in for our host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith this week is producer Huw Jordan, who will be trying to make sense of the 'Great' Repeal Bill and the legal tangle of Britain leaving the EU. He'll be joined by Dave Powell, who leads on NEF's environment work, and special guest Karla Hill, Programme Director at ClientEarth. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Produced by James Shield. Programme editor for the New Economics Foundation is Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org.
What more does the environment have to do to become an election issue? Joining our host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith this week are Dave Powell, Subject Lead on Environment at the New Economics Foundation, Fernanda Balata, who leads NEF's work on coastal economies and Andrew Pendleton, Principal Director of Policy and Advocacy at NEF to discuss the environment, the election and the prospects for saving our planet. — Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! — Produced by James Shield. Programme editor for the New Economics Foundation is Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org.
We're back and kicking off our new series with President Trump - the end of economics as we know it, or Republican business as usual? Our new presenter, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith, is joined by New Economics Foundation regulars Alice Martin, Laurie Macfarlane and Stephen Devlin. As well as Trump, we talk news from the last week and get some expert predictions on the upcoming Budget. Tune in to find out why Mexico might want to nationalise Twitter, and the bad news ahead for Britain's vending machines... — Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! — Produced by James Shield. Programme editor for the New Economics Foundation is Huw Jordan. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org.
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