#731 Clara Mattei The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism
RECORDED ON DECEMBER 26th 2022.
Dr. Clara Mattei is an Assistant Professor in the Economics Department of The New School for Social Research, and was a 2018-2019 member of the School of Social Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Studies. Her research contributes to the history of capitalism, exploring the critical relation between economic ideas and technocratic policy making. She is the author of The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism.
In this episode, we focus on The Capital Order. We start by talking about how the relationship between the state and the market changed during World War I, and the empowerment of workers in its aftermath, illustrating it with the example of wage relations. We discuss workers movements and their goals, and the development of austerity in reaction to it. We talk about the real goals, and the economic and social consequences of austerity. We discuss if there is any “apolitical” theory in economics, and how austerity should be viewed as a response, not to economic crises, but to crises of capitalism. We also talk about the link between austerity and fascism, and finally we discuss if austerity can go away.
Time Links:
Intro
The relationship between the state and the market during World War I
The empowerment of workers in the aftermath of the war
Wage relations
The workers movements and their demands and goals
The origins of austerity
The real goals of austerity
Is there really any “apolitical” theory in economics?
Viewing austerity as a response, not to economic crises, but to crises of capitalism
The link between austerity and fascism
Can austerity go away?
Follow Dr. Mattei’s work!
Follow Dr. Mattei’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3FY6drn
Website: https://bit.ly/3hP4eN3
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3W7TtUQ
The Capital Order: https://bit.ly/3W6OoMD
Twitter handle: @claraemattei