Framing pedagogy and political economy as intertwined projects, this dialogue dives into the guest's method, honed teaching Marx's Capital, of clarifying theory for audiences whose lived experience—from New York Universities to prisons—makes exploitation intuitive. The guest challenges the alleged death of neoliberalism, arguing its competitive phase produced new monopoly power and dangerous regional blocs. He dissects imperialism not as a fixed state but as a set of practices, one tool in capital’s unending search for a spatial fix.

Focusing on how debt, monetary policy, and financial systems dictate economic health, this conversation examines how dominant players tilt the scales in their favor. Grounding his analysis in Kalecki’s theories, the guest critiques the forces behind economic instability, from unchecked defense spending to global financial entanglements. His work challenges orthodox economics and calls for rethinking who benefits from financial "stability" and at what cost.

Under Bretton Woods, gold’s symbolic grip lingered even as central banks embraced credit over currency to fuel domestic economies. By decoupling credit growth from gold reserves, countries escaped the rigidities of gold-standard constraints while maintaining the illusion of gold-backed stability. Yet as this paper explores, for the US, gold’s weight shaped global monetary power, revealing how old institutions can endure but transform under new policy priorities.

Conservatives have launched a strategic assault on "woke capitalism," targeting responsible investment with anti-ESG laws in 18 states. By framing ESG initiatives as an elitist threat to democracy and economic freedom, leaders like Ron DeSantis aim to reassert state dominance over corporations pushing for systemic change. This study reveals a growing political battleground where investment practices challenge the balance of power between the state and business.

Big Tech is increasingly rewriting the rules of governance. By acting as “super policy entrepreneurs,” this article shows how tech giants leverage their clout to dominate every stage of policymaking, cut across sectors, and exploit windows of opportunity to align policies with their interests. Their growing influence overrides traditional boundaries, raising urgent questions about democratic accountability as these corporations mold policies to serve private power over public good.

The EU’s bid for green industrial transformation hinges on its regulatory muscle, but its capacity to steer change varies sharply across policies. Examining key initiatives like CO₂ standards and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, this article argues that corporate unity and political salience—not just legal power—define regulatory success. Far from clashing, regulation and industrial policy align as tools to reshape markets and drive sustainable growth, though unevenly and politically contested.

Unconditional basic income isn’t a magic bullet. It’s a political tool shaped by the system it serves. This study examines how a republican-socialist vision roots it in freedom from economic coercion, using it to challenge inequality, empower labor, and democratize the economy. But left unchecked, it can reinforce neoliberalism, replacing public welfare with market dependence. The stakes are high, the authors suggest: basic income can transform power, but only if it resists being co-opted by the forces it aims to disrupt.

The notion of “ethical” capitalism, this piece contends, is a persistent illusion used to obscure capitalism’s structural allegiance to profit over planetary survival. Tracing Trump’s climate rollbacks and Big Oil’s retreat from green pledges, the author argues these are not aberrations but clarifying moments that lay bare the fiction of corporate social responsibility. Even ESG investing, positioned as profitably virtuous, is exposed as toothless and internally inconsistent—incapable of countering capitalism’s negative externalities.

Global institutions like the IMF and World Bank are structured to amplify the power of richer nations, tethering voting rights directly to financial contributions. This paper argues that this design makes influence cheaper for wealthy countries, which dominate both decision-making and resource allocation. Meanwhile, poorer nations bear disproportionate financial burdens and are sidelined from determining spending priorities, which are often aligned with the strategic interests of richer member states.

Capitalism is not humanity's natural destiny. As this book shows, its rise was the product of historical flukes and exploitative systems that led to its entrenchment as today's global order. From enslaved labor to fossil fuels and imperial conquest, the author reveals capitalism as a system fueled by finite resources on a collision course with planetary limits. The book insists that what was constructed by human hands can, and must, be dismantled.