With neo-Keynesian hacks like Will Stancil crowing about the alleged successes of Bidenomics, it seemed fitting to bring on Jamie Merchant, author of many incisive articles in Paul Mattick's Field Notes section of the Brooklyn Rail and elsewhere to discuss capital, finance and permanent crisis. Topics include the enduring legacy of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, the limits of 'financialization' discourse, the politics of crisis theory, the limits of industrial policy, the Brenner-Riley debate, anti-anti-globalization, so-called Political Capitalism and more.
In the bonus section we discuss the outlines of what a determinate negation of globalization might look like and how to turn global production into international proletarian power. Lastly, Sean, Andy and Jamie take a first pass at an internationalist perspective on fast-moving events in Palestine and what the outcome of resistance might be for the people of Gaza, the West Bank and the broader Middle East.
To access the full episode and a ton more bonus content, become a patron at www.patreon.com/theantifada
Articles by Jamie Merchant:
https://brooklynrail.org/2022/03/field-notes/Endgame-Finance-and-the-Close-of-the-Market-System
https://brooklynrail.org/2023/07/field-notes/The-Economic-Consequences-of-Neo-Keynesianism
Riley and Brenner’s 7 Theses on American Politics and further debate:
https://jacobin.com/2023/10/stagnation-productivity-profit-crisis-brenner-debate-1970s-economics
Taylor Swift - End Game