Show Notes
As prices keep on rising while wages stagnate, it becomes more and more expensive for ordinary people to afford the basic essentials. Does this inflationary pressure constitute a crisis in capitalism or should we understand it as a normal function of the system? What are the different ways that inflation can be managed and how does this effect who wins and loses? What effect will the shocks of climate change have on prices in the future?
Martijn Konings is Professor of Political Economy and Social Theory at the University of Sydney. He joins Chris Saltmarsh and Dillon Wamsley to discuss the resurgence of inflation in the 2020s, the role of central banks and governments in responding to inflation, and how inflation interacts with crisis in capitalism.
Crisis Point is a limited series introducing the political economy of capitalist crises, providing historical and theoretical rigour to discourses around crisis in the present.
Recommended reading for this episode:
1) Montgomerie, 'COVID Keynesianism: locating inequality in the Anglo-American crisis response', Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 16 (2023) 2) Weber & Wasner, 'Sellers’ inflation, profits and conflict: why can large firms hike prices in an emergency?', Review of Keynesian Economics, 11 (2023) 3) Lindberg & Maier, The Politics of Inflation and Economic Stagnation (Brookings Institution Press, 1985)
Works referenced in this episode:
Martijn Konings review of Stiglitz on freedom Martijn Konings' book The Bailout State (2024) Isabella Weber on strategic price controls Hyman Minsky on the 1929 crash and Great Depression
This episode is produced by the SPERI Presents… committee, including Remi Edwards, Chris Saltmarsh, Frank Maracchione, Emma Mahoney, Dillon Wamsley and Andrew Hindmoor. This episode was edited by Chris Saltmarsh and Dillon Wamsley. Music and audio by Andy_Gambino. Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from SPERI Presents...
Why do states carry on extracting fossil fuels amid climate collapse? Why have some pledged to phaseout fossil fuels over the next few decades? Why are supply-side policies important? What will the coming decades of energy politics looks like?
What actually is an electrostate? How do the material substances of electricity and fossil fuels shape state power? Is the US a petrostate and does this question expose the flimsiness of the concept? When we talk about electrostates, do we really just mean China?
Why has the Global South been peripheralized in the study of international political economy (IPE)? What does this cause us to miss in our scholarship? How are sovereignties and power dynamics produced in the Global South? How should teaching IPE change?
How is value constructed and contested in the wine industry? What is the significance of place and nature? What does the win industry tell us about capitalist production in general?
How should we understand the ruptural shift of the second China shock? How does it effect what we thought we knew about China and global production? How can we study this transformation? What comes next?