James K. Galbraith for Age of Economics - Full interview

Age of Economics: in the first part of this project a diverse group of global thinkers answers 8 fundamental questions about economics and capitalist civilization. (Interview number 18)

0:00 - Prologue
01:26 - Intro
01:45 - 1. Why does economics matter?
04:39 - 2. What are the differences between economic science and economic engineering?
07:25 - 3. What role does economics play in society? Does it serve the common good?
09:09 - 4. Economics provides answers to problems related to markets, efficiency, profits, consumption and economic growth. Does economics do a good job in addressing the other issues people care about: climate change and the wider environment, the role of technology in society, issues of race and class, pandemics, etc.?
10:25 - 5. As we live in an age of economics and economists – in which economic developments feature prominently in our lives and economists have major influence over a wide range of policy and people – should economists be held accountable for their advice?
11:26 - 6. Does economics explain Capitalism? How would you define Capitalism?
13:02 - 7. No human system to date has so far been able to endure indefinitely - not ancient Egypt or Rome, not Feudal China or Europe, not the USSR. What about global Capitalism: can it survive in its current form?
14:44 - 8. Is Capitalism, or whatever we should call the current system, the best one to serve the needs of humanity, or can we imagine another one?

About James K. Galbraith
American. Economist and adviser, author, currently Professor at the University of Texas in Austin

James K. Galbraith holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a professorship in government at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Galbraith was executive director of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress in the early 1980s. He chaired the board of Economists for Peace and Security (1996–2016) and directs the University of Texas Inequality Project. He is a managing editor of Structural Change and Economic Dynamics. From 1993 to 1997, he served as chief technical adviser to China’s State Planning Commission for macroeconomic reform, and in 2016 he advised the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). In 2014 he was co-winner, with Angus Deaton, of the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economics. He holds honorary degrees from the Université Pierre Mendes-France in Grenoble and from the Plekhanov University of Economics in Moscow.

Interview by Fabio Dondero and Julian Karaguesian

Music: J.S. Bach, from The Well-Tempered Clavier. Kimiko Ishizaka, piano. Video by Fabio Dondero

[alexanderclaylavin]

Thank you! We need more content from him on YouTube.

[johnmboon]

The greatest economist ever. Probably the person, after Shakespeare and Wilfred Owen that I quote most. Thank you.

[PegasusFleets]

OK Mr. James.. you're throwing a lot of vocabulary building time at them . Do they have hours and hours of free time for dictionaries in order to get through one of your basic economics videos ?