WHAT IS AUSTERITY?

Sam Seder hosts Clara Mattei, Assistant Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research, to discuss her recent book The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism. Professor Mattei turns specifically to the policy of austerity, parsing through how it came to be viewed as a necessary party of our inevitable system of capitalism, disciplining the labor market into its position of exploitation while undermining the possibility of alternative social models. They then tackle the trinity of austerity policies, outlining fiscal austerity’s dismantling of social welfare, monetary austerity reinforcing reliance on wage labor by taking away credit and employment, and industrial austerity’s emphasis on privatization and deregulation to dismantle labor power. After expanding the discussion of undermining labor as a tactic to protect capital, Professor Mattei walks through the role of World War I in inspiring the political elites’ shift to favor austerity, as belligerent nations had been forced to nationalize in the face of war, incidentally exposing wage-exploitation to be a political choice while highlighting the thriving (if smaller-scale) alternative economies – from guilds to coops and councils – and a post-war clamor to re-legitimize their system of capitalist exploitation. This brings them to the pivotal post-war financial conferences in Brussels and Genoa where the capitalist states brought in economic experts touting this new tactic of austerity, framing taking from the many and giving to the few as a mass sacrifice for mass benefits, taking off in European states like the UK and Italy, and setting the stage for a rising fascism that was legitimized by the liberal establishment, and a deeper and deeper acceptance of capitalism via fiscal, monetary, and industrial austerity. Wrapping up, they tie the revelations of the Great War to the revelations we saw in capitalist societies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the parallels to the ongoing attempt to use inflation to discipline labor, before Professor Mattei walks through the role of Capital Order in helping us unpack our current political moment.

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[courierjon]

Bring back a 90% tax on the rich and if they leave the country charge them a fee

[ananousous]

Brogan too scared to debate Sam "the nightmare" Seder on this

[michaelwright]

Because people are fine and not in poverty with $400, 000 or several million or whatever it is today. Eat the rich

[JP-JustSayin]

The point of a "progressive" tax is that every one should feel the same amount of "pain" from it... and the fact is a family that earns 5 million a year and keeps 2 million to live on feels WAY less pain from taxes than one that earns 50k and keeps 49k to live on ... even though one is paying 2% and the other is paying 60%.

If the point is "equal pain" then even the scenario I painted is not "fair".

Studies have shown that your life is "pain free" after take home pay exceeds 75k per year for each person in the house hold. Below that number money DOES "buy happiness". Above that number more money doesn't improve quality of life ... thats why using "equal pain" as a metric leads logically to Eisenhower style tax brackets.

[richardchassereau]

I don’t understand… if I was rich (trust me I’m not) or close to the 470, 000 and you were to take 90% of my additional pay, I would find a way not to produce any extra income… ie go on vacation, etc… why should a business owner creating more jobs be so severely penalized… I don’t believe all rich people are inherently bad. I’m sure there are many 🤷‍♂️ maybe I’m naive

[mikelaskenzo]

Nobody paid that rate in the 1950s. Secondly, the top 10% income earners in the country pay 90% of ALL taxes in the country. Just because their tax rate is "lower", they pay way more.

[rustym.shackelford]

If nobody can consume, then companies go out of business.

[jojo-gypp]

You think Joe Rogan would have Clara E. Mattei this author of The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism? I wonder if diligent bothering him would work. I wonder if I could do it alone.

[Esmexie]

Let’s talk about how we are paying because of sales tax increases

[nikolaievans]

The 90 percent tax rate caused 5 recessions

[hoie]

I get that you have to hit time limits, but I really dislike Sam’s voice sped up

[bmfj]

We have a huge national debt because of our tax system too. Tax system paid for by the rich but not taxes.

[whitehawk]

Why do you speed up the videos. Theu sound so weird when they talk.

[richardmaclean]

Asimov’s Forward the Foundation from his epic Foundation Trilogy… the audiobook is talking about this just about now.

Science-fiction writers are Prophets.

[arceusthomas]

Maybe produce something instead of just blindly consuming?

[willielee]

You keep saying the taxes are different but nerve differentiate the amount.

It's number that speak louder that words.

[joshuacarson]

PBD made you look like a fool on This subject.

[MrRobreg]

A simple flat tax for all would solve this. Example you pay 15% weather you make $1 or a million the tax is 15%.

[UniversalMysteries]

People who make $30, 000 a year want to raise taxes on people making $70K+. People making $70, 000 want to raise taxes on people making $150k+. People making $150, 000 want to raise taxes on people making $350, 000 a year, etc etc etc. Nobody wants to pay their share, let's be honest.

[Shrugboatt]

Victim mentality. All high taxes suck. don't be salty when it comes for you instead of the corporation, which then gets passed on to you via price hikes.