Mark Blyth: The AthensLive Interview

In his interview with AthensLive, professor Mark Blyth discusses his latest book "Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea", the European Social Democracy, the Brexit referendum, and the importance of Greece in the bond markets of Europe.

"If at the end of the day the EU and the Euro are not actually improving the lives of the majority of people, what is it for? That's the question they brought no answer to."

[robertduncan]

At last someone who knows and explains this knowledge with lucidity and conviction.A breath of wisdom through a forest of lies.

[Cenyon]

Came here from The Jimmy Dore Show. Great explanation from Prof. Blyth, gonna read his book this summer.

[graeme]

Great line: "The Hamptons is not a defensible position" (11:18-11:30)

[catlover-fojy]

Brilliant! Thank you so much for tackling this Brexit issue in the aftermath. Too bad it isn't being aired on LAMESTREAM national news media channels in the USA....the people here need a serious reality sandwich!!!

[boyanlepoev]

Excellent and approachable explanations, analogies and plain selection of facts. Thank you professor! Now I hope this video gets seen by the same hundreds of millions that cannot wait to click on the next Taylor Swift video...

[fizban]

Brilliant professor Mark Blyth, thanks.

[MarkSalmon]

The key point here for me was 'If the EU doesn't improve the lives of the majority of people in Europe, then what is it for?' This is what caused Brexit - the majority of people in the UK think that the EU does not improve their life and the elites have had a nasty wake-up call from the referendum result.

[HannesRadke]

Just for clarification: @1:38 He says "German Hartz reforms" not, "German harsh reforms" (as it states in the subtitles.

The infamous Hartz reform from the beginning of the millennium are what squeezes the heck out of German workers. If you get unemployed there are all sorts of "sanctions", it's very punishing. If you don't take just any job when you're unemployed your benefits called (Hartz IV or ALG II) can be cut back to 0, which basically ends your life as a part of society. So everyones scared shitless to "fall into Hartz 4". It's really a catastrophe for the rights of German workers and everyone else here. But it made Germany more competetive in the process.

[Durchbrechen]

thank you for your uploads, terrific video and with subtitles as well. Great work. I didn't know Mark Blyth. What he says makes perfect sense.

[MrSonicAdvance]

Fantastic interview! The Brexit campaign could have done with him front and centre.

[Winchester]

"If the EU and euro at the end of the day isn't improving the lives of the majority of people, what is it for?" You know the same applies to growth, what is the point of growth that only goes to the top?

[dnanarv]

I've found a few similar ppl recently. Noticed the common trait was a knowledge of economics with sociology /politics /historical perspective. Instead of ideas, they look at macroeconomics with a people perspective.! Brilliant.

[terryharrison]

I like this guy. Paul Mason and the Renegade Economist are pretty good at explaining this stuff as well. What RBS did to small business to cover their arises is a fucking disgrace.

[Saddutchman]

If he is right in his analyses, then it means that more then 50% of the people feels left out.

[zwergie]

+AthensLive GR At the 6.37 minute mark the subtitles are wrong. The subtitle says "Russian leguitty", but Blyth is saying "ration liquidity"

[thomasholland]

I voted Leave because my English brain could not much longer take this foreign reign.

No way was I going to vote to hand my nation over to Germany, Never never never.

[pdales]

the 7 that dislike the video must be bankers.

[piotr]

Mark owns the room. Curious about that comment about Trump turning 8B company to 3Bn. Anyone knows the details?

[EllieEllie]

There are mistakes in the subtitles at 14:18 . He says "Greece was important only because Greece was the trigger", not on the purpose that Greece was the trigger and at 15:37 "for a bunch of followers in the middle who don't particularly care for them".

[Ernest]

great vid but the closed captions have a lot of inaccuracies