New Economics Podcast

Is this government threatening our basic freedoms?

Two years’ ago, the UN human rights high commissioner issued the UK with a warning. He said that new restrictions being imposed on the right to protest were deeply troubling. Two years’ later, we have a new government in charge and now the police are due to get even more powers to restrict repeat protests, like the central London Palestine solidarity demos. That’s not all - this government also wants to introduce digital ID cards, facial recognition technology in town centres, shrink the number of trials by jury, and water down the European Convention on Human Rights. Why have pro-Palestine demos prompted protest restrictions? What are the human rights laws our prime minister wants to constrain? And should we be afraid of becoming a surveillance state? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Sotez Chowdhury, director of activism and education at Amnesty International UK, to discuss. Follow our Instagram: www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/ Follow our Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@neweconomicspod Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254 Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

What to make of the autumn budget - with James Meadway and Carys Afoko

After months of rumours, speculation and gossip, today the chancellor finally delivered her autumn budget - but not before an accidental leak of the budget document rendered the whole speech somewhat pointless. Alongside billions of pounds of tax rises came the long-awaited end of the two-child benefit cap. But our public services have been decimated by years of austerity, and the cost of living crisis hasn’t gone anywhere. It doesn’t seem like this budget will rocket us into an era of joy and prosperity any time soon. So, did progressives get the wealth taxes they have been demanding? Will the bond markets be popping champagne this evening? And why has the chancellor found it so hard to turn our economy around? Hannah Peaker, deputy chief executive at the New Economics Foundation, is joined by James Meadway, host of Macrodose, and Carys Afoko, host of Over the Top Under the Radar, for a special cross over episode. Follow our Instagram: www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/ Follow our Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@neweconomicspod Produced by Planet B Productions with support from Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254 Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

Is the AI bubble about to burst?

It’s a new technology that everyone’s desperate to get a piece of. CEOs say it’s going to change how we work, access information, and even relate to each other. Investors are showering companies with money - even when they aren’t turning a profit. You might think this is the story of artificial intelligence. But it’s actually what happened during the dotcom bubble, back in the late nineties. When the frenzy of investment ended, the bubble burst. Companies went bust and trillions of dollars of investment capital evaporated. Today, AI companies are raising over a trillion dollars in investment, with very little revenue to show for it. Is the dotcom bubble a vision of our future? Has the AI hype outpaced its profits? And if the bubble bursts - what does it mean for the rest of us? This week Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Eleanor Shearer, senior research fellow at Common Wealth and Carsten Jung, interim associate director for economic policy and AI at the Institute for Public Policy Research. Follow our Instagram: www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/ Follow our Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@neweconomicspod Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254

Why the right wins online - and what the left needs to learn

Last week democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election. His election campaign was bolstered by a slick social media campaign, seen by millions in his city and beyond. Politicians in the UK have taken inspiration, with figures like Zarah Sultana and Zack Polanski raking in the views on TikTok. But these progressive voices are a drop in the ocean compared to the reach of right-wing voices like Tommy Robinson, Nigel Farage and Andrew Tate. So, why are right-wing influencers so successful online? What lessons do the left need to learn about digital strategy? And do we even have a hope when some of the biggest social media platforms are owned by right-wing billionaires? This week Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Will Davies, professor of political economy at Goldsmiths, and Dunya Kamal, social media specialist working at the Trades Union Congress, to discuss. Follow our Instagram: www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/ Follow our Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@neweconomicspod Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254 Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.

Radical abundance: how to build an alternative to capitalism

We used to own things. The essential services we need to survive - things like water, trains and our energy system - used to be owned by us: the UK public. But over the last four decades, our public services have been sold off to private corporations over whom we have no control. The result? Soaring bills for us, but massive payouts to shareholders. Sewage in our waterways, but bailouts for water companies. Constantly delayed trains, but ticket prices getting higher every year. But what if it didn’t have to be like this? What if we had democratic control over the things which mattered to us? And what if this went beyond public services - to the factories, farms and markets across the UK? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Keir Milburn, author of Radical Abundance: how to win a green democratic economy, and Frances Northrop, head of community economic power at the New Economics Foundation. Follow our Instagram: www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/ Follow our Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@neweconomicspod Produced by Katrina Gaffney and Margaret Welsh. The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254 Music by Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/m... used under Creative Commons licence: cre​ativecom​mons​.org/​l​i​c​e​n​s​e​s​/​b​y​-​n​c​/4.0/.