Angrynomics | Book Talk with Mark Blyth

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Economics increasingly fails to explain why the pressures of life appear to be intensifying at the same time as income per capita is rising, or why we work more hours for less money in real terms. And why we see the rise of nationalism everywhere when globalization, on average, has made us all richer. The disconnect between our experience of the world and the economic model used to explain it has given rise to "angrynomics": an economy of heightened uncertainty and anger, where faith in the workings of markets and politics has been undermined and rapid and seemingly ever-accelerating economic change has become something to be feared. Eric Lonergan and Mark Blyth have written a book for anyone anxious, worried - or angry - about the mismatch between how they experience the world with the increasing day to day pressures they face and the model used by economic elites and politicians to explain and justify it. In a powerful and passionately argued analysis, they bring their critical insight and expertise to bear on the nature of angrynomics and offer a set of radical and innovative policies that cut across tired party political lines - and that if implemented might just help the world to be a less angry place.

Mark Blyth is the William R. Rhodes ’57 Professor of International Economics at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Blyth graduated Strathclyde University in 1990 and then finished his PhD. in political science at Columbia University in 1999. He then joined the Johns Hopkins University before moving to Brown University in 2009.

Blyth’s research spans several areas. The first focuses on the power of economic ideas as seen in his recent award winning book, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea (New York: Oxford University Press 2015), which has been translated into 16 languages. He has written extensively on the political economy of Europe, as seen in his recent book, The Future of the Euro (New York: Oxford University Press 2015). His most recent book is Angrynomics (Columbia University Press 2020 - with Eric Lonergan), which deals with the economics underlying the current populist moment. He is currently working on a new joint project on the New Politics of Growth and Stagnation.

Blyth is a regular contributor to the journal of the Council for Foreign Relations, Foreign Affairs and he contributes to several Podcasts, including the Financial Times Alphaville podcast.

 

Co-sponsored by the Global Populisms Project.