Episode 108: How GDP Fetishism Drives Climate Crisis and Inequality
Citations Needed29 Apr 2020

Episode 108: How GDP Fetishism Drives Climate Crisis and Inequality

"Economists' forecasts for GDP growth in 2020 vary widely," says The Economist. "Algeria's GDP growth falls to 0.8% in 2019," one Reuters headline reads. "GDP — the broadest measure of economic activity — grew at an annual rate of just 1.9% during the third quarter," NPR warns. Everywhere we turn for economic news, the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, is held up as the key proxy for prosperity and sound fiscal policy. Since its codification as the new gold standard for measuring prosperity at the Bretton Wood conference in 1944, the GDP has been the most popular metric used by American and British media when measure a nation's prosperity. The GDP, and its close cousin, the Gross National Product, have not been without its critics for decades, but prying it from its top position as The Most Important Policy Goal has been an impossible task. Despite many labor activists, environmentalists and economists leveling critiques at its myopic, capitalist ideology, the metric has remained central to how the media and lawmakers determine fiscal policy. But what is the GDP exactly? How did it become the go-to proxy for prosperity in Western media? What are its ideological inputs, and how did post-war notions of colonialism and extractivism helps cement its place in our collective mindset? And what, more importantly, do activists argue we should replace it with? On this episode of Citations Needed we will explore these questions and examine how centralizing Gross Domestic Product––by its very design––obscures climate crisis, labor abuses, racism, drudgery, and a whole host of society's ills. We welcome economic anthropologist Dr. Jason Hickel back to the show.

Episoder(367)

News Brief: NPR Asks Starving Palestinian Living On Rubble to Denounce Hamas, Co-Sign His Own Ethnic Cleansing

News Brief: NPR Asks Starving Palestinian Living On Rubble to Denounce Hamas, Co-Sign His Own Ethnic Cleansing

In this News Brief, we we break down an object lesson in racist US-Israeli national security state toadyism, double standards, and runaway condescension.

22 Mai 202523min

News Brief: Baltimore Uprising 10 Years on: PR Co-option vs Genuine Reform

News Brief: Baltimore Uprising 10 Years on: PR Co-option vs Genuine Reform

In this News Brief we are joined by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis of The Real News Network to discuss their new documentary, "Freddie Gray: A Decade of Struggle" about the lessons, pitfalls and genuin...

7 Mai 202536min

Episode 220: The Power of Thought-Terminating Bad Guy Labels

Episode 220: The Power of Thought-Terminating Bad Guy Labels

"American Extremists Aiding Radicals Across Border," trumpeted the Detroit Free Press in 1919. "707 Illegal Aliens Arrested in Checkpoint Crackdown," reported the Los Angeles Times in 1987. "87 Bronx ...

30 Apr 20251h 21min

Ep 219: How Elites Concern Troll 'Waste' to Gut Social Welfare and Divide the Working Class

Ep 219: How Elites Concern Troll 'Waste' to Gut Social Welfare and Divide the Working Class

"Poverty plan hit for fraud, waste," reported the Associated Press in 1966. "Study says government waste is unbelievable," insisted United Press International in 1983. "Beneath Trump's Chaotic Spendin...

23 Apr 20251h 15min

Ep 218: The Siren Song of Rallying Around a 'Common Enemy' to Promote Progressive Causes

Ep 218: The Siren Song of Rallying Around a 'Common Enemy' to Promote Progressive Causes

"Senate Weighs Investing $120 Billion in Science to Counter China," trumpeted The New York Times in 2021. "A New Economic Patriotism Can Help Unite Our Divided Congress," argued Newsweek in 2023. "US ...

16 Apr 20251h 13min

News Brief: Dem Leaders, 'Free Speech' Warriors Mostly Shrug as Trump Disappears Political Dissidents

News Brief: Dem Leaders, 'Free Speech' Warriors Mostly Shrug as Trump Disappears Political Dissidents

In this public News Brief, we discuss the media and high-profile Democratic Party leaders and 'Free Speech' crowd's muted—or, in many cases, completely silent—response to the greatest attack on free s...

2 Apr 202528min

Episode 217: A.I. Mysticism as Responsibility-Evasion PR Tactic

Episode 217: A.I. Mysticism as Responsibility-Evasion PR Tactic

"Israel built an 'AI factory' for war. It unleashed it in Gaza," laments the Washington Post. "Hospitals Are Reporting More Insurance Denials. Is AI Driving Them?," reports Newsweek. "AI Raising the R...

26 Mar 20251h 3min

News Brief: Trump's Hollow Working Class Aesthetics and How Unions Can Lead a Real Resistance

News Brief: Trump's Hollow Working Class Aesthetics and How Unions Can Lead a Real Resistance

In this Citations Needed News Brief interview, we're joined by Rutgers professor Eric Blanc to discuss his new book "We Are The Union," and lay out how any meaningful resistance to Trump and Trumpism ...

19 Mar 202533min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

aftenpodden
giver-og-gjengen-vg
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
forklart
aftenpodden-usa
i-retten
stopp-verden
popradet
det-store-bildet
rss-gukild-johaug
nokon-ma-ga
fotballpodden-2
rss-ness
dine-penger-pengeradet
hanna-de-heldige
e24-podden
aftenbla-bla
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk