The Gray Area with Sean Illing

The free-market century is over

Listen Later

Sean Illing talks with economic historian Brad DeLong about his new book Slouching Towards Utopia. In it, DeLong claims that the "long twentieth century" was the most consequential period in human history, during which the institutions of rapid technological growth and globalization were created, setting humanity on a path towards improving life, defeating scarcity, and enabling real freedom. But... this ran into some problems. Sean and Brad talk about the power of markets, how the New Deal led to something approaching real social democracy, and why the Great Recession of 2008 and its aftermath signified the end of this momentous era.


Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: J. Bradford DeLong (@delong), author; professor of economics, U.C. Berkeley

References: 

  • Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century by J. Bradford DeLong (Basic; 2022)
  • The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich von Hayek (1944)
  • The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi (1944)
  • Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter (1942)
  • "A Short History of Enclosure in Britain" by Simon Fairlie (This Land Magazine; 2009)
  • "China's Great Leap Forward" by Clayton D. Brown (Association for Asian Studies; 2012)
  • What Is Property? by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1840)
  • The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order by Gary Gerstle (Oxford University Press; 2022)
  • Apple's "1984" ad (YouTube)
  • The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes (1936)
  • "The spectacular ongoing implosion of crypto's biggest star, explained" by Emily Stewart (Vox; Nov. 18)
  • "Did Greenspan Add to Subprime Woes? Gramlich Says Ex-Colleague Blocked Crackdown" by Greg Ip (Wall Street Journal; June 9, 2007)
  • "Families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions. The federal government should do the same," from President Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address (Jan. 27, 2010)
  • "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" by Karl Marx (1852)
  • Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein (Simon & Schuster; 2020)
  • The Paradox of Democracy: Free Speech, Open Media, and Perilous Persuasion by Zac Gershberg and Sean Illing (U. Chicago; 2022)

     

    Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

    Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

    Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

    This episode was made by: 

    • Producer: Erikk Geannikis
    • Editor: Amy Drozdowska
    • Engineer: Patrick Boyd
    • Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store
      The Gray Area with Sean IllingBy Vox
      • 4.5
      • 4.5
      • 4.5
      • 4.5
      • 4.5

      4.5

      10,573 ratings

      More shows like The Gray Area with Sean Illing

      View all
      Fresh Air by NPR

      Fresh Air

      38,480 Listeners

      The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker Radio Hour

      6,767 Listeners

      On the Media by WNYC Studios

      On the Media

      9,182 Listeners

      The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The Political Scene | The New Yorker

      3,990 Listeners

      Explain It to Me by Vox

      Explain It to Me

      7,848 Listeners

      Switched on Pop by Vulture

      Switched on Pop

      2,678 Listeners

      Pivot by New York Magazine

      Pivot

      9,489 Listeners

      Gastropod by Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

      Gastropod

      3,644 Listeners

      Decoder with Nilay Patel by The Verge

      Decoder with Nilay Patel

      3,152 Listeners

      The Daily by The New York Times

      The Daily

      112,586 Listeners

      Good One: A Podcast About Jokes by Vulture

      Good One: A Podcast About Jokes

      1,485 Listeners

      Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

      Radio Atlantic

      2,310 Listeners

      Today, Explained by Vox

      Today, Explained

      10,240 Listeners

      Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

      Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

      7,077 Listeners

      Throughline by NPR

      Throughline

      16,255 Listeners

      Land of the Giants by Vulture

      Land of the Giants

      2,164 Listeners

      Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast

      5,974 Listeners

      Unlocking Us with Brené Brown by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

      23,617 Listeners

      A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe by Vox Media Podcast Network

      A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe

      712 Listeners

      Hard Fork by The New York Times

      Hard Fork

      5,475 Listeners

      Good Noticings by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Good Noticings

      6,453 Listeners

      The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

      The Ezra Klein Show

      16,076 Listeners

      Unexplainable by Vox

      Unexplainable

      2,296 Listeners

      Cover Story by New York Magazine

      Cover Story

      1,217 Listeners

      The Interview by The New York Times

      The Interview

      1,573 Listeners

      Not Just Football with Cam Heyward by Cam Heyward

      Not Just Football with Cam Heyward

      150 Listeners

      Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF by Vivian Tu

      Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF

      1,742 Listeners

      Served with Andy Roddick by Served with Andy Roddick

      Served with Andy Roddick

      1,103 Listeners

      Prof G Markets by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Prof G Markets

      1,331 Listeners

      The Opinions by The New York Times Opinion

      The Opinions

      543 Listeners

      Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird by Sue Bird

      Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird

      424 Listeners

      Solutions with Henry Blodget by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Solutions with Henry Blodget

      35 Listeners