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Episode 17

Robert Johnson | Political Economy, Technocracy, and the New Gilded Age

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Episode 17

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson | Political Economy, Technocracy, and the New Gilded Age

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In this week’s episode of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with Robert Johnson, about the political economy, inequality, and the failings of our technocratic institutions. Dr. Johnson serves as President of the Institute for New Economic Thinking and is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Global Finance Project for the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in New York. Robert Johnson served for many years as a Managing Director for George Soros at Soros Fund Management and was part of the famous team of speculators that broke the bank of England in 1992, forcing the pound out of ERM. He served as Chief Economist of the US Senate Banking Committee under the leadership of Chairman William Proxmire, and before this, as Senior Economist of the US Senate Budget Committee under the leadership of Chairman Pete Domenici.

Black Wednesday was almost 25 years ago to the day. How has global finance, international trade, foreign exchange, and financial deregulation changed the landscape of speculation in the years since? How has a decline in productivity, a collapse in marginal costs, a rise in total debt, along with an aging demographic laid the groundwork for a rise in populism? What is the role of experts, and how has faith in technocrats and academics declined in recent years? How do we defend our liberal, democratic institutions absent convincing academics, trustworthy politicians, and inspirational leaders? How do we get the money out of politics when politics is so beholden to money? How do we reform a corrupt government that is in bed with Wall Street – a government that is beholden to multinational corporations and co-mingled with industrial military companies whose very profitability is dependent on multi-billion dollar federal contracts? It is time for us to become educated on how our political economy works, because if we don’t have the knowledge to call out “the experts,” then we are powerless to affect the very changes that we seek to induce.

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou

Join the conversation at @hiddenforcespod

bio

Robert Johnson serves as President of the Institute for New Economic Thinking and a Senior Fellow and Director of the Global Finance Project for the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in New York. Johnson is an international investor and consultant to investment funds on issues of portfolio strategy. He recently served on the United Nations Commission of Experts on International Monetary Reform under the Chairmanship of Joseph Stiglitz.

Previously, Johnson was a Managing Director at Soros Fund Management where he managed a global currency, bond and equity portfolio specializing in emerging markets. Prior to working at Soros Fund Management, he was a Managing Director of Bankers Trust Company managing a global currency fund. Johnson served as Chief Economist of the US Senate Banking Committee under the leadership of Chairman William Proxmire (D. Wisconsin). Before this, he was Senior Economist of the US Senate Budget Committee under the leadership of Chairman Pete Domenici (R. New Mexico). Johnson was an Executive Producer of the Oscar winning documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side, directed by Alex Gibney, and is the former President of the National Scholastic Chess Foundation. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of both the Economic Policy Institute and the Campaign for America’s Future. Johnson received a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Princeton University and a B.S. in both Electrical Engineering and Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

@rjocean

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Quae adhuc, Cato, a te dicta sunt, eadem, inquam, dicere posses, si sequerere Pyrrhonem aut Aristonem. Nam quibus rebus efficiuntur voluptates, eae non sunt in potestate sapientis. Nunc reliqua videamus, nisi aut ad haec, Cato, dicere aliquid vis aut nos iam longiores sumus. Igitur ne dolorem quidem.

Quae similitudo in genere etiam humano apparet. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Et si in ipsa gubernatione neglegentia est navis eversa, maius est peccatum in auro quam in palea. Tu enim ista lenius, hic Stoicorum more nos vexat. Nunc vero a primo quidem mirabiliter occulta natura est nec perspici nec cognosci potest. Consequens enim est et post oritur, ut dixi. Haec et tu ita posuisti, et verba vestra sunt. Aeque enim contingit omnibus fidibus, ut incontentae sint.

Quam ob rem tandem, inquit, non satisfacit? Quod quidem iam fit etiam in Academia.

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quae cum magnifice primo dici viderentur, considerata minus probabantur. Stuprata per vim Lucretia a regis filio testata civis se ipsa interemit.

Ergo infelix una molestia, fellx rursus, cum is ipse anulus in praecordiis piscis inventus est? Et ille ridens: Video, inquit, quid agas; Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Nec tamen ullo modo summum pecudis bonum et hominis idem mihi videri potest. Tu autem inter haec tantam multitudinem hominum interiectam non vides nec laetantium nec dolentium?

Quare obscurentur etiam haec, quae secundum naturam esse dicimus, in vita beata; Quorum altera prosunt, nocent altera. Quae similitudo in genere etiam humano apparet. Equidem, sed audistine modo de Carneade? Rapior illuc, revocat autem Antiochus, nec est praeterea, quem audiamus. Quae quidem vel cum periculo est quaerenda vobis; Fortemne possumus dicere eundem illum Torquatum? Iubet igitur nos Pythius Apollo noscere nosmet ipsos. Virtutis, magnitudinis animi, patientiae, fortitudinis fomentis dolor mitigari solet. Quorum altera prosunt, nocent altera.

Quae cum magnifice primo dici viderentur, considerata minus probabantur. Atqui iste locus est, Piso, tibi etiam atque etiam confirmandus, inquam; Consequatur summas voluptates non modo parvo, sed per me nihilo, si potest; Quod mihi quidem visus est, cum sciret, velle tamen confitentem audire Torquatum. Cuius ad naturam apta ratio vera illa et summa lex a philosophis dicitur. Poterat autem inpune; Sed residamus, inquit, si placet. Simus igitur contenti his. Quid igitur dubitamus in tota eius natura quaerere quid sit effectum? Cuius ad naturam apta ratio vera illa et summa lex a philosophis dicitur.

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut pulsi recurrant? Etenim semper illud extra est, quod arte comprehenditur. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Idem iste, inquam, de voluptate quid sentit? Itaque eos id agere, ut a se dolores, morbos, debilitates repellant. Quid autem habent admirationis, cum prope accesseris? Perturbationes autem nulla naturae vi commoventur, omniaque ea sunt opiniones ac iudicia levitatis. An quod ita callida est, ut optime possit architectari voluptates?

Quid enim me prohiberet Epicureum esse, si probarem, quae ille diceret? Simus igitur contenti his. Tum Piso: Quoniam igitur aliquid omnes, quid Lucius noster? Rationis enim perfectio est virtus; Quae hic rei publicae vulnera inponebat, eadem ille sanabat.

Vide igitur ne non debeas verbis nostris uti, sententiis tuis. Quid turpius quam sapientis vitam ex insipientium sermone pendere?

Eodem modo is enim tibi nemo dabit, quod, expetendum sit, id esse laudabile. Deinde disputat, quod cuiusque generis animantium statui deceat extremum. Non est enim vitium in oratione solum, sed etiam in moribus. In omni enim arte vel studio vel quavis scientia vel in ipsa virtute optimum quidque rarissimum est. Quos nisi redarguimus, omnis virtus, omne decus, omnis vera laus deserenda est. Itaque rursus eadem ratione, qua sum paulo ante usus, haerebitis. Aliter enim explicari, quod quaeritur, non potest. Ut placet, inquit, etsi enim illud erat aptius, aequum cuique concedere. Mihi vero, inquit, placet agi subtilius et, ut ipse dixisti, pressius.

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Video

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sint modo partes vitae beatae. Non quam nostram quidem, inquit Pomponius iocans; Tria genera cupiditatum, naturales et necessariae, naturales et non necessariae, nec naturales nec necessariae. Si verbum sequimur, primum longius verbum praepositum quam bonum. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Tibi hoc incredibile, quod beatissimum. Huius ego nunc auctoritatem sequens idem faciam. Aliud igitur esse censet gaudere, aliud non dolere.

Facit enim ille duo seiuncta ultima bonorum, quae ut essent vera, coniungi debuerunt; Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Quae sequuntur igitur? Aut, Pylades cum sis, dices te esse Orestem, ut moriare pro amico?

Itaque eos id agere, ut a se dolores, morbos, debilitates repellant. Utinam quidem dicerent alium alio beatiorem! Iam ruinas videres. Hanc in motu voluptatem -sic enim has suaves et quasi dulces voluptates appellat-interdum ita extenuat, ut M. Hoc non est positum in nostra actione. Itaque hic ipse iam pridem est reiectus; Eaedem res maneant alio modo.

Negabat igitur ullam esse artem, quae ipsa a se proficisceretur; Et tamen ego a philosopho, si afferat eloquentiam, non asperner, si non habeat, non admodum flagitem. Sin ea non neglegemus neque tamen ad finem summi boni referemus, non multum ab Erilli levitate aberrabimus. Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Sin laboramus, quis est, qui alienae modum statuat industriae? Quae diligentissime contra Aristonem dicuntur a Chryippo. Nam Pyrrho, Aristo, Erillus iam diu abiecti. Ait enim se, si uratur, Quam hoc suave! dicturum. Quantum Aristoxeni ingenium consumptum videmus in musicis? At modo dixeras nihil in istis rebus esse, quod interesset. Age, inquies, ista parva sunt.