Paris Marx is joined by Grace Blakeley to discuss how low interest rates and quantitative easing fueled the tech economy’s post-recession growth, why raising them won’t fix the problems that’s created, and whether higher interest rates are the solution to rising inflation.
Grace Blakeley is a staff writer at Tribune Magazine and host of A World to Win. She’s also the author of Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialisation and The Corona Crash: How the Pandemic Will Change Capitalism. Follow Grace on Twitter at @graceblakeley.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
- Grace wrote about how interest rate hikes are used against workers, what we should learn from the Gamestop short squeeze, and how the pandemic has produced closer links between the state and major corporations.
- Benjamin Braun and Adrienne Buller explained the concept of asset manager capitalism.
- In the face of rising inflation, NFT values are down 48% since November.
- High energy prices tend to drive inflation, and Russia and Ukraine are major wheat exporters.
- In the UK, wages are falling at the fastest rate since 2014. In the US, wages are falling when accounting for inflation, after decades of wage stagnation.