How neoliberalism captured Democrats (with James Kwak)

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Civic Ventures

Business, Government, News, Politics

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 21 September 2021

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Democrats used to be known as the party of the working people—so how did they get so off track? Who took over the party, and why? Author and professor James Kwak joins Nick and Paul in a blistering analysis of the decline of the Democratic Party, and explains how we can get it back on track. This episode originally aired in January 2020. News clips credit: C-SPAN, ProfGP, CNN James Kwak is a professor at the UConn School of Law and the chair of the board of the Southern Center for Human Rights. He is the author or co-author of 13 Bankers, White House Burning, and Economism. His latest book, Take Back Our Party: Restoring the Democratic Legacy, is available for free online at The American Prospect. Twitter: @jamesykwak Read Take Back Our Party on The American Prospect: Introduction - Restoring the Democratic Legacy: https://prospect.org/politics/take-back-our-party-restoring-the-democratic-legacy/ Chapter 1 - Their Democratic Party: https://prospect.org/takebackourparty/chapter-1-their-democratic-party/ Chapter 2 - Bad Policy: https://prospect.org/takebackourparty/chapter-2-bad-policy/ Chapter 3 - Bad Politics: https://prospect.org/takebackourparty/chapter-3-bad-politics/ Chapter 4 - Our Democratic Party: https://prospect.org/takebackourparty/chapter-4-our-democratic-party/ Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/ Twitter: @PitchforkEcon Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, I'm Paul Constant. Today, I'm excited to revisit a conversation that Nick and I had
0:05.0	with author and professor James Quack in January of 2020. So blistering analysis of the democratic
0:11.0	party, we cover how the party that used to be known as the party, the working people was captured
0:15.6	by neoliberalism. You know, this was recorded around the time of Trump's first impeachment,
0:21.2	and it's so interesting to hear Professor Quack stress how important it is that the Democrats
0:25.6	develop a backbone stand up for something and deliver an alternative to Republicans. In the
0:30.9	conversation, we all lamented the return to Clinton era democratic politics that Biden,
0:35.8	who was running for president at the time, seemed to represent. And for me, it couches the notable
0:41.6	non neoliberalism of the policies and programs that got us through the pandemic in a super
0:46.3	celebratory light. It's important to reinvestigate this conversation because the Biden administration
0:51.3	is totally pivoted the democratic party away from the path we were on. We've made so much progress
0:56.4	as a party in the ways that we think about the economy, particularly in our recognition of the
1:00.6	middle class as what drives the economy and the policies we prioritize because of that knowledge.
1:06.1	The fight isn't over, of course, and neoliberal ideas are still sneaking in here and there,
1:10.0	so it's important that we remain on guard against them. This episode can help with that,
1:14.0	and it's a great history lesson with a fascinating person too. I hope you enjoy.
1:18.5	The Democratic Party was either complicit in or leading in many cases a lot of the neoliberal ideas
1:26.3	and policies that have created the inequality that we find in our economy today. The Democratic Party
1:32.7	is the most important political party in the world. That's why it's especially important today
1:36.5	that the Democrats developed the backbone stand for something and provide a real alternative
1:40.7	to the Republicans. It's really important for Democrats to think about what we want to be in the future.
1:48.4	From the home offices of civic ventures in downtown Seattle,
	...

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