Macrodose

This week we're bringing you a special episode of Macrodose. We’ll be reacting to Chancellor John Healey’s first Autumn Budget, delivered this afternoon in his speech to parliament. To help break it all down, James is joined by Chis Hayes - chief economist at the progressive policy think tank Common Wealth, and Hannah Peaker, deputy chief executive at the New Economics Foundation This show is...

This week on MACRODOSE we’re publishing a special bonus episode with former leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, and environmental philosopher and activist, Professor Rupert Read. Caroline and Rupert are the authors of ⁠Climate Popularism⁠⁠ : breaking the grip of right-wing populism through a new politics of climate resilience. The report argues that the “silent majority” for climate action...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at what treasury sources have begun trailing of next week’s budget (0:38), Microsoft pulling out of a data centre project in Essex (5:47), and how falling tech stocks have shown the AI bubble is reaching its limits (8:26). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education;...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at whether the UK really should commit to an arbitrary 3.5% target for defence spending (0:39), the IMF’s world economic outlook report and what’s missing from it (7:08), and the ongoing unrest and protests against conditions in the french education system (9:08). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge i...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the year ahead might be a moment of massive divergence in the world economy (8:03), much needed economic policy introduced by the Greens at party conference (3:26), and an update on the road ahead for food prices as El Nino builds (0:39). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation suppor...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at Andy Burnham’s first speech to Labour party conference as prime minister, his proposals to modify the triple lock on pensions, and how he sets out his stall to solve the crisis in social care. Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gi...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at the upcoming and first budget of continuity chancellor John Healey (0:32), and the Greens’ new economic policy, published and due for discussion at the party conference (9:16). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at a notable admission from the bank of England governor (0:37), , the Houthi movement’s capture of vast territory and bombardment of Saudi oil facilities (5:00, and the economic consequences of the continued AI buildout (10:04) Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund is cutting its holdings of US government debt (0.36), John Healey’s first major speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer (7:45), and the breakthrough of the far right AfD in east Germany (13:10) Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the US dollar’s prominence as the world’s reserve currency is facing more tests (0:36), and how the AI boom is under pressure with data centre power constraints to soaring chip prices (11:24). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-yo...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how nuclear power plants are being shut down because of a rapidly breeding organism invading its systems (0:33), and the striking rise in government borrowing costs right across the world (3:20). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at a bank that holds an unconventional asset that has come a cropper with rising temperatures (0:38), the growing commercial opportunity for new freight routes due to melting ice in the arctic (5:59), and how data centres are struggling to keep up with the demands of AI training (10:27). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodos...

"If you go together and if you fight for it, then you are visible." Over the last four episodes of this series, we've heard about the daily struggles, exhaustion, the invisibility, and the structures that keep these burdens in place. In our final episode, we ask cleaners themselves what resistance looks like. From “Justice for Janitors” across the Atlantic, to the Cleaners Parliament...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how British supermarkets warn of the looming food crisis (0:34), how Japan could be the canary in the economic coalmine (7:24), and how extreme heat is making nuclear power unreliable (14:48). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gi...

"As a migrant working here… it's not easy, and it has never been easy." In many European countries, a staggering proportion of cleaners come from migrant backgrounds. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s a pattern shaped by discriminatory immigration policies, labour market barriers, and the systematic failure to recognise qualifications and skils gained elsewhere. In this episode, we expl...

"The biggest problem is that they choose the lowest bid. That ends up being paid by the worker." Our taxes might be used to exploit cleaners through public contracts. But how does it work, who is responsible for this, and what can we do about it? In this episode, we follow the money. We expose how "public procurement"—the system by which governments award cleaning contracts—has...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at who new prime minister Andy Burnham has chosen to be his Chancellor of the Exchequer (0:42), how wildfire season is increasingly becoming a wider phenomenon driven by rising global temperatures (9:01), and how the collapse in the market of lab monkeys is impacting biomedical research around the world (14:03). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠...

"We are the invisibles. We clean when no one is around." Most people work during the day. But for nearly half of Europe's cleaners, the shift begins when everyone else goes home. In this episode, we examine the hidden toll of night work and split shifts—and why daytime cleaning is a proven, humane alternative. We hear from two cleaners living in two different realities: one trapped i...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at the impact of the unholy pairing of the El Nino phenomenon and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (0:46), how one hedge fund is looking to capitalise financially on disruption caused by El Nino (7:00), and how the European heatwave continues to underline the need for climate adaptation (9:41). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Ma...

"The only time people notice what a cleaner does is when she doesn't do it." They disinfect hospital wards, scrub office floors, and sanitise the spaces we all rely on. Yet cleaners are among the most invisible workers in Europe. In this first episode, we pull back the curtain on a typical day in the life of a cleaner. From the marble corridors of the European Parliament to a high-de...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how heatwaves are breaking data centres (0:33), how Trump is refusing to renew his own North American trade deal (5:44), and a listener question all about Modern Monetary Theory (9:50). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the cost of extreme heat requires urgent attention from our political leaders (0:36), if Andy Burnham’s speech this week laid out more of his economic vision (4:43), and how the straight of Hormuz may well be reopening, but the impacts are still to come (10:30). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your ple...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at likely next prime minister Andy Burnham and his economic agenda for Britain (0.43), the current heatwave gripping the UK and large parts of the rest of Europe (9:30), and the daft idea of putting data centres in space (13:00). Heatstrike: heatstrike.notion.site Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge i...

James is away this week so we have for you an event recording from Norwich Transformed, a festival of socialist ideas and culture. Joining James is Jonas Marvin, author of the forthcoming book, the Breaking of the English Working Class. Together, they discuss the economics affecting food in a changing global climate, why so many are struggling to eat well, and what to do about it. Subscribe to sup...

Last night, after more than 100 days since the US and Israel went to war against Iran, the US and Iran reached a partial framework for peace. When the war began at the end of February, it was all but impossible to make sense of the irrational explosion of violence. In the months since, that sense of irrationality has hardly ebbed, not least as the economic impacts of the war and resulting closures...