198 - Michael Hudson: Marxism, Economic Parasites, and Debt Cancellation

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He researches domestic and international finance, the history of economics, and the role of debt in shaping class stratification, among many other topics. Michael was also a guest on episode 180, where he and Robinson discussed neoliberalism, industrial capitalism, and the rentier economy. In this episode we continue the discussion, focusing on his book Killing the Host (ISLET, 2015). More particularly, they discuss the rhythm of debt and economic crashes, the role of history in the study of economics, the history of debt cancellation, Marxism, economic parasites, and how to heal ailing economies. Michael’s most recent book is The Collapse of Antiquity (ISLET, 2023). Michael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.com The Collapse of Antiquity: https://a.co/d/0TMt9Sh Killing the Host: https://a.co/d/fG2wD19 OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 02:29 The Rhythm of Debt and Economic Crashes 8:27 The Role of History in Economic Thought 17:09 The Fascinating History of Debt Cancellation  25:52 Aristotle, Plato, and The Cancellation of Debt 31:49 Ancient Greece and the Cancellation of Debt 41:10 The Problems with Today’s Neoliberal Economics 45:29 On Karl Marx and Marxism 47:21 The Lord’s Prayer, Christianity, and Debt Cancellation 56:34 FIRE and Economic Parasites 1:07:13 How Does Wall Street Parasitize the Government? 1:09:57 Are We Hosts for Economic Parasites? 1:19:32 What’s Wrong With Austerity Measures for Economic Crashes? 1:21:39 Preventing Economic Parasites from Sucking the Country Dry Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/robinson-erhardt/support