Background Briefing: December 5 | Alan Minsky sits in for Ian Masters
A Case Against Beto O’Rourke for President
First we look into this week’s liberal golden boy, Beto O’Rourke, who recently lost the Texas midterm Senate race to Ted Cruz but came close to becoming the first Democrat to win state-wide office in Texas in decades. Many are heralding him as the anointed next Democratic nominee for President. We take a closer look at his record with Branko Marcetic, a frequent contributor to Jacobin Magaine. We also discuss the record and legacy of another Texan politician: George H. W. Bush.
Author of “Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism”
Then we speak with Quinn Slobodian, the author of the new book Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism which has been widely praised as one of the most incisive studies of neoliberalism, a term which many people debate but roughly is the term that is used to describe the contemporary financial globalized economy of which we all live inside. Professor Slobodian looks at the roots of the neoliberal system and asks the question: Would progressive politicians like Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, who propose a return to progressive Keynesian policies, pose a threat to the current economic order?