September 5, 2016
Smart Talk: Andrew Mazzone and James K. Galbraith – Welcome to the Poisoned Chalice
In this new episode of Smart Talk, we had the privilege of interviewing Dr. James K. Galbraith about his new work, Welcome to the Poisoned Chalice, The Destruction of Greece and the Future of Europe. Dr. Galbraith exposes the crisis in Greece, the causes, and the abominable machinations of the Troika (the European Central Bank, the European Union, and the International Monetary Fund) imposing an unrealistic and severe austerity program upon this small nation. Through a series of essays and letters, Dr. Galbraith has exposed the mandates that ran contrary to good economic theories and policies, and could only lead to Greece’s utter failure. This brave and honest work illustrates the greatness of this man, willing to stand up for what’s right, and to even offer a solution for Greece’s salvation in the end.
James K. Galbraith is the Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., Chair in Government Business relations at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, Austin.
The book is available from Yale University Press, and has been reviewed in the New York Times Book Section, August 16, 2016.
Andrew Mazzone, President of the Henry George School, reprises the legacy of the Galbraiths in an interview with Professor John K. Galbraith. Topics range from unequal distribution of income, to the Greek economy that is still not recovering. Professor Galbraith addresses what he calls the ‘tooth fairy hypothesis’ of efficient markets. He also maintains that China is the one economy most influenced by Henry George’s ideas. Professor Galbraith later gives praise to Anwar Shaikh’s new economic treatise, Capitalism.
James K. Galbraith is the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations and a professorship of Government at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin. He holds degrees from Harvard and Yale (Ph.D. in economics, 1981).
If there’s a royal family in economics in the non-neoclassical tradition it’s the Galbraiths.