During the pandemic and its aftermath, the world witnessed a revival of new narratives and strategies related to industrial policy in a geopolitically competitive environment. We invite Angela Wigger to reflect on the history of competition policy in the EU and provide a deeper understanding of the latest “come-back” of EU industrial policy. She will explain how EU competition policy is enshrined in the shift towards a neoliberal order since the 1980s. Angela will provide a perspective on contemporary competition policy since the financial crisis, reflecting on the role of political institutions like the European Commission.

We will further ask Angela:

• How should we understand the concept of “competition” in the context of the EU?
• Whose interests do the EU’s competition policy serve, both in terms of industries and geopolitical actors?
• Are alternative types of competition policy feasible, and how should we shape them?

Angela Wigger is an associate professor on Global Political Economy at the Radboud University in Nijmegen (the Netherlands). She researches capitalist crises from a historical materialist perspective. Focal points are the geopolitics of EU industrial and antitrust policy, industrial re-shoring attempts, the “competitiveness” fetish, internal devaluation and debt-led accumulation in the age of rentier capitalism.

She wrote “The Politics of European Competition Regulation. A Critical Political Economy Perspective” (with H. Buch-Hansen, 2011, Routledge/RIPE) and published in journals like New Political Economy, New Political Science, RIPE, JCMS, Economy & Society, Globalizations, Geoforum, Capital & Class, Ephemera, and many more.

You can get in touch with Angela via this address: angela.wigger@ru.nl Follow Angela here on X: @AngelaWigger

About Crash Course Economics

Crash Course is a platform designed to open up debate on how we can move out of the current crisis and make the necessary steps towards achieving social, economic, ecological and regenerative justice.

Crash Course is inviting global experts to break down complex issues in lay terms and make them accessible to all so that we can understand how to shape our economic system for a just recovery and future.

Website: https://crashcourseeconomics.org/

Newsletter: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/366770/110811319736730927/share

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu3cbKwed48Bu7dkQDVjRQA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrashEconomics

Music credit: "Capital G" by Nine Inch Nails, "Tribal Remix" by Imnotlouis (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US)

In this episode we do a deep dive into the realm of Big Pharma. As with Big Tech, this industry epitomises large-scale rentier income extraction by corporations. Despite the industry's assertions that the costs associated with drug research and development justify high prices, the stark reality of profit margins unveils a different narrative.

We will further ask Nick:

• How did pharmaceutical companies transform over the past decades, and what implications does this have for the accessibility of medicines?
• What characterizes the business model of Big Pharma, and why should this be a matter of concern for us all?
• What is a pathway toward change in the pharmaceutical landscape? Which stakeholders should play a role, and what specific changes are imperative for progress?

For over 20 years Nick Dearden has been a campaigner against corporate globalisation and for global economic justice. He is also the director of the British NGO Global Justice Now. Last October, he published his latest book on the pharmaceutical industry: Pharmanomics. How Big Pharma Destroys Global Health.

About Crash Course Economics

Crash Course is a platform designed to open up debate on how we can move out of the current crisis and make the necessary steps towards achieving social, economic, ecological and regenerative justice.

Crash Course is inviting global experts to break down complex issues in lay terms and make them accessible to all so that we can understand how to shape our economic system for a just recovery and future.

Website: https://crashcourseeconomics.org/

Newsletter: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/366770/110811319736730927/share

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu3cbKwed48Bu7dkQDVjRQA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrashEconomics

Music credit: "Capital G" by Nine Inch Nails, "Tribal Remix" by Imnotlouis (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US)

Embark on a journey encompassing Brett Christophers' latest three books in this Crash Course Episode. He provides a comprehensive overview of the ascent of rentier capitalism, observed in diverse forms across political economies, and hones in on the pivotal role of asset managers in value extraction and shaping a rentier economy.

Key questions we will explore with Brett:

• What exactly are rents, and what sets them apart from profits within the capitalist framework? Why is this distinction crucial?
• How has the landscape of asset management evolved, and where does it fit into the broader narrative of the rise of rentier capitalism?
• In the pursuit of decarbonisation, what obstacles arise due to the dominance of monopolists in various sectors of our economies?

Brett Christophers is professor of human geography at Uppsala University’s Institute for Housing and Urban Research. He published over six books covering various aspects of Western capitalism. For our talk we focus on his three latest books published by Verso, ‘Rentier Capitalism: Who Owns the Economy, and Who Pays for It?’,’ Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World’, The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won't Save the Planet

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About Crash Course Economics

Crash Course is a platform designed to open up debate on how we can move

out of the current crisis and make the necessary steps towards

achieving social, economic, ecological and regenerative justice.

Crash Course is inviting global experts to break down complex issues in

lay terms and make them accessible to all so that we can understand how

to shape our economic system for a just recovery and future.

Website: https://crashcourseeconomics.org/

Newsletter:

https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/366770/110811319736730927/share

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu3cbKwed48Bu7dkQDVjRQA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrashEconomics

Music credit: "Capital G" by Nine Inch Nails, "Tribal Remix" by

Imnotlouis (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US)

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About Crash Course Economics

Crash Course is a platform designed to open up debate on how we can move out of the current crisis and make the necessary steps towards achieving social, economic, ecological and regenerative justice.

Crash Course is inviting global experts to break down complex issues in lay terms and make them accessible to all so that we can understand how to shape our economic system for a just recovery and future.

Website: https://crashcourseeconomics.org/

Newsletter: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/366770/110811319736730927/share

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu3cbKwed48Bu7dkQDVjRQA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrashEconomics

Music credit: "Capital G" by Nine Inch Nails, "Tribal Remix" by Imnotlouis (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US)