there are two answers to the the question "is the US a failed State?" 1. plutocrat's answer: NO! it works just the way we want [big cheesey grin of smug self-satisfaction] 2. pauper's answer: State? What's a State? Do you mean the cops?

As Dylan Ratigan recently remarked about America, ''Once you strip away Wallstreet, Hollywood, corporate media and the business monopolies, what is revealed is a third world country', A paraphrase, but close...

'The stock market going up, jobs going down' are in the lyrics to a James Brown track from 1974. Obviously he wasn't intending to write a detailed economic analysis, but that dynamic doesn't seem to be a new thing.

If there is no real increase of wages for 30+ years, why wouldn't working people be pissed?

I'll tell you something about essential workers. At the end of the month they are broke. Every month for 30yrs. That is the definition of slavery.

Love this podcast! Entertaining and informative- great work Mark and Carrie!

Missing the "Well, that was a shit idea" pic on Mark's wall!

Hello from Denmark, it's awesome here!

I could do with weekly podcasts, if you're willing.

A majority of the deaths in Sweden is not from the policy, but from neoliberal politics and privatisation that have gutted the care for elderly people.

You guys are awesome, it's great to hear an honest analysis. Please keep doing what you're doing!

The Dems evoke Roosevelt because his policies worked. The GOP evokes Reagan with each trickle-down tax cut for the wealthy and highly profitable corporations which has never worked. I'll take FDR.

Always a great ear full of what we need to hear, and that's just the music, ok the words to make you think are also excellent.

I am gonna buy Mark's new book but that won't change the fact that I miss Mark's sign on his wall!

Gotta make Carrie a playlist!!🤣🤣🤣... but seriously thanks for the analysis 👍

Good stuff. Thank you both.

Always love your show. Great conversations.

I love these.

Greatest recommendation ever!!!!! Good job

wonderful talk!

Love these shows with a good beer!

Good podcast again. 👍🏻 Interesting to hear things from your narrow, academic point of view.

"Where does all the money go?" To the rich, child.

The one's of us who still have jobs are staying home trying to pay off our debts. Not using my credit card anymore scared if I loose my job I won't be able to pay it back. Scared to go into restaurants for fear of getting sick.

Hey, I am an artisan (welder fabricator). I can make a good living for myself, but somehow if I do something for someone and charge them for it, it's illigal if I am not registered? But hey, generally every penny I receive, I use to buy essentials which is already taxed at 20%. There is no way that I am going to sweat and give my labour to support the ruling class. When I was employed I was making 500 euro an hour for my employer and forced to accept /14 euro an hour because of wage fixing. Now I am sick, 20yrs welding s/$. If we get rid of the political class and have A robust honest judiciary things might be good. I.can make some bread and maybe some for my nieghbour, but I cannot make enough to pay for the political class.

Great show. I'm a big fan of Mark, and Carrie seems to have a great head on her shoulders. In the interest of helping this show succeed, I have one criticism: Mark has a tendency of completely monopolizing the conversation. He has a style of speech where he connects two thoughts (which would in natural conversation be opportunities for Carrie to interject) with words such as "so", and in doing that, blocks her replies while he launches into another point. It's simply not a good style for conversation, and the result is that the podcast feels more like the Mark hour than a discussion between two people. Mark has great ideas; if he needs more time to explain himself, then the show should be longer to allow that. But he needs to let Carrie to be a bigger part of the podcast instead of, essentially, a side-host that occasionally interjects. I get a strong feeling that she wants to speak more (and tries to regularly) but she is shut down almost immediately by Mark. I'm sure Mark doesn't intend this; he doesn't yet have a great sense for the conversational flow that defines great podcasts. He will have to gain that sense if this podcast wants to really take off. Thanks again.

First time I've heard Mark Blyth.....bang on the money with his observations.....

Thanks both ! The point here is if a business loses 20% revenue it’s roughly breaking even, some have lost 100% ........ recovery will come but businesses will downsize to return to profitability. Recovery is only In terms of business profitability it’s not about returning to levels of pre COVID 19 employment levels. If I can make 20% EBITDA on 20% less employees then I would do it. Cheaper credit might drive digitisation but that’s a different discussion....

The human genome is a million times the size of C19. Thinking that knowing how different the Chimpanzee and Human genome are from each other maps to an understanding of a similar percentage difference in viruses, is like thinking an understanding of how Birmingham and Manchester are different from each other maps to an understanding of a similar level of difference between mine and my neighbour's houses.

Who is the Mike that they're talking about in the cape cod rental analogy?

Gotta say my life has hardly changed from the lockdown, not that it's as severe in Finland. Live rurally and don't travel and am a homebody, prefer to do stuff around my yard, in my shop, or in nature. And ironically my work place has lots of work right now since we're in the DIY home improvement sector and people are spending money they would on traveling on home improvement and gardens instead. And what hoarding I thought everyone had 50 kilos or more of potatoes in their cellars.

Love New Zealand! Woo!

Mark you are the shit. The normies love you dawg. Capitalize on that shit

I'm just gonna say it. I love Carrie Nordlund!

Norway did a lockdown like Denmark and have given billions of $ in help to businesses. In last years budget talks the government took away 2,5 million $ for dental braces for kids, "we can not afford this" being the excuse.

In visiting the US last year I got the impression that there is an assumption that the state doesn't work in the US, so of course the state doesn't work,

Yeah the idea that the DOW determines an economy is growing is patent nonsense. Stock buybacks is what most of the tax cuts were spent on.

5:10 yeah .. i mean for one thing we have nicer tents now :) they inflate and they have air con and running water :)

Iowa did that, too. I doubt if it was Illinois. Said you can't get benefits if you don't go back to work.

What was that vacation plan that ends up in Vegas again? That sounded great!!

I'd pay to see Mark Blyth in Australia!

The Dems had an opertunity with this pandemic, but they failed to find a way to work it.

like the not so subtle advertisement of Marks book in the background .

REVOLUTION IS INEVITABLE, with a tone deaf, myopic, self-centered political class with no historical perspective having removed any political or economic relief valves , in a country awash in weapons, during an economic depression!

No they're more likely to put all the young men in uniform in tents in a foreign country.

Given the Supreme Court doesn't act like a real proper law-abiding court, I suppose they could some real work for a change

Thumbs up for a weekly podcast!

They invoke Roosevelt but reject the actual principles of Roosevelt's New Deal.

What the hell are we going to do if we cannot buy cheap stuff that breaks easily and does not do the job it is supposed to do? Make it ourselves?

what i like about mark blyth is that he as a very smart guy can explain thing so a dummy like me understands him

BTW it was Ohio not Illinois. Governor Pritzger was one of the first for lockdowns and social distancing and has been more progressive than we even thought. Pleasantly surprised by him. But it is Ohio that has told employers to turn in employees who will not come back. Ohio governor was smarter on the primaries than Pritzger and that was disappointing.

I’m not going outside for another month.

How do you get 100 Canadians out of a swimming pool in a hurry? Say: "Would everyone please get out of the swimming pool".

Phwew.... I thought I was the outlier slacker because I'm eating carbs and not exercising....

I drink I eat But im merry

Can anyone put a value on how much money the US Government has dropped into the 'market'?

Bank stocks increase every time the unemployment numbers go up , because the increase in unemployment checks and stimulus checks will go directly through them via direct deposit, so if your account with is behind on loans payments, or your account is floating near 0 or negative , they are going to take thier cut first . Also some charge process in fees. Business can not realistically be sustainable only operating at a 25% of prior volume or capacity , margins are too thin, so they are skating on thin ice that will not support their weight, so in the long run they will eventually collapse, sooner or later. All theses fortune 500 company's that own fast food chains, are running tevelvision ads telling people come to our up drive windows and spend your meger cash buying more of our unhealthy processed junk food. Franchise owners is another sob pitch , franchises have to pay a large portions of the profits back to the parent company to in order to operate under their names and their strict guidelines. People are broke, this over night miracle the Trump admin thinks is going to happen isn't going to happen . Fox news is back to airing ads from market advisors , investment guru firms, telling viewers what market geniuses they are. Right now you would have to be a sucker to fall for that B.S..

so many people and the government are mortgaged to the past in their thinking...knowing what we know now would we have designed this country in the same way it was in the 1700s..??..and if it were to be different then how so..?? and why aren't we moving it to that different place..?? rather than 50 states we need 23 watersheds...that would be a logical first step but damn we got that mortgage to keep paying..

People might be reluctant to return to addictive consumerism, but most are champing at the bit to go to work.

6 Months ago "Unskilled labour" - Centrists & right Today "Key workers!!!" - Centrists & right.

Being the selfish pig that I am, I have gone out to eat every evening since restaurants re opened and I love it however the restaurants have been empty or mostly empty the service is excellent just lonely. I have been tipping at 35% the waiters are screwed.

Why do pingpong balls come to mind

Always a very wothwile listening from across the pond. I have a minor correction reg Swedish versus Danish ‘lockdown’. Mark describes the danish lockdown as one of the strictest in europe, its not. Denmark implented the lockdown as the first north of the Alps, but it has never been draconic unlesss you compare to Belarous or Sweden. Danish lockdown is less strict than the rest of Europe appart from Sweden an Belarous and about on par with that of Iceland and Norway and a tiny bit more liberal than Finland where the access in and out of Helsinki Metropolitan area was blocked for a few weeks. People from southen sweden has continoued their daily comute to work in Copenhagen. schools, sports, theaters, restaurants and shopping mallls has been closed. Regular retail shops outside malls (majority) has been open throug out. Police has only issued no access zones on a single beach in Copenhagen habour + on a tiny yaagth habour on a remote island for a few days. Other wise everone has been able to go out for as long as they please, where they please , travel domesticly as they please etc - people only had to adhere to not asemble in groups of more than 10 people. And of course been encouraged to social distance, maintain 2m to people not witin their household, work from home if posible (+50% of the population can do so) , avoid public transportation in peakhours if posible etc. So mainly volonteerly just like in Sweden (same goes for Iceland and Finland - In Norway goverment issued a law to prevent people from going to their second homes durring easter) 2nd correction - daily telegraph in Australia is owned by Murdoch, same owner as Fox. ‘The 5 eyes’ story has been deliberatly syndicated arround various Murdoch media outlets arround the world to stengthen its ‘credibility’ before it was run on Fox news. The Guardian ran a major story on how it wa done.- and before iFox News and white house.

Why not have people in forms and teach them tech skills or trade skills? Don't charge them. They pay back by service to themselves and by extension the community.

There was a satellite image of Piglet's (keeping with Winnie the Pooh theme here) Presidential train parked by is vacation home in North Korea. Also that he's pulled stunts like this multiple times before and the press falls for it each time. He tends to disappear for 20 days. Lets see what happens after 3 weeks. For now it seems like nothing to see here

If the govt did anything useful for the people then there would be some trust. As it stands now, the US govt is listening to Wall Street and no one else. The result is an economy that is imploding.

Pasta is full of carbohydrates!

Mark's hair goes funky when he moves, after he switches to the New Zealand background.

And yet more lessons/observations/discourse in American style Tantalus Economics (TE); "maybe it won't be THAT bad, after all, eh?" -Don't hold your breath if you're not holding physical gold/silver.

also stockholm now has the same infection rate as NYC lol

"... literally save your bacon." Groan.

The American public is being conditioned to stop spending. That will continue after the crisis is over. The uncertainty in people's minds will endure. This could have been largely averted if the stimulus was adequate for working people. The government decided that helping the people was a bridge too far. The wealthy and large corporations were flooded with money, so mission accomplished. Ok, well watch what happens next.

I dunno, as an engineer, I relish the challenge of transforming meat packing into a job that can be done by obese Americans.

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley.

More outdoor amphitheaters!!!

ANY background would have been better than a broken green screen Mark. However you did not answer the question 'where does the money actually GO'

why can't you move towards a new deal? nobody knows?

"Live and Let Die" is the new Rickroll. Way to troll Trump and have him (probably) have no clue.

Here's a question for Carrie: women were largely the first ones to be let go and make up the majority of the dispossessed of their means of employment. So, if the Democrats want to make a WPA again and acknowledge those who are most dispossessed and vulnerable are women, what would you propose to get women back their means of employment? I know you have been lamenting on the lack of ideas coming from the Democrat so I thought I would stir the pot.

There is a hook protein from a paglia corona virus on the bat corona virus. The question is do these species ecosystems overlap to make this likely in the wild.

Viva la revolution' ✊

Now is the time to eat, drink and be merry. We're all gonna die....someday. They need to give us, the people, a lot more money if they want the economy to survive.

How can you think Nelson is nice when you were brought up beside Silvery Tay

Quite like the way Blythe converses.....a smart dude with incisive takes in current topics..... It's perhaps something to do with his sing song Scottish accent😊

Where is the money supposed to come from? From the giant debt pile that the American people of the future will be held liable for

There won’t be a plan and a lot more is gonna go to shit. All the meat packing and big agro was always a bad idea. It’s absurd that merely 2 percent of the population directly produces food. What about starting an economy by restructuring much of food production to be local and on small scale, everyone should get access to participate growing veggies and chickens or what you like, and some make it for a living - a new bunch of small farmers - it could absorb many who have no job now . If you have it, dig up your front lawn and turn it into a garden. Make it an industry of moving as many as possible off the grid. Never thought highly of all the “preppers”. Time to change your mind. It will be slow, so slow that we might soon shut down coal plants when we get to making everything more local and robust and energy efficient. Of course there will be time again for high tech once things look a little brighter: smart grid, further expansion of renewables, and perhaps even new nuclear power if we are really serious about getting rid of all fossile fuel, so that oil is once again merely to grease the wheels.

The live and let die thing was absolutely deliberate, ahve you seen trump reacting to minuchin coughing? here he was shouting over the music and didn't so much as pull a face. Instead he rubbed our afces in it.

You should read up on gain of function research. If this thing's escaped a lab we need to be honest about it, and have an honest conversation about whether this type of research should be allowed to continue.

what about world wide massive debt forgiveness? Could it be any worse than the shittrain that is coming

The source of the great majority for income is the "public trough" as in money created by the government. Unfortunately the government is supported in its political party coffers by large corporations and banks who also like to feed from that same glorious source of income. Nothing wrong in this at all except that the government is building debt for the populace in perpetuity instead of creating debt writedown in perpetuity. Without some form of debt cancellation the ourobus created will finally eat its own tail since this system cannot feed on itself forever where the cost of doing so is to be found from those who may not find waged employment. We need the treasury to continue, though on a grander scale to create our currency "as is" and not as debt in perpetuity, ( debt paying off debt). It seems that there will need to be a global Advanced algorithm managing global currency values within a range at some point as the ourobos expires to infinity.

I think Mark does not know planes are completly packed right now. They are just having fewer flights, there is no social distancing in planes and there will not be any.

5:28 because they haven't had a new one since fdr...

Obesity is demobilizing. So logical

Trumpenomics, really is the epitome of, Live and Let Die!!!!

Failing state

We had a major outbrake of foot and mouth about 20 years ago, decimated all cattle in the UK. It was traced to a lab with some broken pipework. They had a couple more oopsies but are now considered to be safe. Finger crossed.

W,TWASI😜

A big downshift is coming. Behavior is already shifting towards a different kind of economy. Think the kinds of things people did during the Depression. The direction will be towards smaller companies, new tech, 3 D printed housing, cleaner environment, do it yourself, innovations. Big is over. Just in time inventories are over. Using people as if this were a slave state economy is over. One thing for sure it won't be business as usual. After social distancing, social action.

Mobilization 🤫😆

"We" aren't forcing people to go back to work, Republicans are. Try to be specific, kids.