On today’s show, we speak to Edgardo Buscaglia, a Senior Research Scholar in Law & Economics at the Columbia Law School and author of the book Vacíos de Poder en México, about what El Chapo’s escape from his maximum security Mexican prison reveals about the Mexican state – and US support for that country. In this interview, Buscaglia argues that one possible reason Mexico wouldn’t extradite El Chapo to the U.S. was fear of just how many Mexican politicians he’d name as collaborators.
We also talk about the Iran nuclear deal, what it means for the future of the Iranian economy, and how it will impact the region with journalist Ali Gharib. Ali Gharib is an independent Iranian-American journalist based in Brooklyn who has written for Inter-Press Service, the Guardian, the Nation, and a host of other outlets, and he’s an expert on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. In our conversation, Gharib argues that while the deal is welcome, it also comes with increased arms sales and military aid to places like Saudi Arabia and Israel – a worrying development.
Finally, we take an in-depth look at the IMF’s seemingly surprising call for debt relief for Greece. We speak to world-renowned economist Ha-Joon Chang to explain why the IMF wants debt relief, what it will look like, and what it means for the future of international finance, in Greece and beyond. Ha-Joon Chang is teaches economics at Cambridge University, and is the author of a number of notable books including 2002’s Kicking Away the Ladder:Development Strategy in Historical Perspective, and, most recently, Economics: The User’s Guide. In this interview, Chang argues that the IMF has learned some lessons from the failures of austerity – albeit 25 years too late.
Originally aired on WBAI on 07/20/15. Listen to the full episode here: