Adam Tooze's Blog, page 36
December 17, 2020
After Escape: The New Climate Power Politics
The vista painted for us by Bruno Latour, Eva Lin, and Martin Guinard in their concept for the Taipei Biennial 2020 is alarming: “We are witnessing a massive extension of conflicts and an extreme brutalization of politics. The ‘international order’ is being systematically dismantled … We lack a common world.” The divisions are so deep that we can no longer even define peace and war. “It is crucially important to explore alternative modes of encounter … to avoid destruction,” yet we cannot do so on the assumption of an overarching authority, which is precisely what no longer exists. “The present imperative is not simply to foster a discussion among a multiplicity of perspectives, since this would inevitably fall back to older models of universalism” in a vain attempt to reconcile “multiple visions of the same natural world. The aim … is to explore alternative procedures that still aim at some sort of settlement, but only after having fully accepted that divisions go much deeper than those anticipated by old universalist visions.” This is what Latour, Lin, and Guinard mean by “new diplomatic encounters.”
Latour first began developing his diagnosis of the contemporary crisis thirty years ago with We Have Never Been Modern. It is a complex and continuously evolving project reflecting, on the one hand, on the displacement of a stable nature as common ground, by what he calls Gaia. On the other hand, he is responding to the political impasse of modernity, which is at its most extreme in the Anglosphere. His 2017 Down to Earth was a direct response to the double crisis of 2016: Brexit and Trump.
Read the full article at e-flux.
December 11, 2020
After Escape: The New Climate Power Politics
The vista painted for us by Bruno Latour, Eva Lin, and Martin Guinard in their concept for the Taipei Biennial 2020 is alarming: “We are witnessing a massive extension of conflicts and an extreme brutalization of politics. The ‘international order’ is being systematically dismantled … We lack a common world.” The divisions are so deep that we can no longer even define peace and war. “It is crucially important to explore alternative modes of encounter … to avoid destruction,” yet we cannot do so on the assumption of an overarching authority, which is precisely what no longer exists. “The present imperative is not simply to foster a discussion among a multiplicity of perspectives, since this would inevitably fall back to older models of universalism” in a vain attempt to reconcile “multiple visions of the same natural world. The aim … is to explore alternative procedures that still aim at some sort of settlement, but only after having fully accepted that divisions go much deeper than those anticipated by old universalist visions.” This is what Latour, Lin, and Guinard mean by “new diplomatic encounters.”
Latour first began developing his diagnosis of the contemporary crisis thirty years ago with We Have Never Been Modern. It is a complex and continuously evolving project reflecting, on the one hand, on the displacement of a stable nature as common ground, by what he calls Gaia. On the other hand, he is responding to the political impasse of modernity, which is at its most extreme in the Anglosphere. His 2017 Down to Earth was a direct response to the double crisis of 2016: Brexit and Trump.
Read the full article at e-flux.
December 4, 2020
V2: A Novel of World War II – A Lunchtime Conversation with Robert Harris and Adam Tooze
Go back in time to 1944 in Robert Harris’s thriller V2: A NOVEL OF WORLD WAR II. In partnership with Miami Book Fair.
Why the Coronavirus Pandemic Wasn’t a Black Swan Event — and Why We Must Prepare for More Outbreaks
Barron’s: What are the big investment opportunities coming out of this pandemic?
Adam Tooze: The only thing we know, coming out of this, is the tech story: Without the marvels of the [tech] platforms, it’s unclear how we could have coped with this. The question is whether the power conveyed by the sheer obviousness of that fact triggers a backlash in terms of antitrust and regulation. We have seen this in Europe and China already. https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/saf...
What should be the main priorities of the incoming Biden administration?
There are so many. The most evident one is to control the epidemic and then secure an exit from the enormous economic hit that the U.S. has suffered. It’s the only thing that the Biden administration in the short run has to get a grip on. But after that, if the coronavirus is a consequence of the crisis of the Anthropocene [unofficially, the current geological age, in which human activity has most affected the climate and geology], then we need to consider that climate change and dealing with that should be a top priority. What that entails depends on the political circumstances after January. It could be regulation, international diplomacy, and investment. I’m tempted to say that the main problems facing the U.S. are actually problems of the political system rather than policy challenges. Most governments outside the U.S. think that the U.S. is no longer a credible actor.
Read the full interview at Barron’s
December 3, 2020
For Johnson Biden is a Nightmare
Brexit und Corona – die Briten halten gerade auf eine doppelte Wirtschaftskrise zu. Eric Graydon spricht mit Adam Tooze über den Stichtag 31. Dezember und die Frage, welche Kraftausdrücke man in einem Wirtschafts-Podcast benutzen darf. Außerdem geht es in dieser Folge um die Zukunft von Nord Stream 2.
The Road to Recovery – Economic Prospects Post-Pandemic with the German Embassy, Washington
Discussion with Ambassador Haber of Germany hosted by the German Embassy in Washinton via Zoom and Facebook Live.
November 29, 2020
Light in the tunnel or oncoming train?
In the final weeks of 2020 an optimist might see light at the end of the tunnel. Europe was hit hard by the second wave of Covid-19. But it is being brought under control. Several vaccines are in the pipeline and European manufacturers lead the race. Inoculation of the most vulnerable may begin even before the year is out. Then restrictions can be lifted. Social life will get back to normal.
This optimistic narrative is indeed itself a force to be reckoned with. As a self-fulfilling prophecy, it helps to bolster confidence and with it economic recovery.
By analogy with the timeline of the eurozone crisis, one might think that we are back, eight years ago, in late 2012, in the months after the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, had cast a magic spell with his ‘whatever it takes’ commitment. For tens of millions of Europeans, the economic pain continued. But the panic was stopped. The foundation for a recovery had been laid.
Read the full article at Social Europe
November 27, 2020
Global Inequality and the Corona Shock
In the first half of 2020, as the world economy shut down, hundreds of millions of people across the world lost their jobs. Following India’s lockdown on March 24, 10s of millions of displaced migrant workers thronged bus stops waiting for a ride back to their villages. Many gave up and spent weeks on the road walking home. Over 1.5 billion young people were affected by school closures. The human capital foregone will, according to the World Bank, cost $10 trillion in future income.
Meanwhile, in China, economic growth had resumed by the summer. Amazon has added hundreds of thousands to its global workforce. The world’s corporations issued debt as never before. And, with Jeff Bezos in the lead, America’s billionaires saw their wealth surge to ever-more-grotesque heights.
In Las Vegas the painted rectangles of parking lots were repurposed as socially distanced campsites for those with no shelter to go to. Tech-savvy police forces in Southern California procured drones with loudspeakers to issue orders to the homeless remotely. Lines of SUVs and middle-class sedans snaked for miles as 10s of thousands of Americans stopped commuting and queued for food. Meanwhile, in the Hamptons, wealthy exiles from Manhattan outbid each other to install luxury swimming pools on the grounds of their summer residences.
Read the full article at Public Books
November 25, 2020
Interview with Ewald Engelen at VVOJ conference 2020
How caon journalists report on the current crisis? How do you penetrate to the highest ranks of major global institutions such as the IMF, the Fed or the ECB? How do you approach top officials and politicians to find out what is really going on behind the scenes?
Ewald Engelen, professor of Financial Geography and Op-Ed writer at De Groene Amsterdammer, interviewed him.
November 24, 2020
The EU Response to the Covid Crisis: Preventing the Great Fragmentation
Marco Buti, Adam Tooze, and Nicolas Véron examine the EU’s response to the economic impact of the COVID crisis. They discuss in particular the lessons learned from the Eurocrisis, the need to avoid economic fragmentation across Europe, and the goals of the EU Recovery Plan. This was a virtual event held on November 19, 2020. The event was organized by the European Institute at Columbia University and was made possible thanks to the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Introduction by Adam ToozeMarco ButiNicolas VérovModerated speaker discussion and audience Q&A
Adam Tooze's Blog
- Adam Tooze's profile
- 767 followers
