Episode Details

Is Western democracy anything more than a managed oligarchy? As the 2026 US midterm elections become the most expensive in American history, I am joined by economist Michael Hudson to ask who really rules in the West. From Poland's constitutional crisis to Elon Musk's half a billion dollars for the Republicans, Hudson traces how oligarchies from ancient Rome to Washington have let everyone vote while making sure those votes don't count. We discuss AIPAC and campaign finance, how the wars on Russia and Iran are driving austerity across Europe, China's alternative of public banking, and the founding of the United States as a slaving oligarchy. It is very difficult to call capitalist societies democratic.