On Tuesday, May 1 from 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m., the Economic Policy Institute will host Robert Kuttner for a discussion of his new book, Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism?

The postwar social contract throughout the West combined broad prosperity with healthy economic growth and decent social supports. That compact was unique in the history of capitalism, thanks to the empowerment of labor and tight regulation of finance. Beginning in the 1970s, financial elites began dismantling this bargain. Hyper-globalization was a key instrument. New definitions of trade made it more difficult for states to regulate markets and to defend worker wages; regulation was substantially privatized. None of this was necessary economics.

As Robert Kuttner demonstrates, elites won the policy debates and lost the people. With a few exceptions, center-left parties were complicit in the neoliberal globalist consensus. So when the inevitable backlash came, it was championed by an ultra-nationalist far right. Political mobilization built the postwar social settlement, and it will take politics to get it back. Can democracy survive global capitalism? Yes, but it will take more democracy and less capitalism.

Joining the discussion will be E.J. Dionne Jr. of the Brookings Institution, William E. Spriggs of the AFL-CIO, and EPI President Thea Lee.

This event is free and open to the public. A light lunch will be served following the event.

This event will be livestreamed.

When: Tuesday, May 1 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern

Who: Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect and author of Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism?
E.J. Dionne Jr., senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and columnist for The Washington Post
William E. Spriggs, chief economist to the AFL-CIO and professor of economics at Howard University
Moderated by Thea Lee of the Economic Policy Institute

Where: The Economic Policy Institute
1225 I Street NW, Sixth floor
Washington, DC 20005

Members of the media please RSVP to news@epi.org.