Economic Rights

27 Jan, 2000 330 Economics

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss economic rights. Is democracy the truest conduit of capitalism, or do the forces that make us rich run counter to the democratic institutions that safeguard our rights? The economist Milton Friedman once said, “If freedom weren’t so economically efficient it wouldn’t stand a chance”. If that was ever true, is it still the case as we enter the era of the globalised economy? What is the relationship between democracy and capitalism? Is it possible for a country to get rich and stay rich without a liberal constitution and what is the prospect of the ever looming spectre of ‘globalised capital’ infringing human rights?With Professor Amartya Sen, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge and winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Science; Will Hutton, former Editor of The Observer, Director of The Industrial Society and author of The State We’re In.

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Guests

  • Professor Amartya Sen No other episodes
    Master of Trinity College, Cambridge
  • Will Hutton No other episodes
    Former Editor of The Observer, Director of The Industrial Society

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Programme ID: p00546m7

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00546m7

Auto-category: 330 (Economics)

Hello (First sentence from this episode) Hello. Is democracy the truest conduit of capitalism or do the forces that make us rich run counter in the end to the democratic institutions that safeguard our rights?