Will capitalism survive the coronavirus pandemic?

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Rate and review our Coronavirus and Capitalism special podcast episode Joseph Stiglitz, Economist and Professor, Columbia University, Beata Javorcik, EBRD Chief Economist, and Roger Cohen, the Athens Democracy Forum Host and Advisory Board member and New York Times Op-Ed columnist, discussed how and whether capitalism will survive the coronavirus pandemic. In only a few months, the coronavirus pandemic has seriously shifted the balance of power between the state and the private sector. How is this impacting our politics and economies? This Pocket Dilemmas podcast special on capitalism in the post-Covid-19 era was organised by the EBRD and the Athens Democracy Forum (in association with The New York Times). The speakers highlighted the challenges that the capitalist societies will have to address going forward. “We have greater inequalities, not only in income and wealth, but also huge inequalities in health. This virus is not an ‘equal opportunities’ virus; it goes after people with pre-existing conditions. So the inequalities in our system have been very strongly manifested,” Joseph Stiglitz said. “In a way, the people who are put most at risk are the ones that we’re paying the least too.” Beata Javorcik highlighted that the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed a “generational conflict”. “The face of capitalism will change depending on what extent the younger generation will be modelised through the pandemic,” she said. “We’ve seen in this crisis that capitalism is not working. We knew it before, it’s not working and it’s increasing inequality in our societies to a degree that is simply becoming intolerable,” Roger Cohen commented. “Capitalism at its current form is also impacting the environment”. This special episode was presented by Jonathan Charles, EBRD Managing Director for Communications, and it was livestreamed on Facebook. The Future of Capitalism will be one of the discussion themes at the 2020 Athens Democracy Forum, held in Athens and live-streamed from 30 September to 2 October. The Forum is convened annually by the Democracy and Culture Foundation in partnership with The New York Times, engaging policymakers, politicians and diplomats; corporate (CSR) executives; notable academics and students; NGO, foundation and think tank leaders; youth activists; and media experts/practitioners. Like what you hear? Review our podcast on iTunes or tweet us @EBRD @ForumAthens #PocketDilemmas