EQUALS: Reimagining Our Economy

Nepal, like many countries in the Global South, contributes very little to global emissions, yet its people suffer a disproportion share of the consequences when climate disasters strike. The catastrophic floods that struck Nepal in August this year and the subsequent global failure to deliver anything close to a just response in the aftermath is a clear reminder of what this inequality looks like in the context of the deepening climate crisis.
As COP31 starts this week, we speak with Sunil Acharya, Global Just Transition lead at Recourse, about the impacts of the floods, what the global response has looked like and how Nepal’s experience reveals the inequalities at the root of the climate crisis.
This conversation also examines the enormous gap between international promises of climate solidarity and the actual support reaching affected people. For Nepal, the recovery cost following the floods is estimated to be more than US$4 billion, but the loss and damage fund just set aside US$ 21.6 million. This money is also trapped behind layers of approval processes, meaning it takes time to reach the affected people.
As Sunil says, ‘That is not justice. That is justice delayed.’
Sunil calls for rich countries, corporations and polluters to take responsibility of their pollution and pay for the damages that they have caused. He argues that government and global institutions must put people and planet before rich people’s interests and profits. He urges CSO’s, activists, and campaigners to work together to challenge unequal power structures that driving the climate crisis.
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In this episode of EQUALS, Crismar Lujano, reflects on how media ownership and global powers shapes which stories are told about Latin America and global south at large. She explains how the framing of economic and political crises is often determined by whose interests – financial, political or otherwise – are at stake. She explains how economic hardships and insecurity is contributing to the rise of the far right and challenges progressives to offer a more hopeful vision of the future.
Crismar makes a strong case for direct collaborations for journalists and researchers from global south, to reclaim knowledge and amplify local perspectives. She encourages people to question who owns the media outlets they rely on, whose voices are heard and how this influences the narratives.
Tune in for a clear look at why who tells the story shapes what is heard and what it would take to change the narrative.
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This week Finance Ministers from across the world will attend the IMF–World Bank meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, and Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s boss has called on governments to implement swingeing cuts to their spending and increase costs of basic goods- known as austerity measures. As governments face an increasing debt crisis and rising global tensions these cuts are presented as unavoidable. But is this true?
In this episode, Isabel Ortiz, one of the world’s leading experts on austerity, examines how this has become a global norm, harming billions of ordinary people. She explains how policies presented as technical reforms are in fact deeply political, benefiting the rich, deepening inequality, shifting the burden onto ordinary people and fuelling growing public anger.
She explains how the IMF and national governments in drive austerity, why the claim that there is no alternative is a lie, and what other choices could look like. From taxing the rich and tackling illicit financial flows to restructuring debt and investing in essential public services, Ortiz suggests practical alternatives to policies that leave so many people paying the price.
Time to fight back against austerity!

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The rise of the far right, and of fascism is all around us, all over the world. It is vitally important now more than ever to learn from history, from the rise of the far right in the 1930’s, what attracted people to fascism, and how people organised to fight back.
90 years ago, in East London, fascists mobilised to march through a very poor Jewish area. At Cable Street, tens of thousands of people from different communities stood together and refused to let them pass. This confrontation is today known as the Battle of Cable Street.
At the same time, the Republicans were fighting against the fascists in the Spanish Civil War, and many young people from Cable Street went on to fight in Spain.
This week, historian David Rosenberg and campaigner Dolores Long, whose father fought in Spain, explore what made that antifascist resistance possible. They join Max Lawson and Maaza Seyoum to connect Cable Street and the fight against fascism in Spain to what is taking place today all over the world, with the rise of far-right politics and increased racism, especially towards migrants.
Together they examine how far right movements attract support across social classes and reflect on the need for solidarity across communities and the importance of working-class history and political education.
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We are back! EQUALS Season 9 is officially here.
And we’re starting with a massive question: Is neoliberalism dead?
To answer it, we are thrilled to welcome back one of the world’s greatest economists on inequality and globalization, Branko Milanović, to discuss his groundbreaking latest book, The Great Global Transformation.
In this season premiere, we pull back the curtain on:
The Changing Global Economic Order: Why the old-world order is giving way to a new doctrine of "national market liberalism," blending market economics with far-right nationalism.
The Extraordinary Concentration of Capital and Income: The shocking underlying data showing how cash income from property is hyper-concentrated in the hands of the few.
The Rise of a New Global Elite (Homopluteia): A look at the unique, workaholic class who are simultaneously rich through capital and highly paid through their labor—and how their strict view on meritocracy shapes modern inequality.
The Hidden Link to International Conflicts: How extreme inequality historically pushes powerful countries toward zero-sum geopolitics and imperial expansion.
We also dive into how artificial intelligence is poised to drastically pivot income inequality, why the economic ideology of the 1990s managed to disguise itself as mere "common sense", and Branko’s thoughts on establishing an International Panel on Inequality.
If you enjoy the episode, please like, share, comment, and leave us a review. Follow us on X @EQUALShope and on LinkedIn.
This is Branko’s second appearance on EQUALS. If you missed his first incredible insights, listen to the previous episode here.
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