The Enigma of Capital

Speaker: Professor David Harvey
Chair: Professor Michael Storper
This event was recorded on 26 April 2010 in Old Theatre, Old Building
For three centuries the capitalist system has shaped western society and conditioned the lives of its people. Capitalism is cyclical -- and increasingly bankrupt. Boom-and-bust is its model. Laying bare the follies of the international financial system, eminent academic David Harvey looks at the nature of capitalism and why it's time to call a halt to its unbridled excesses.

[@Skippa1986]

I love this guy. I wish he was my professor when I was in the university

[@rejanebabo5622]

Yes, consegui! Excelente palestra, Harvey é um dos poucos pensadores que conseguem transmitir seus conceitos de forma simples.

[@IzmirWayne]

You did not understand anything he said. That is exactly what he reffered at the end with "monetarian rubbish". The overspending is not the problem, it is a symptom of the problem. You have to ask why the state does this. Why do you think are there centralized banks? It is necessery to absorb the surplus of capital production. There isn't just one problem, but a whole series of problems. Do you really think you can explain the crisis by one single feature? It is no polemic answer, just think.

[@The_Prince_Of_Crows]

The lecture begins at 10:30

[@ijcmartinez]

Thank you!

[@The_Prince_Of_Crows]

No problem. I know I don't have time for long introductions and things like that. I like to skip forward so I can get to the lecture and I am glad that this has proven useful to others.

[@mhikl4484]

+Alex Kirov Truly, Alex, the best into is short & to the point. Get in, Introduce, Get out. Skip forward is my worthy friend, too. Namaste and care, mhikl

[@imavileone7360]

Jesus?

[@IzmirWayne]

It is allright to present several problems. May I quote you? "i think there are centralized banks for the same reason there are cigarettes: it makes a profit and once the people are committed to it theres no going back." If I got it right you said, you say that the fed somehow controles profit; to say it in broad sense. When there is somewhere a profit to make, there will also be somebody who is realising it; e.g. a large (real large, maybe millions) amount of people.

[@tanujSE]

I hope our Sir,David Harvey is fine

[@rumfordc]

if i presented more than one problem i didn't mean too, my focus is entirely on the federal reserve. obviously i have other problems with other systems as well, but the fed is the top priority

[@syourke3]

The audio is much too low - can hardly hear it at all.

[@crieiessacontaagora]

Download a sound enhancer program, like DFX.

[@kuriadams9138]

It's a shame its so quiet, I can barely hear it.

[@soshelp4085]

what?

[@IzmirWayne]

And this people will somehow try to counteract the action of somebody who trys to take their source of profit away. Anybody would, or at least most of the people. The the question arises how you want to tackle the problem of abolishing the fed. I ask because I have very little idea as I am not living in the US.

[@IzmirWayne]

In that case would you agree that there are people ruling in an more or less "unfair" way over other people. And would you agree that steps should be taken to trying to change it? Because in that case we should not dispute about forms of analysis but dispute about what we should change and how we could do that; and above all how we could justify it. I state that this are questions which should be disputed about.

[@jcoopmen]

David Harvey begins at 10:29

[@rejanebabo5622]

Coloquem a legenda em português!

[@crieiessacontaagora]

Porque a London School of Economics faria isso? Mais fácil e prático aprender inglês.

[@IzmirWayne]

Sorry I am European but I know something about the American Constitution and how it was built, so correct me if I am wrong. This are two different goals. The first is about destroying the fed. Because if you state that the fed is effectively controled by tyrants. At least you did in your other comment. You must accept that there is a tyrant or at least somebody very powerfull controling it, and he would somehow opposed people trying to destroy it. So how would you tackle the problem?

[@kp6215]

Exactly

[@jhi1947]

Carl..Carl....Is that you Carl?

[@rumfordc]

individuals can't be tyrants on their own, they need help. The federal serve is a tyrannical *system* that benefits corrupt public officials and the federal reserve itself only. To fix the problem you need to remove the federal reserve system entirely, leaving the printing of money between the US Mint, Congress, and by representation its voters. Is this what you're asking?

[@IzmirWayne]

How can you say that there are no profit margins to be made, when you say that the fed exists for the same reason then cigarettes? Either you admit, that in that case there must be somehow a concrete profit realised by somebody or you admit that there are somehow different reasons why the fed exists, then the simple reason because there is a profit to be made. And secondly you still evade the question what is to be done and in what manner.

[@randysparks64]

K ....my kingdom for a K!

[@cptsky47]

If the professor doesn't speak into the mic they can't be heard.

[@rumfordc]

the federal reserve does not participate in the free market, it is not a business and has no 'profit' margins to be made. The profit goes to the politician who secures votes through promising cheap loans, welfare, and property rates. He fulfills this promise by borrowing debt from the fed, who then prints more money, inflating the currency for everyone else. When enough debt and inflation exists, the IRS accumulates capital at low cost in their self-caused economic depression

[@tanujSE]

Sir keeping the root question away is not good as we all know what is happening with present glowing advertisement board

[@raggledaggle721]

which is occupiedd!! yeaahh

[@raggledaggle721]

i mean the LSE

[@rumfordc]

And my other problems are not particularly relevant to this video. There are many separate stories of corruption in our government, but the vast majority of them could not exist without the free money the federal reserve allows them to create