Jacobin Radio: Escaping Capitalism w/ Clara Mattei

Clara Mattei's new book, *Escape from Capitalism*, delivers a radical challenge to the very idea of reforming capitalism, arguing instead that the system is not broken but working exactly as designed—through structural mechanisms like austerity, unemployment, and regressive taxation. Drawing on historical analysis from the post-WWI era to today’s Trumpian militarism, Mattei reveals austerity not as a policy failure but as a core feature of capitalism, essential for maintaining the 'reserve army of labor' and protecting investor profits. She traces how economists, even those in the mainstream, have long served as architects of this system, with fascism and neoliberalism both emerging as tools to crush worker radicalization. The real danger, she warns, is not greed or monopoly but the system’s inherent fragility and its need to constantly reproduce exploitation. Yet the book is not just critique—it’s a call to action. Mattei points to grassroots organizing, like the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation in Tulsa, as proof that alternatives are possible: participatory budgeting, community assemblies, and horizontal councils can build economic democracy from below. These are not just reforms but revolutionary acts that expose capitalism’s limits and create space for a new, freely associated society. The episode dismantles the myth that social democracy or Keynesianism can save capitalism, showing how even progressive policies are co-opted when they threaten profit.