Confronting neoliberalism: why government is critical to lasting prosperity

Interviewer: Today, I'm interviewing Professor J. Bradford DeLong, professor of Economics at University of California, Berkeley, USA. A link to his biography accompanies this interview. The subject is neoliberal economics and the risks of following laissez-faire economic policies, as enunciated in Professor DeLong's article of 27th of April, 2023, in Project Syndicate, titled Neoliberalism's Final Stronghold, which challenged an earlier lead article of 13th of April, 2023, published in The Economist magazine. Listeners are expected to have read both the article and the leader before listening to this interview. Professor DeLong, thank you for sparing the time. May I start with three questions? One, what do you believe should be the objectives of economic policy? Two, what does managing the economy mean, or should mean? Three, what metrics should be used to measure success in the pursuit of the answers to questions 1 and 2? Professor DeLong. Prof. DeLong: Can I give you a professor's answer? Which is going to be somewhat long-winded. That is, I start by looking at you and observing that your claws are nothing special, your teeth are dull, and it doesn't look like your eyesight is that great. That if we were to drop you alone in the wild,