Liberalism for All — The Political Economy of Inequality

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, we continue a special summer series of the podcast on Liberalism for All, hosted by Jayme Lemke as she explores the underpinnings and outworkings of a free and open society. Driving the discussion is a set of core questions, including:

• What does it mean to be liberal in the 21st century?
• What is the relationship between liberalism and equality?
• Is the pursuit of equality a threat or opportunity for the liberal project?

Joining Lemke for this episode is Mikayla Novak, a doctoral candidate in sociology at The Australian National University and former economist with her PhD in economics from RMIT University. Lemke and Novak begin their conversation by asking how liberalism connects to the question of inequality and the extent to which someone with liberal convictions should be concerned about inequality. Building on this, Novak explores how social exclusion and biases contribute to inequality and how she managed to include an analysis of these phenomena in her work. As they conclude, Novak shares what she sees as the greatest opportunities going forward to move towards the vision of a society of freely relating dignified equals.