America’s economic divide - a podcast by BBC World Service

Katty and Carlos discuss America’s economy and why one of the world’s wealthiest countries is home to such extremes of inequality and poverty.

They are joined by Stephanie Kelton, a senior economic adviser to Bernie Sanders, and Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Stony Brook University in New York. Stephanie is a proponent of modern monetary theory (MMT), an economic school of thought that’s gaining popularity with some American thinkers and politicians. She argues that MMT could help America to build a bigger social safety net. Also joining the discussion is Teva Sienicki, CEO of Metro Caring, a non-profit organisation in Denver that serves 75,000 people per year. Teva shares the difficult stories of some of the people her charity helps, and reflects upon whether the ideal of the American Dream has contributed to the widespread belief that poverty is solely the fault of the poor.

Editor: Penny Murphy
Produced by Sandra Kanthal, Viv Jones, Iyore Odighizuwa, Maeve McGoran and Jonelle Awomoyi, with reporting from Suzanne Kianpour
Mixed by Nigel Appleton

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