capitalism

Raj Patel has spent a lot of time studying the way resources are distributed among people, and he's watched spiraling inequality leave many people with nothing while concentrating wealth in the hands of the few. From the food system, which he studied in Stuffed and Starved, to the bank bonuses still being handed out, he argues that something has to change. In his new book, "The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy," Patel lays out some solutions.

The hearings on the financial crisis are getting underway, but the real solutions will need to come out of Congress. Katrina vanden Heuvel notes that we've seen meltdown capitalism; is it possible to create a conscious capitalism to take its place, or do we need to radically rethink our economic system? We ask author Raj Patel, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation and of the book Meltdown, and Daniel Gross, Newsweek columnist.

"The opposite of greed isn't thrift, it's generosity" says Raj Patel, author of the new book The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy. Patel looks at why we value certain things, how consumption and greed became goods, and the problem with profit. He'll be appearing on GRITtv soon to talk about his new book, but meanwhile, enjoy this preview.

The word "Change" has been used so much lately that it often seems almost meaningless. What's change really? Is it having Barack Obama in the White House, talking about withdrawing from Iraq, a stimulus bill that spends some federal dollars on infrastructure? David Harvey, author of "A Brief History of Neoliberalism," and Alexander Cockburn, author of "End Times: The Death of the Fourth Estate," don't think small when it comes to change.