Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Fadhel Kaboub, one of our favorite guests, is back to talk about the central problem facing much of the Global South. It is not simply bad policy or weak leadership, but the persistence of colonial economic structures. He explains that many countries, especially in Africa, remain trapped in roles designed by empire: exporters of cheap raw materials, importers of finished goods, and sites for low-value production. Political independence did not end these structures, and debt, IMF intervention, and external pressure have only deepened the trap.
“Colonialism and its economic structures were not designed for development, they were not designed for democracy, they were not designed for justice, they were not designed to produce a just transition or human rights or any of these things. If anything, colonialism and its economic structures were hierarchical, abusive, violent, extractive.”
Fadhel was one of the economists we originally turned to for our education in MMT. In this conversation with Steve he makes the case that MMT is not a theory of everything. Issues of race, class, and colonialism require their own lenses. Whether the issue is climate change, migration, development, or reparations, the entry point has to be the lived material conditions. MMT becomes crucial when the question turns to how to mobilize resources, avoid debt traps, and finance transformation without inflationary collapse.
Dr. Fadhel Kaboub is a Tunisian American economist. He is an Associate Professor of Economics at Denison University and president of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity. He’s the author of Global South Perspectives on Substack. In 2025, Dr. Kaboub was recognized by the New Africa Magazine in the top 100 most influential Africans under the Thinkers and Opinion Shapers category. He currently serves a two-year term on the United Nations High Level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs at UN DESA.
Find his work at globalsouthperspectives.substack.com
Chapters
0:00 – Intro Music & Graphics
0:45 – Steve Introduces Fadhel Kaboub
2:30 – Interview Begins: Fadhel's Recent Work
4:16 – Why the Global South Can't "Just Do It"
5:44 – Post-Independence Leaders & the Price They Paid
6:57 – The 1980s Debt Crisis & Structural Adjustment
8:22 – MMT Is Not the Theory of Everything
10:57 – How Fadhel Uses MMT Without Naming It
13:51 – Class, Oligarchy & the Limits of Voting
16:30 – The Three Colonial Economic Functions
19:29 – Tunisia: Democracy Without Decolonization
24:41 – The Rosa Luxemburg Quote on Bourgeois Government
27:55 – Venezuela, Counter-Revolution & Protecting Gains
32:32 – Europe's Colonial Survival Strategy & Africa's Potential
36:00 – Africa's Demographic Power & Pan-Africanism
41:57 – Canada's Davos Speech & the Global South's Responsibility
44:34 – Immigration, Climate Migration & the Debt Trap
51:05 – The Opium Wars, Media Narratives & Closing Thoughts
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
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#mmt
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
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At Patreon
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Write for Real Progressives
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Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
Fadhel Kaboub, one of our favorite guests, is back to talk about the central problem facing much of the Global South. It is not simply bad policy or weak leadership, but the persistence of colonial economic structures. He explains that many countries, especially in Africa, remain trapped in roles designed by empire: exporters of cheap raw materials, importers of finished goods, and sites for low-value production. Political independence did not end these structures, and debt, IMF intervention, and external pressure have only deepened the trap.
“Colonialism and its economic structures were not designed for development, they were not designed for democracy, they were not designed for justice, they were not designed to produce a just transition or human rights or any of these things. If anything, colonialism and its economic structures were hierarchical, abusive, violent, extractive.”
Fadhel was one of the economists we originally turned to for our education in MMT. In this conversation with Steve he makes the case that MMT is not a theory of everything. Issues of race, class, and colonialism require their own lenses. Whether the issue is climate change, migration, development, or reparations, the entry point has to be the lived material conditions. MMT becomes crucial when the question turns to how to mobilize resources, avoid debt traps, and finance transformation without inflationary collapse.
Dr. Fadhel Kaboub is a Tunisian American economist. He is an Associate Professor of Economics at Denison University and president of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity. He’s the author of Global South Perspectives on Substack. In 2025, Dr. Kaboub was recognized by the New Africa Magazine in the top 100 most influential Africans under the Thinkers and Opinion Shapers category. He currently serves a two-year term on the United Nations High Level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs at UN DESA.
Find his work at globalsouthperspectives.substack.com
Chapters
0:00 – Intro Music & Graphics
0:45 – Steve Introduces Fadhel Kaboub
2:30 – Interview Begins: Fadhel's Recent Work
4:16 – Why the Global South Can't "Just Do It"
5:44 – Post-Independence Leaders & the Price They Paid
6:57 – The 1980s Debt Crisis & Structural Adjustment
8:22 – MMT Is Not the Theory of Everything
10:57 – How Fadhel Uses MMT Without Naming It
13:51 – Class, Oligarchy & the Limits of Voting
16:30 – The Three Colonial Economic Functions
19:29 – Tunisia: Democracy Without Decolonization
24:41 – The Rosa Luxemburg Quote on Bourgeois Government
27:55 – Venezuela, Counter-Revolution & Protecting Gains
32:32 – Europe's Colonial Survival Strategy & Africa's Potential
36:00 – Africa's Demographic Power & Pan-Africanism
41:57 – Canada's Davos Speech & the Global South's Responsibility
44:34 – Immigration, Climate Migration & the Debt Trap
51:05 – The Opium Wars, Media Narratives & Closing Thoughts
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
patreon.com/realprogressives
Donorbox
donorbox.org/each-one-teach-one-3
Write for Real Progressives
realprogressives.org/submit-an-article
Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
Subscribe to our Substack:
realprogressives.substack.com
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
#mmt
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
patreon.com/realprogressives
Write for Real Progressives
realprogressives.org/submit-an-article
Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
