What is wealth? How come so many of us haven’t got any? How does wealth inequality make poverty worse? In the UK and other rich economies, wealth inequality and poverty are at incredibly high levels. A very small number of people are very rich and most other people are not. An increasing number of people live in poverty.
Should there be limits to the amount of wealth one person can own? How come so many wealthy people are so dependent on state handouts? Why is it so hard to do anything about it? While we know a lot about poverty, we know a lot less about wealth. Did you know that the UK Office for National Statistics only started tracking wealth and assets in 2006? And Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century broke new ground with its historical wealth data in 2013. This is all remarkably recent.
Podcast host Sarah Kerr is a researcher who explores the links between wealth, poverty and power. In this first series of Antisocial Economics, Talking about Wealth, Sarah talks to academics and campaigners about:
The role of wealth in the widening sense of economic insecurity and electoral volatility - (with Professor Jane Green, University of Oxford. Which demographics are feeling the most financial distress and why might this matter for future elections?
What we mean by poverty and wealth and what the relationship is between them - (with Professor Mike Savage, (London School of Economics,) and Professor Jonathan Wolff, (University of Oxford). Is there something specific about wealth as form of economic resource that should change how we think about poverty?
The colonial history of wealth and its implications in the contemporary racial wealth divide, (with Professor Gurminder Bhambra, Sussex University). Who actually paid for the things we think of as ‘ours’ (like the NHS))?
Whether there should be limits on wealth (with Fernanda Balata (Political economist at New Economics Foundation) and Luke Hildyard (Director, High Pay Centre). Is there a point at which wealth causes social harm? What is ‘enough’?
The hidden world of tax expenditures - (with Professor Emeritus Adrian Sinfield, (University of Edinburgh). Why do we know so little about a huge government expenditure that benefits higher income earners the most?
Why is it so hard to do anything about it? (with Will Snell (CEO, Fairness Foundation), Dr Michael Vaughan (Research Fellow, LSE) and Dr Jonathan Mijs (Associate Professor, Boston University)). What is it about public attitudes and perceptions of the economy, of wealth, the wealthy and wealth inequality that makes change hard to achieve?
Antisocial Economics is an informed and accessible space for thinking and talking about wealth as a social problem, and specifically, for thinking about the effects of extreme private wealth ownership on social and environmental sustainability.
So why is the podcast called ‘Antisocial’ Economics’?
The economy isn’t working for most people, and wealth inequality is at the heart of the problem. We all work hard, but the wealth we create together is extracted to enrich a few men at the top. It feels unfair. And that’s because, frankly, it is!
This podcast is for anyone who wants to understand our social economy in a more critical way. Whether you are:
A student or researcher interested in inequality and social justice
A professional working in economics or public policy
Or a concerned citizen trying to make sense of rising inequality
Antisocial Economics is hosted by Sarah Kerr, a Research Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute. In 2024, Sarah published Wealth, Poverty and Enduring Inequality, Let’s Talk Wealtherty Starting from the premise that continuing to centre poverty encourages researchers and policymakers alike to 'look down' she contributes to a strand of work that asks what happens if we 'look up'?
All content for Antisocial Economics is the property of Sarah Kerr and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
What is wealth? How come so many of us haven’t got any? How does wealth inequality make poverty worse? In the UK and other rich economies, wealth inequality and poverty are at incredibly high levels. A very small number of people are very rich and most other people are not. An increasing number of people live in poverty.
Should there be limits to the amount of wealth one person can own? How come so many wealthy people are so dependent on state handouts? Why is it so hard to do anything about it? While we know a lot about poverty, we know a lot less about wealth. Did you know that the UK Office for National Statistics only started tracking wealth and assets in 2006? And Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century broke new ground with its historical wealth data in 2013. This is all remarkably recent.
Podcast host Sarah Kerr is a researcher who explores the links between wealth, poverty and power. In this first series of Antisocial Economics, Talking about Wealth, Sarah talks to academics and campaigners about:
The role of wealth in the widening sense of economic insecurity and electoral volatility - (with Professor Jane Green, University of Oxford. Which demographics are feeling the most financial distress and why might this matter for future elections?
What we mean by poverty and wealth and what the relationship is between them - (with Professor Mike Savage, (London School of Economics,) and Professor Jonathan Wolff, (University of Oxford). Is there something specific about wealth as form of economic resource that should change how we think about poverty?
The colonial history of wealth and its implications in the contemporary racial wealth divide, (with Professor Gurminder Bhambra, Sussex University). Who actually paid for the things we think of as ‘ours’ (like the NHS))?
Whether there should be limits on wealth (with Fernanda Balata (Political economist at New Economics Foundation) and Luke Hildyard (Director, High Pay Centre). Is there a point at which wealth causes social harm? What is ‘enough’?
The hidden world of tax expenditures - (with Professor Emeritus Adrian Sinfield, (University of Edinburgh). Why do we know so little about a huge government expenditure that benefits higher income earners the most?
Why is it so hard to do anything about it? (with Will Snell (CEO, Fairness Foundation), Dr Michael Vaughan (Research Fellow, LSE) and Dr Jonathan Mijs (Associate Professor, Boston University)). What is it about public attitudes and perceptions of the economy, of wealth, the wealthy and wealth inequality that makes change hard to achieve?
Antisocial Economics is an informed and accessible space for thinking and talking about wealth as a social problem, and specifically, for thinking about the effects of extreme private wealth ownership on social and environmental sustainability.
So why is the podcast called ‘Antisocial’ Economics’?
The economy isn’t working for most people, and wealth inequality is at the heart of the problem. We all work hard, but the wealth we create together is extracted to enrich a few men at the top. It feels unfair. And that’s because, frankly, it is!
This podcast is for anyone who wants to understand our social economy in a more critical way. Whether you are:
A student or researcher interested in inequality and social justice
A professional working in economics or public policy
Or a concerned citizen trying to make sense of rising inequality
Antisocial Economics is hosted by Sarah Kerr, a Research Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute. In 2024, Sarah published Wealth, Poverty and Enduring Inequality, Let’s Talk Wealtherty Starting from the premise that continuing to centre poverty encourages researchers and policymakers alike to 'look down' she contributes to a strand of work that asks what happens if we 'look up'?
Economic insecurity in midlife is compounded by lack of wealth in the form of savings or private pensions.
Professor Jane Green is a political scientist at the University of Oxford and one of the lead researchers for ‘The British Election Study’. In 2025, she co-authored a report for JRF with colleagues at the Nuffield Political Research Centre called ‘Addressing Key Voters’ Economic Insecurity is Vital for all Parties’. In this episode, Jane talks about this report and reveals the links between economic insecurity and current political discontent and electoral volatility.
The study presents a more nuanced way to understand economic hardship, focusing not just on income or poverty but on people’s subjective sense of economic insecurity; worries about outgoings, lack of savings, and fears for the future.
The report shows that economic insecurity is widespread, especially among midlife households who have high outgoings and a limited safety net.
This insecurity is linked to political disengagement and shifting voter behaviours. Notably, Labour lost far more support from insecure voters than secure ones ahead of the 2024 election. Green argues that parties must address economic insecurity - not just poverty - to reconnect with voters.
Professor Jane Green and Dr Sarah Kerr explore how wealth (in this context, in the form of savings or property wealth and pensions), rather than income alone, shapes people’s life chances and contributes to their sense of economic security.
Series 1 of ‘Antisocial Economics: Talking about Wealth’ will run as a special series of 6 episodes.
Sarah Kerr is a Research Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute. She completed her PhD at the University College London on the long legislative history of inequality between richer and poorer people. Her research interests include forms of justice-making, power, the historical sociology of wealth, and public and political attitudes to wealth, the wealthy and wealth inequality. She co-authored ‘Changing the narrative on wealth inequality’ with Michael Vaughan in 2024, and ‘Talking About Wealth Inequality’ with Michael Vaughan and Annalena Oppel in 2025.
In 2024, Sarah published Wealth, Poverty and Enduring Inequality, Let’s Talk Wealtherty. Starting from the premise that continuing to centre poverty encourages researchers and policymakers alike to 'look down' she contributes to a strand of social policy and sociological literature that asks what happens if we 'look up'?
Putting wealth at the heart of a social critique and redescribing the relations we see around us - and the history of those relations - from this perspective, the book recasts the history between the state and richer and poorer people through the idea of wealtherty: the enablement of wealth hyper-concentration; the perpetuation of social and policy divisions; the marketisation of influence; the gatekeeping of knowledge-making and knowledge resources.
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Antisocial Economics is an informed and accessible space for thinking and talking about wealth as a social problem, and specifically, for thinking about the effects of extreme private wealth ownership on social and environmental sustainability.
So why is the podcast called Antisocial’ Economics?
The economy isn’t working for most people, and wealth inequality is at the heart of the problem. We all work hard, but the wealth we create together is extracted to enrich a few men at the top. It feels unfair. And that’s because, frankly, it is!
This podcast is for anyone who wants to understand our social economy in a more critical way.
The economy isn’t working for most people, and wealth inequality is at the heart of the problem. We all work hard, but the wealth we create together is extracted to enrich a few men at the top. It feels unfair. And that’s because, frankly, it is!
I’m Sarah Kerr, a sociologist of wealth, and I’m going to be talking to interesting researchers and social campaigners about the relationship between wealth and poverty. We’re going to explore the effects of wealth on democracy and the colonial origins of the (massive) contemporary racial wealth divide. We’ll be thinking about whether there should be an upper limit to wealth ownership, and asking why it’s so hard to do anything about it. And we’ll be asking whether the super-rich have got a welfare dependency problem.
Antisocial Economics is an informed and accessible space for thinking and talking about wealth as a social problem. You can begin to tune in to season one on July 30th, and one episode will be released each week for a total of six episodes.
What is wealth? How come so many of us haven’t got any? How does wealth inequality make poverty worse? In the UK and other rich economies, wealth inequality and poverty are at incredibly high levels. A very small number of people are very rich and most other people are not. An increasing number of people live in poverty.
Should there be limits to the amount of wealth one person can own? How come so many wealthy people are so dependent on state handouts? Why is it so hard to do anything about it? While we know a lot about poverty, we know a lot less about wealth. Did you know that the UK Office for National Statistics only started tracking wealth and assets in 2006? And Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century broke new ground with its historical wealth data in 2013. This is all remarkably recent.
Podcast host Sarah Kerr is a researcher who explores the links between wealth, poverty and power. In this first series of Antisocial Economics, Talking about Wealth, Sarah talks to academics and campaigners about:
The role of wealth in the widening sense of economic insecurity and electoral volatility - (with Professor Jane Green, University of Oxford. Which demographics are feeling the most financial distress and why might this matter for future elections?
What we mean by poverty and wealth and what the relationship is between them - (with Professor Mike Savage, (London School of Economics,) and Professor Jonathan Wolff, (University of Oxford). Is there something specific about wealth as form of economic resource that should change how we think about poverty?
The colonial history of wealth and its implications in the contemporary racial wealth divide, (with Professor Gurminder Bhambra, Sussex University). Who actually paid for the things we think of as ‘ours’ (like the NHS))?
Whether there should be limits on wealth (with Fernanda Balata (Political economist at New Economics Foundation) and Luke Hildyard (Director, High Pay Centre). Is there a point at which wealth causes social harm? What is ‘enough’?
The hidden world of tax expenditures - (with Professor Emeritus Adrian Sinfield, (University of Edinburgh). Why do we know so little about a huge government expenditure that benefits higher income earners the most?
Why is it so hard to do anything about it? (with Will Snell (CEO, Fairness Foundation), Dr Michael Vaughan (Research Fellow, LSE) and Dr Jonathan Mijs (Associate Professor, Boston University)). What is it about public attitudes and perceptions of the economy, of wealth, the wealthy and wealth inequality that makes change hard to achieve?
Antisocial Economics is an informed and accessible space for thinking and talking about wealth as a social problem, and specifically, for thinking about the effects of extreme private wealth ownership on social and environmental sustainability.
So why is the podcast called ‘Antisocial’ Economics’?
The economy isn’t working for most people, and wealth inequality is at the heart of the problem. We all work hard, but the wealth we create together is extracted to enrich a few men at the top. It feels unfair. And that’s because, frankly, it is!
This podcast is for anyone who wants to understand our social economy in a more critical way. Whether you are:
A student or researcher interested in inequality and social justice
A professional working in economics or public policy
Or a concerned citizen trying to make sense of rising inequality
Antisocial Economics is hosted by Sarah Kerr, a Research Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute. In 2024, Sarah published Wealth, Poverty and Enduring Inequality, Let’s Talk Wealtherty Starting from the premise that continuing to centre poverty encourages researchers and policymakers alike to 'look down' she contributes to a strand of work that asks what happens if we 'look up'?
