Today, we sit with globally influential economist Charles Calomiris at the foothills of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, to discuss the foundations of economic development. In this 20-minute video podcast, Calomiris draws on decades of research and policy advise on economic equilibria, and international finance to deliver a compelling reality check on why secure property rights are the bedrock of development!
He explains how informality traps millions in poverty, why organizations often fail to deliver on paper promises, and how trust, leadership, and long-term vision can break entrenched cycles of corruption.
We discuss how the Reality Check Analysis (RCA) framework, a practical tool for identifying the real levers of meaningful and lasting reform.
Time Stamps:
1:10 Who is Charles Calomiris.
1:35 Has capitalism failed?
4:59 We used to have poverty now we have growing informality 70% and growing. Why? Why are economists confused? Why are Property Rights important?
6:47 The mission of the Development Organizations IMF and World Bank.
8:25 They have become the slush fund of the G7 finance ministers.
11:01 Brazil - The transformation
13:13 How should leaders operate in order to achieve irreversible change.
15:00 Peru – The growth of its middle class.
16:50 Democracy today is often clientelist. What is a corrupt equilibrium and how Property Rights help change it.
18:58 Greece – look around at what works and learn from it.
21:53 Reality Check Analysis RCA – keeps decision makers sober to create Trust.
In this 10-minute video podcast, renowned political scientist Francis Fukuyama — in his characteristically eloquent and succinct style — offers a sharp reality check on why informality continues to persist around the world. He unpacks how weak institutions, lack of trust, and structural barriers shape informal systems, and recognizes the concept of Reality Check Analysis (RCA) as a pathway toward lasting institutional change.
German elections are coming up. In our first episode we check reality with Jörg Luyken. We wonder how the crumbling of the Middle Class can affect elections.Jörg is a highly respected Berlin based journalist known for his spot on analysis of German Government and politics. He writes at thegermanreview.de We meet by a remaining piece of the Berlin Wall and we wonder if the divide actually is still alive, yet invisible.
2:58 why is middle class shrinking; why Germans vote increasingly for AFD
4:47 people give roughly ½ of their salary in taxes
6:00 rise of precariousness, of informality, yet it’s the no1 destination for refugees
8:00 housing crisis why?
13:43 rise of homelessness an invisible growing problem
20:37 Gov’t moves 100BE every yr from the State budget to the pension system – yet poverty among pensionaries is very high
22:33 bureaucracy is at its highest level – said Gov’t auditor
26:45 what has caused the rise of the AFD; what establishment parties have done for Germans to consider voting for AFD
