What if we center the discussion around the idea of replacing the seemingly inevitable “default” or “collapse” of the American and Western economies—something now being discussed even in conservative media—with a willing Jubilee? That is, debt cancellation as a radical yet historically grounded response to economic crises—something both of you have long been advocating.

Framing debt relief not as a failure, but as a moral and systemic reset, could open a  good conversation not only about financial instability but also inequality, ecological collapse, and the broader failures of neoliberal economics.

Of course, it’s clear that today’s governments and oligarchs are unlikely to implement this, but it still makes sense to propose it as a rational, time-tested solution—as an obvious and even beautiful gesture of collective renewal.

If one starts poking at the history of debt, what one discovers is not a history of honor, or integrity, but a history of violence, slavery, and war. The world’s great empires were built on debt, and the moral claims of creditors have always been enforced by the threat of force.

Graeber insisted that the so-called “debts” of the Global South to the North are, in fact, a reversal of justice: it is the North that owes an unpayable debt to the South, not the other way around. His anthropological project was to unmask these power relations and insist on a vision of humanity based on solidarity, mutual aid, and the right of all people to imagine and build more just worlds.

A central figure in this ongoing conversation is internationally renowned economist Michael Hudson, whose pioneering research on the history of debt, finance, and imperialism deeply influenced Graeber’s thinking. In fact, Graeber wrote his landmark book Debt: The First 5,000 Years building on Hudson’s foundational studies of ancient debt systems and their role in shaping societies and empires. Hudson’s work exposed how debt has long been used as an instrument of domination, a theme Graeber expanded through anthropological analysis to show its impact on global inequality and the continued exploitation of the Global South.

In this spirit, each episode will feature Michael Hudson in conversation with leading thinkers, activists, and economists—such as Yanis Varoufakis, Steve Keen, Ann Pettifor, and others. Together, they will discuss:

• How the legacies of imperialism and debt continue to shape the world order;
• What true economic sovereignty for the Global South could look like;
• Practical strategies for rethinking value, debt, and care in a changing world.

These dialogues continue Graeber’s and Hudson’s shared commitment to exposing injustice and imagining new possibilities for global solidarity and economic transformation.

The discussions will be streamed live on the DGI Youtube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe to get the notification when we go live.

• Monday, June 30;