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Noel Jacob Kent, Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaii, and Paul Brewbaker, Chief Economist at Bank of Hawaii, debated whether capitalism and free markets are working in the United States and Hawaii. Kent argued that a "capitalist revolution"—driven by corporate downsizing, outsourcing, and automation—was eliminating jobs on a massive scale and creating a dangerous divide between those who control capital and the bulk of the workforce. He described corporations as irresponsible to workers and communities and called for democratic oversight of technological change. Brewbaker disputed those claims, noting that the US economy had created ten million jobs in the preceding five years and arguing that technological change created new opportunities, including for small, remote economies like Hawaii's that could access global markets more readily. He acknowledged that income inequality had widened but attributed this to a growing skills gap and argued that investment in education and training was the appropriate remedy. The concrete question is whether Hawaii's prolonged economic stagnation in the 1990s reflects fundamental flaws in market capitalism or policy failures that could be addressed within a market framework.
Transcript
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Companion newspaper commentaries
Commentaries by the guests, published in The Honolulu Advertiser around the broadcast.
