LORETTA NAPOLEONI: Interview with Emma Rugg

The reason I wrote this book was because my son forced me to watch The Matrix. And then I saw it and I thought Oh my God, this is exactly what is making me feel uncomfortable in this globalised world, the fact that we all run the risk of becoming part of The Matrix.

Did the purpose of the book change at all throughout the research process?

Yes, it did change. I thought initially that this was going to be a way to fix things that have gone wrong. But as I went on I found that no, you can’t fix anything. The magnitude of what is happening is so big that there is very little we can do.

Well you’ve certainly ended up with a strong book with quite a radical message. How has it been received in the economics community?

In the US and the UK- being the core of The Empire- people resent it. So In these countries, the people want a sense of security because it’s quite comforting thinking ‘well it’s not my fault it’s just the system’. Of course this book tells you that you as the consumer are equally responsible, because you are both the victim and the perpetrator of rogue economics.

Reading the book it’s easy to feel that because we are so heavily embedded, as you say, that it’s impossible to change anything. Is that the message you’re trying to get across?

No, there is a lot that we can do. For example, we can become conscious of what is happening and we can change our lives. I mean, I’ve changed my life and you may think that this is very little but it is not. At the end of the day, the only voice that can control the market is the consumer.

Do you have any tips on how we can make this change?

Well, it’s very hard to say. You can for example not buy so much when you go to the supermarket, because we throw away one third of the food that we buy.

You’ve criticised a lot of people and organisations in your book. Have you received any threats since publication?

No. I don’t mention people in particular. If anything I think the real danger may come from the celebrities. Now I’m having trouble with a paper in New Zealand printing an article about what I wrote in the book about Bono and Live Aid, misconstruing what I said. In the book I don’t say that the money raised by Bono went to fund terrorism; I say that the money raised by all these organizations, including money raised by Bono, is inevitably diverted and ends up funding terrorists.

I suppose a lot of the content has the potential to become quite sensationalised.

Yes, I suppose it does.

And do you find this a problem in promoting and defending the book? 

I think that this is the problem; that everything has to be sensationalised by the media. They don’t really care about Africa, they only care about the name of the celebrity. So I think, to a certain extent, that this is a confirmation that we’re all in the grips of rogue economics- because to sell a newspaper they’ll do anything.

For readers of your book who are interested in the topics you explore, can you suggest where to go from here?  

I think young people should just try to find happiness in the small things, not to try to become celebrities or great footballers or whatever, but just try to accept the fact that life has a meaning at every level, but especially at a normal level. Why not simply have a good life? This is a society that has forgotten the importance of the normal individual.

You’ve said that this book has changed your life. Where do you think it will take you from here?

Personally I think it made me very aware. But I think that in terms of my work, having written a book like this, what else can I write? In a way I say it all.

ROGUE ECONOMICS: Book Review by Emma Rugg

Rogue Economics: Capitalism’s new reality didn’t appeal from the outset. Honestly, economics sounded about as fun as underwear drawer rearrangement. So I’m happy to report that, in the same way Michael Moore makes the intricacies of the US healthcare system accessible, Loretta Napoleoni has managed to introduce the idea of rogue economics within the framework of an engaging, entertaining and above all, insightful read.  

The book’s blurb poses the question: ‘What do Eastern Europe’s booming sex trade, America’s sub prime mortgage lending scandal, China’s fake goods industry and celebrity philanthropy in Africa have in common?’  The answer, it seems, is an equal footing in the global economic web. Napoleoni isn’t one to hide behind moderation when airing her opinion on the State of Things, referring to the situation – with one of a number of colourful adjectives - as an ‘exploitative mutant,’ running rife in the ‘country club of democracy’. Passion is well and truly at the root of this discussion, but luckily, when compared to the work of other ideologists, Rogue Economics displays its passion with a more favourable substance-to-sensationalism ratio. 

As the book moves through mafia prostitution rings, piracy in the arctic seas and the myth of foreign aid in Africa, it’s easy to feel like you’re reading a fantastical epic, while waiting for all to be solved when the ring is destroyed by a modern-day hero. But unfortunately, the force of evil, that ‘exploitative mutant’ of rogue economics, is firmly entrenched in our everyday realities. And it seems like the moral of this story is not that good must conquer evil, but that we as the protagonists in the tale must acknowledge its nature as a first step in any sort of change. 

However, at times Napoleoni does occasionally fall prey to the trap of the ideologue in towing the party line to the extreme. Her discussion on obesity is a prime example; there’s no denying that the epidemic is an outcome of market forces on the food we consume, but in her bid to frame it as the exclusive product of rogue trends in food marketing and globalised patterns of brand distribution, Napoleoni overlooks other factors like technology and the modern sedentary lifestyle. On the other hand, this formula is how she manages to make the book accessible, elevating it beyond the dusty fate of formulaic, balanced academia.