Is Our Idea of Economic Success Completely Broken? (Your Radical Questions with Kate Raworth)

Is Our Idea of Economic Success Completely Broken? (Your Radical Questions with Kate Raworth)

From Radical by BBC Radio 4

June 15, 2026 · 18 min

About this episode

Kate Raworth discusses the flaws in traditional economic measures and presents her alternative model, Doughnut Economics.

Kate Raworth believes that mainstream economists have got it wrong for decades. For her, reducing everything to a simple measure of gross domestic product and increasing that number every year is a huge mistake that is harming both people and planet. In 2017 she proposed a radical alternative in a book called ‘Doughnut Economics’. It proposes a new economic model that priortises social and environmental needs instead of how much we produce and consume. Many of you asked us to invite her on the podcast, and you've also sent in your questions - so we put them to her. We get Kate’s view on whether it's possible to build long term consensus for her approach at a time when people want short term solutions and whether there is a better metric to measure economic success. We also hear her assessment of universal basic income, and a former Radical guest challenges Kate’s fundamental beliefs on economic growth. GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Monday and Thursday. Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol…

People in this episode

Host: Amol Rajan

Guest: Kate Raworth

Topics covered

  • economic success
  • Doughnut Economics
  • social needs
  • environmental needs
  • universal basic income
  • economic growth

Keywords

  • economic success
  • Doughnut Economics
  • Kate Raworth
  • universal basic income
  • economic growth
  • GDP
  • social needs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Radio 4

Books & works: Doughnut Economics

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