June 24, 2025 – In Empty Vessel, Ian Kumekawa tells the history of the global economy through a single barge: which throughout the 20th century served as a floating prison, military barracks, housing for migrant workers, serviced offshore oil rigs, and anything else the market demanded.
Ian joins us on WorldNow with Jim Falk to explore the making and offshoring of the modern global economy – from mass incarceration, tax havens, and fossil fuel extraction to military power and deregulation. We also discuss what the story reveals about the global economy today and the administration’s increased use of offshore prisons, tariffs, and economic nationalism.
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Featuring:
Ian Kumekawa is a historian of economic thinking and capitalism at the Center for History and Economics at Harvard University and a Lecturer at MIT. He is the author of The First Serious Optimist (2017), which examines the intellectual origins of welfare economics and won the Joseph J. Spengler Prize. He hails from Clinton, CT and now lives in Boston. Learn more about Ian here.
Jim Falk is President Emeritus of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. Now residing in Santa Fe, NM, he is Vice Chairman of the Board of Global Santa Fe. In addition to hosting WorldNow with Jim Falk, Jim produces and hosts The Forum, a weekly talk show on KSFR-FM, Santa Fe Public Radio. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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Get a copy of Empty Vessel by Ian Kumekawa on Bookshop.org to support your local bookstore.
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WorldNow with Jim Falk is hosted by the World Affairs Council of Connecticut, Global Santa Fe, and the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth.
Presented in partnership with the Alaska World Affairs Council, Colorado Springs World Affairs Council, Columbia World Affairs Council, Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations, Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations, World Affairs Council of Albuquerque, World Affairs Council of Austin, World Affairs Council of Charlotte, World Affairs Council of Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky, World Affairs Council of Greater Houston, World Affairs Council of Hampton Roads, World Affairs Council of Jacksonville, World Affairs Council of Orange County, World Affairs Council of San Antonio, World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts, and WorldOregon.
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WorldNow music composed by Zac Harmon and Christopher Troy
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Featuring:
Ian Kumekawa,
Historian of economic thinking and capitalism at Harvard University; Lecturer at MIT; and author of Empty Vessel
Jim Falk,
President Emeritus of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, Global Santa Fe Program Chair, host of WorldNow with Jim Falk
