Capitalist democracy is under stress. The European Union is engulfed in a sovereign debt crisis that threatens its very existence, while the United States is facing its own potentially devastating public finance crunch. On both sides of the Atlantic, the institutions of democracy are gridlocked, and viable long-term policy solutions are lacking. The crisis has exposed the inner tensions of capitalism and its tenuous relationship with western democracy. What is the appropriate institutional architecture to manage capitalist democracy? What role should the different branches of government, businesses, and central banks play?

Listen in to this conversation with Judge Richard A. Posner on the lessons to be learned from the current situation and the reforms needed to prevent another depression. Posner is a judge on the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.

Recorded Thursday, February 23, 2012 at the InterContinental Hotel.