大象传媒

To orthodox economists, who value free trade above all else, autarky is a form of heresy. And there's certainly no shortage of historical examples where the pursuit of self-sufficiency by governments and national leaders has led to misery and impoverishment of their populations, from North Korea's 'Juche' ideology, to Sri Lanka's recent overnight ban on fertiliser imports.

Yet less absolute forms of trade protection have also, at times, been proven tools for jumpstarting national economic development, including for the likes of America and Germany. And in times of conflict, a focus on national production, when imports are impossible, has often been vital in sustaining war efforts.

So can autarky ever actually work in practice?

For this second episode, Ben Chu, economics editor of 大象传媒 Newsnight, speaks to leading economists, historians and policy experts to find out. And with the war in Ukraine causing a rise in global food prices, Ben travels to an organic farm in Devon to see if it's possible for a nation like Britain to be entirely self-sufficient in food.

With contributions from:

Professor Tim Lang, Emeritus Professor of Food Policy, City, University of London
Guy Singh-Watson, Founder of Riverside Organic
Professor Jeevika Weerahewa, Professor at University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka
Kazuhito Yamashita, Research Director, Canon Institute for Global Studies
Dr Robert Feldman, Chief Economist Japan at Morgan Stanley
Ha-Joon Chang, Economist and Author of 'Edible Economics- A Hungry Economist Explains the World'
Brad DeLong, Economist and Author of 'Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century'
David Edgerton, British Historian
Amane Kimura, CEO at Algal Bio

Presenter: Ben Chu
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for 大象传媒 Radio 4