Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Latest Episodes:

Covid Criminals, Pandemic Profiteers Feb 17, 2022

Show notes

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on Mississippi's legalization of pot, US's $30 trillion national debt, Mexican workers at GM plant vote in militant union, and Amazon's 17% price increase (after a year of record profits), as much of nation already suffers from 7% inflation. In the second half of the show, Wolff interviews John Nichols, author of Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers.

Fascism Feb 10, 2022

Show notes

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about the US' 2021 trade deficit and its implications, the FED's inflation policy dilemma, and the political economy of the Baltimore and Bronx fires. In the second half of the show, Wolff uses the actual history of fascism in Italy, Germany and Spain to analyze the positions and prospects of fascism in the US today.

Rebuilding a Labor and Left Movement Feb 03, 2022

Show notes

This week on Economic Update, Prof. Wolff presents a critique of US Megacorp merger (Microsoft and Activision Blizzard), China vs US on inflation and economic growth, and the collapse of Boris Johnson (like Trump's lost election). In the second half of the show, Wolff interviews author Aviva Chomsky on problems and prospects of US labor and left social movements.

The Socialism Issue Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about the recreation of `company towns' (eg., Kalamazoo, MI) by the richest US capitalists, Biden and the reality of US jobs lost, how and why the US follows UK decline, and rising mass alienation from established political leaders and parties. The second half of the program features a discussion of socialism without Cold War taboos.

The End of the Megamachine Jan 20, 2022

Show notes

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about the sharp reduction in US population growth; how "lockdowns" are the anti-Covid policy everywhere, ,some gov't run and focused while others are private, haphazard, and unfocused. In the second half of the show, Prof. Wolff is joined by Fabian Scheidler, author of The End of the Megamachine: A Brief History of a Failing Civilization.

Emotions and US Politics Today Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about US bank closings as a sign of system decline; victory for 3000 striking Columbia University students; Laredo, Texas combats food deserts with co-ops; pandemic years worsen global inequalities, US defense bill aggravates US capitalism's inequalities. Special guest Tess Fraad-Wolff joins the second half of the show to discuss the role of emotions in US politics today (by Dems and GOP establishments but also Trump and Bernie wings).

Strikes amid Reviving US Labor Movement Jan 06, 2022

Show notes

This week on Economic Update, Prof. Wolff presents updates on Huawei vs Cisco, Europe's exploding energy prices falsely blamed on Covid, Robert Kuttner announces he has become a socialist, polls show big drop in religious affiliation and praying especially among Christians from 2007 to 2021 as secularism accelerates. In the second half of the show, Prof. Wolff is joined by Mike Elk of Payday Report to discuss the growing wave of US strikes since the pandemic began.

Working Class History and the 2020 Election (REPEAT) Dec 30, 2021

Show notes

This special program discusses how the history of the US working class shaped US politics. We start with how and why the 1930s Great Depression married the US working class to FDR's Democratic Party (New Deal Coalition). We next show how and why after 1945, US business leaders and Republicans broke up that marriage to undo the New Deal. By re-building working class divisions - especially around race and gender - males and whites moved toward the GOP. A weakened Dem party responded by appealing to (and thereby dividing) business interests to support them. The two parties thus became almost identically pro-capitalist and both presided over growing inequalities in income, wealth and political power between the richest 10% and the working class. Building to 2016, working class disgust with both parties showed in disinterest, ambivalence, and the growing role of "cultural" differences in place of working class solidarity. It boiled over when an "outsider" (Trump) defeated first the Republican and then the Democratic establishment candidates, an expression of the working class's history since 1929. We end on the implications of this history for the 2020 election.

The Contradictions of 2021 Dec 23, 2021

Show notes

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on Columbia University grad student strike, the contradictions of 2021, Cuba's Covid vaccine, Trump clone and French politics' lesson, why US manufacturing jobs keep vanishing, why capital-labor struggles affect high and low-paid workers alike: the baseball lockout, and Mitt Romney's 100% hypocritical attack on Dalio's China investments.

Anti-Mandate is NOT Anti-Vaccine Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents a critique of obscene wealth in the US and the economics of the rape crisis in th US and UK. The second half of the show features an interview with author Bob Hennelly, on the anti-mandate vs anti-vaccine confusion and the debate over Democratic Party losses and strategies.

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