Capitalism and Imperial Decline

🦩 This episode originally aired on May 30, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs

Professor Richard Wolff is the host of the weekly program Economic Update, co-founder of Democracy at Work, and the author of numerous books including Understanding Marxism, Understanding Socialism, Capitalism Hits the Fan, and The Sickness Is the System.

He joins Current Affairs to explain how economics is deliberately taught in a way that confuses people and obscures the realities of power and exploitation. He dismantles the myth that capitalism delivers prosperity, showing instead how it generates instability, inequality, and crisis. Wolff also offers a sober analysis of America’s imperial decline, critiques Trump’s economic agenda, and exposes the economic lies behind anti-immigrant rhetoric.

📚 Subscribe to Richard's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@democracyatwrk/videos

📚 Buy Richard's Books: https://www.rdwolff.com/books

0:00–11:53 Why Economics Is Designed to Confuse You

11:53–22:26 What Marxism Actually Reveals About Capitalism

22:26–30:55 Capitalism Isn’t What You Think It Is

30:55–36:48 Capitalism’s “Success” Story Is a Lie

36:48–44:35 The End of American Empire

44:35–47:45 Will Trump Cause A Recession?

47:45–57:23 The Economics of Immigration