Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff
Democracy at Work, Richard D. Wolff
Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff is a weekly nationally syndicated program produced by Democracy at Work and hosted by Richard D. Wolff. The program explores complex economic issues and empowers listeners with information to analyze not only their own financial situation but the economy at large. Beyond focusing a critical eye on the economic dimensions of everyday life - wages, jobs, taxes, debts, interest rates, prices, and profits - the program also explores systemic solutions to our economy's problems including alternative ways to organize production and distribution of the goods and services we all depend on.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 25, 2020 • 29min
The Pandemic's Lesson about Capitalism
On this week's show, Prof. Wolff argues that preparing and coping with the Corona pandemic was inadequate: medical supplies were seriously deficient. It simply was not profitable for firms to produce or stockpile the supplies. Neo-liberal governments were complicit with private profit capitalists rather than compensating for their inadequacies. The lesson: many basic social needs are needed, like public health. We cannot, need not, and should not rely on capitalists to meet them. Alternatives are available.
Jun 18, 2020 • 29min
Working Class Radicalism
On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on why US record on Covid-19 so much worse than most others'; corp buys Trump; US billionaires got much richer during pandemic and 42 million lost jobs; sharp rise to 66,433 homeless in LA. The second part of the show features an interview with creative activist and journalist. Eleanor Goldfield on her new film "Hard Road of Hope" on working class radicalism.
Jun 11, 2020 • 29min
Dark Times, Hard Truths
Updates on mismanaging Covid-19 and US system's crash; reactions to econ decline; sharing gains of firms profiting from the virus; the mistake of "dominating;" mass joblessness = class war. Interview with comedian and podcast host Jimmy Dore on today's crises and roles of GOP and Dems.
Jun 4, 2020 • 29min
Socialism vs Covid-19: A Very Different Story
US has 5% of world's population but 30% of world's Covid-19 deaths. US capitalism did poorly against the virus. Today's program explores how socialism could and would prepare for and respond to Covid-19 differently. We include both the logic of socialism's different policies and examples of socialist-influenced policies in other countries.
May 28, 2020 • 29min
Cornel West on Pandemic Capitalism
Updates on how pandemic and capitalism are combining to worsen social divides in the US. Interview with Cornel West on (1) how pandemic + economic crash are affecting US society and (2) the prospects for social change.
May 14, 2020 • 29min
2020 May Day Protests and Demands
A special program: interview with Kali Akuno, leader of Cooperation Jackson in Mississippi. As a leader of national May Day actions, he discusses their size, diversity, motivations and goals (including planned monthly national actions). He analyzes organizational challenges and prospects. Finally, he explains why he believes this May Day was a major strengthening of the US left.
May 7, 2020 • 29min
Unemployment: Cruel, Wasteful, Unnecessary
On this week's show, Prof. Wolff criticizes unemployment - as a specifically capitalist irrationality - and advocates "re-employment" as a far better policy. Gov't jobs and worker-coop development are key means for re-employment. Very socially necessary jobs are detailed that further encourage re-employment, instead of unemployment.
Apr 30, 2020 • 29min
Honoring May Day, 1886 and 2020
From May Day 1886 to 2020, workers wage long, hard struggles to reform capitalismFrom the fight for an 8-hour workday to the fight for a safe, Corona-free workplace now. Employers block and delay reforms, and try to undo them once won. They use what capitalism gives them: dominant power, incentive (profit), and means (profits). If we change the system from capitalist to worker-coop, workers alone democratically make and secure reforms. Employers, the constant enemy of reform, vanish as a separate group dominating society."
Apr 23, 2020 • 29min
Capitalism's Unemployment Problem
Capitalism's recurring unemployment problem was never solved and makes the system fundamentally unstable. Today's high levels of unemployment are hugely costly in both human and financial terms. We analyze why capitalism prepares so poorly for and then endures its recurring unemployment. We also examine several alternatives to unemployment that would serve society better but threaten capitalism.
Apr 16, 2020 • 29min
Virus Triggers Capitalist Crash
Analysis (part 1): how, why capitalism - especially in US - failed to prepare for or cope with a virus thereby enabling it to trigger another crash of capitalism (third this century: dot.com in 2000, sub-prime mortgage in 2008). Analysis (part 2): how to respond to crash better than the US govt by emphasizing re-employment in millions of new jobs rather than unemployment, emphasizing worker-coops, etc.
