Economic Update

Economic Update - 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.

Economic Update - 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 Jimmy Dore on today's crises and roles of GOP and Dems.

Economic Update - 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.

Economic Update - 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."

Economic Update - An Analysis for Today

An in-depth analysis of fascism as massive government intervention to protect and save a crashing capitalism. We focus on today's examples, historical parallels (in Germany and Italy), and how "strong men" leaders push fascist agendas. We discuss how fascism and socialism differ and how nationalism serves as fascism's social "disguise 

 

 

Economic Update - 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.

Economic Update - 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.

 

Economic Update - 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 dominati

Economic Update - 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.

Economic Update - 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.