Economic Update

Economic Update- Yanis Varoufakis on the Changing World Economy

On this week’s episode of Economic Update, Professor Richard Wolff draws attention to the 10,000 hotel workers who recently conducted a strike impacting major hotels across 19 US cities. We highlight the contested merger of the two largest grocery chains in America (Albertsons and Kroger threaten to become the third largest retail giant after Amazon, and Walmart) plus the Canadian government forces 9,000 Canadian railway striking workers back to work, with murmurs of a general strike looming. We also give a shout-out to a small Brooklyn pizzeria unionizing with Starbucks workers. Finally, an exclusive interview with world-renowned economist, author and the former finance minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis who discusses global economic change and the working class, topics discussed in his latest work "Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism".

Economic Update- Labor Day and Abe Lincoln, Honoring Both Together

 On this week’s special Labor day episode of Economic Update, Professor Richard Wolff honors both Labor day and President Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln once said in 1861 that "Labor is the superior of capital." Yet, capital in the United States has only two major political parties, the Republicans and the Democrats who both are currently advocating for capital over labor and essentially operating as a two-party monopoly excluding all others. In today's political discourse, Labor has no party advocating for what Lincoln once advocated. The injustice and inequality generated in and for society by capitalist economies is neither necessary nor welcome. A genuine labor party is the missing solution

Economic Update- Worsening Economic Inequality Yields Worsening Social Condition

 On this week’s Economic Update, Professor Richard Wolff discusses Kate Pickett's and Richard Wilkinson's best-selling study in the book "The Spirit Level" (2009), showing how economic inequality correlates with most of the major social problems of our time.

We will juxtapose their latest paper "The Spirit Level at 15: The Enduring Impact of Inequality" Which details how economic inequality has only gotten worse in the past fifteen years, despite government laws and programs aimed to "reduce" inequality.

Wilkinson and Pickett show how inequality leads to severe social ills, divisions, and disintegration. What we need is to face that it is capitalism that generates the inequality that generates the hostilities and social tensions intruding upon and damaging our lives."

Economic Update- Capitalism Vs Patriarchy

On this week’s Economic Update, Professor Richard Wolff discusses the growing Labor movement and the nuclear disarmament movements in the United States; we will also examine the economic impacts of people under 50 not having nor wanting to have children; we highlight the UK Conservatives fearmongering claiming Free Speech is in danger from "cancel culture" and how anti "cancel culture" legislation was blocked by the new Labor gov't; We also discuss an Ohio court ruling that favors employers over the general public around boneless chicken that had bones. Finally, we end the show with an interview with psychotherapist Tess Fraad-Wolff on gender, the patriarchy, and recent changes in capitalism.

Economic Update- Capitalism, Today's World Economy and Gaza

On this week's program, we question the effectiveness as well as the economics of US sanctions (Economic Warfare), also the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) endorses the United Auto Workers (UAW) plan of setting all union contracts to expire on May 1, 2028, essentially laying the groundwork for a "General Strike". We also highlight the latest rhetoric from the US Chamber of Commerce's declaration of a "labor shortage" which only masks their desire for government help in procuring more workers without having to offer higher pay and better working conditions to overcome the "phony" labor shortage. Finally, we Interview Professor Clara Mattei from Rio as Brazil hosts G20 meetings and discuss the protest events calling for an end to the suffering of the people of Gaza.

Economic Update- Capitalism Vs. Marriage

This week's new episode features updates on the UK and French elections showing a dramatic shift to the left, contradicting US mass media, US self-induced global economic isolation in pursuit of punishing countries doing business with China, and how Trump and Biden are equally unwilling to solve Social Security's financial problems by taxing the incomes of the rich as Congress could and should do. Finally, Professor Richard Wolff interviews Dr. Harriet Fraad on the global decline in marriage and birth rates and their connections to capitalism. Dr. Harriet Fraad is an author, feminist activist, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, and host of Capitalism Hits Home.

Economic Update- How Deficits and Debts Rip Us Off

On this week’s Economic Update, Professor Wolff devotes the entire program to explaining clearly what government deficits are, why they occur, and who benefits from them. We show how deficits and debts reward corporations and the rich at the expense of the mass of employees. This show will equip our audience to see through the misuse of deficits and debts in the 2024 election campaigns.

Economic Update- Criminalizing the Homeless

On this week’s Economic Update, Professor Wolff discusses a huge victory for Uber and Lyft drivers' struggling for better wages in Massachusetts; we also bring to your attention six United States senators who criticized Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase for failing to curb fossil fuel investments as he promised. In addition, we discuss the unfortunate new law passed by the new right-wing government in Greece extending the working week to six days.

Finally, we close our program with an Interview with longtime activist Rob Robinson, on the latest Supreme Court decision Grants Pass v. Johnson, which essentially criminalizes the homeless poor as part of its extreme right-wing change. Rob Robinson is a formerly homeless individual who has dedicated his life to advocating for the rights of the homeless and for affordable and sustainable housing. 

Economic Update- Capitalism and Struggle Over Climate Change

 On this week’s Economic Update, Professor Wolff discusses the remarkable bursts of unionization at Starbucks in the US, award-winning New York nurse fired for referring to "genocide" in Gaza, and a critique of Paul Krugman's argument that "democracy" is at stake in the 2024 election. Finally, we close with a major discussion on the tension between the realities of climate change and the profit-driven fossil fuel industry that dominates our global economy. Watch it now

Economic Update- Socialisms: From the Old Socialisms to the New

On this week’s Economic Update, the entire program is devoted to how old socialism's rapid growth and global spread in the 19th and 20th centuries entailed a focus on the state. Key issues were: (1) would the socialist state limit itself to regulating capitalist enterprises and the market (as in many Western European nations) to enhance the well-being of the employee class or would the state itself own and operate enterprises and replace the market with state planning (as in the USSR), and (2) would the socialist strategy to acquire state power be reformist and electoral or revolutionary and armed. Concrete experiences in and with both kinds of old (i.e. state-focused) socialism led to self-criticisms from which a new socialism has emerged for the 21st century. The new socialism criticizes the state-focus of the old and prioritizes the transformation of the workplace over the social positioning of the state in and for the socialist vision and strategy.