Weekly Roundup: April 6, 2022

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work.

New this week: Economic Update, Capitalism Hits Home, Cities After..., Global Capitalism & Ask Prof Wolff...

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work!

Economic Update: Amazon Workers Organize a Union

This week on Economic Update, Prof. Wolff talks about oil and gas inflation, its impacts, and politicians' phony solutions, the stagnant US gender pay gap and its significance, and why Americans are experiencing economic crisis, while Biden pretends the US economy has "recovered" and is in great shape. In the second half of the show, Wolff interviews Amazon union leader Chris Smalls about union organizing efforts across Amazon and beyond in a revived labor militancy.

Smalls: "I believe that workers are going to start unionizing at a rapid pace because now they see that once again the CEO's of these companies are making billions upon billions on our backs. And they're flying to space and coming back and thanking us. That's just not gonna fly with us anymore.”

Capitalism Hits Home: Why The Women’s Liberation Movement Fractured

During its inception, the Women’s Liberation Movement was rooted in anti-capitalist and anti-racist ideals, pushing for equality for all. Today, however, feminism tends to focus mainly on gender equality. In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad discusses how that fracture happened and the deliberate forces behind it. Now more than ever we need an intersectional and collaborative approach to our social movements, with involvement from everyone.

Fraad: "How did this happen? How did the movement go from wanting equality for all morph into an equality for women within a system of ever greater inequality?”

Cities After…Urban Emptiness and the Pandemic [REPEAT]

This week we are rebroadcasting our first episode of Cities After..., originally released in April of 2021. In this episode, Prof. Robles-Durán explores the urban shifts surrounding the dramatic rise of commercial and residential vacancies during the global pandemic.

Robles-Durán: "The empty cities that we learn to navigate in 2020 were in many ways already empty… Having vacant spaces didn't mean that there was no economic output out of those spaces. A lot of people were making money out of them.”

Global Capitalism: Solutions for Inflation? Capitalism Faces a Dead End

Prof Wolff shares the common responses to inflation by the U.S. and the problems that would cause. He ends with a comment about this modern economic dilemma: is there a better way to solve inflation than what capitalism has to offer?

Wolff: “The solution looks as bad as the problem we're desperate to solve. I think these are signs of an empire and an economic system coming however slowly and however back and forth and hesitant the steps are, to an end."

Ask Prof Wolff: Can Public Enterprises Compete With Private?

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I have a question about "public option" businesses. Do you know of any examples of government-funded "public option" businesses, out in the world today or historically, that have competed with privately owned businesses in the market? How did it work out, and did they have any effect on inflation?" This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response.

Wolff: “I think public enterprises could and would take steps to slow or stop an inflation that are not available to us in a society like the United States that is so lopsidedly private.”

Ask Prof Wolff: US Dollar vs. China's Yuan

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Prof. Wolff could you please comment or give your analysis regarding the petrodollar, its impact on global markets, geo-politics and the recent news that the Yuan may soon overtake as the leading world's reserve currency? Most notably I'm interested to know how probable this event is and its impact on the United States economy and domestic politics, etc. What can/should be done about it?" This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response.

Wolff: “People will have confidence in their currency, not now only because they also have dollars but because they also have yuan. And with the prospect of the yuan becoming a bigger factor connected to the biggest economy in the world within a few years, the pressure is on.”