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Season 11
Season 11 began in January 2021, and will run through December 2021.
Workers Successfully Take Over Their Workplaces
Guest: Prof. Marcelo Vieta
April 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 15)
On this week's show, Prof. Wolff discusses how the US home rental market is failing over 20% of all renters, and the basic flaws in Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal. On the second half of the show, Prof. Wolff interviews Prof. Marcelo Vieta on his studies of workers' success in taking over enterprises mismanaged by capitalists.
Marxism's Ongoing Relevance
No Guest
April 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 14)
After clearing away the Cold War debris that blocked discussion of Marxism's insights since 1945, we focus on Marxism's core contribution to (1) thinking about and (2) changing modern capitalist society. That contribution is class structure and class struggle. Marxism explores how class struggle exists in capitalism, how it influences all of social life, and how it changes over time. Marxism also envisions the end of class struggles as its social change goal now.
When Economic Systems Fail
Guest: Rob Urie
April 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 13)
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On this week's episode, Prof. Wolff talks about the structural failure of Biden's American Rescue Plan, Nigerian mass workers' movement, private electricity for the US rich, big vs small business struggles, and why opposition to lockdowns only prolongs Covid. On the second half of the program, Wolff interviews author Rob Urie on criticizing capitalism.
Dems' Self-Promotion vs. Hard Economic Realities
Guest: Bob Hennelly
March 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 12)
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On this week's show, Prof. Wolff discusses the US coal industry decline, Brazil's Covid disaster, economic surge after Covid, and Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax proposal. On the second half of the show, Wolff interviews investigative journalist Bob Hennelly on the gap between Biden regime actions and pronouncements, and the hard realities of economic depression and "food insecurity.
Finally A Tiny Sales Tax on Stocks
Guest: James S. Henry
March 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 11)
On this week's show, Wolff talks about the taxing of CEO pay in the US, the immoral and self-defeating vaccine policy, and LeBron James speaking out on social issues. On the second half of the show, Wolff interviews attorney James S Henry on the struggles for a stock transfer tax in New York, the US and globally.
People to People: Horizontal Social Change
Guest: Prof. Marina Sitrin
March 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 10)
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On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on the Texas energy catastrophe, the 'Robinhood/Reddit' Wall Street incident, college workers organizing, Hollywood's dependency on China, and how New Zealand used total lockdown to beat Covid and support its economy. In the second half of the program, Wolff interviews Prof Marina Sitrin on pandemic solidarity and horizontal social action.
Socialism and Puerto Rico
Guest: Senator Rafael Bernabe
March 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 09)
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On this week's EU, Prof. Wolff presents updates on worsening US inequality, universities borrowing more, billions earned by hedge funds in 2020, Bezos "charity" giving, Macron and French conservatives' anti-Americanism, and Communists after 1945 vs Proud Boys now. On the second half of the show, Wolff interviews socialist Senator Rafael Bernabe from Puerto Rico.
The System Implodes: Amazon, Evictions, Tax Abuses & Minimum Wage
No Guest
March 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 08)
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On this week's show, Prof. Wolff discusses Amazon's profits; New York state's eviction crisis and capitalism's reproduction of poverty and inequality; New York's stock transfer tax; raising the minimum wage; and the subsidizing of billionaire's big sport businesses.
Why Capitalism Reproduces Inequality & a Solution
No Guest
February 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 07)
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The extreme economic inequalities of both global and US capitalism are not new or exceptional. Capitalism reproduces inequality and repeatedly blocks or reverses redistribution efforts.Inequality stems from capitalist enterprises' internal organization: a tiny minority, employers, with dominant, unaccountable power enriches itself at the expense of all others, the employee majority. To overcome capitalism's inequality requires democratizing its enterprises' organizations.
The US Political Right in Anger & Mourning
Guest: Prof. Arlie Hochschild
February 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 06)
On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on the radical policies of Berlin's city gov't and its Die LInke Party; why raising minimum wage to $15/hour is too little, too late; how bans on evictions and utility shut offs fight Covid-19; and lastly, he argues for the urgent need for a changed China policy. On the second half of the show, Wolff interviews Prof. Arlie Hochschild on her 10 year study of the US political right.
History's Lessons on Capitalism's Failures: Germany & US
No Guest
February 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 05)
On this week's show, Prof. Wolff evaluates capitalism by how it deals with Covid-19 and talks about Boeing's latest fatal crash. The second half of the show is dedicated to a major discussion of the causes of Hitler in Germany as offering clues to the rise of Trump and the assault on the Capitol.
Why Women Have Better Sex in Socialism
Guest: Prof. Kristen Ghodsee
February 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 04)
Watch on YouTube | Read Episode Transcript
On this week's show, Professor Wolff explains where the government is respected and empowered, nations have effectively contained the Covid-19 pandemic. He gives examples including New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, and China. Alternately, where the government is demonized, disrespected, distrusted, the pandemic has been devastating. Examples of this include the UK and the US. Wolff argues that a rational economy includes both less and more government-regulated private enterprises plus state-owned and operated enterprises according to which performs best to meet society's needs. No fundamentalist "either/or" arguments are justified. Finally, he says how private and government enterprises are internally organized - hierarchical or alternatively democratic worker-co-op - is equally important.
The Economics Lesson Taught by the Pandemic
No Guest
January 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 03)
Watch on YouTube | Read Episode Transcript
On this week's show, Professor Wolff explains where the government is respected and empowered, nations have effectively contained the Covid-19 pandemic. He gives examples including New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, and China. Alternately, where the government is demonized, disrespected, distrusted, the pandemic has been devastating. Examples of this include the UK and the US. Wolff argues that a rational economy includes both less and more government-regulated private enterprises plus state-owned and operated enterprises according to which performs best to meet society's needs. No fundamentalist "either/or" arguments are justified. Finally, he says how private and government enterprises are internally organized - hierarchical or alternatively democratic worker-co-op - is equally important.
Noam Chomsky on Prospects & Tasks as 2021 Begins
Guest: Noam Chomsky
January 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 02)
Watch on YouTube | Read Episode Transcript
This week, Professor Wolff gives updates on President-elect Biden's economic advisor "team", how Argentina's women's movement leads the defeat of the government and Roman Catholic Church oppositions to win legalized abortion and now targets other basic social changes, and how the deepening inequality of US wealth and income cause and reflect the growing gap between stock market prices and the depressed Main street US economy. The second half features an interview with Noam Chomsky on political and economic realities and possibilities facing us in 2021.
Externalities & Capitalism's Inefficiencies
No Guest
January 2021 (Season 11 - Episode 01)
Watch on YouTube | Read Episode Transcript
This program introduces the economic concept of "externalities." Those are the real costs of employers' business decisions that employers do not pay for or take into account: costs "external" to businesses' profit/loss calculations. Examples include costly damage to the environment, to employees' private lives, etc. Those real social costs are external and additional to capitalists' private costs. Therefore, capitalists' investment decisions based on comparing costs and revenues do NOT take into account the real, external costs. Thus their decisions are not "efficient." Capitalism never was the efficient system its apologists claim.
Other Seasons of Economic Update
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Showing 2 comments
Rather than look at the wages of the poor, I sometimes ask people about the wages of the rich. For example, imagine you have an excellent position such that, after you pay taxes and bills, you have $400,000 to put aside each year as savings: How many years will it take to accumulate $1 billion? I add, don’t try to do the math just give me a gut reaction. Most people said between 30 and 100 years, a few around 200, one person said 1,000 years, but nobody came close to the real answer which is 2,500 years: Saving $100,000 per year will take 10,000 years to reach $1 billion.
We talk of billionaires, but earning $1 billion per year means you earn $2.8 million every day. And earning $15 per hour, or roughly $30,000 per year, means you need to work 93 years to earn what the billionaire earns in one day; and work 33,300 years to earn $1 billion.
I mention this not to add confusion with more numbers but to point out that, in my estimation, few people have a real notion about how much wealth the richest among us like Bezos are really sucking out of the economy for themselves. Many people are smart and creative but they don’t earn nearly as much; something else is going on when a handful of people can grab so much for themselves.