A Patron of Economic Update asks: "What is the connection between capitalism and the ability for rulers to control women's bodies and the...

[S02 E12] New

Continuing with Pt. 3 of Cities After…Summer Climate Change series, Prof. Robles-Durán talks to the world-renowned performance artist and activist William Tallen, famously known for his character Reverend Billy, described in a recent National Public Radio article as a...

[S12 E26] New

In this week's show, Prof Wolff discusses the replacement theory's grain of truth amidst its mostly ideological function: to save capitalism from criticism. He analyzes why US capitalists deprived so many white, male, Christian workers of their jobs, incomes, and social standing over recent decades and why that analysis was largely silenced by...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I would love to hear you talk about degrowth. It's something I've been reading a little about for a few years. I probably...

[S5 E14] New

In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad looks at the recent dramatic US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. She argues that all of the SCOTUS decisions for 2022 share a common purpose. First, they help to create a capitalist authoritarian state enforced by unaccountable police. Secondly they divide...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "How would inflation, cyclic depression and the other harmful capitalistic economic behavior be avoided in...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "If pay for workers increases, won't that increase consumption (unless its stolen back through...

[S4 E10] New

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey warns that the endless accumulation of capital in a variety of sectors is putting tremendous pressure on our economy, our world, and our very existence. Signs of economic growth—the rising mass of value; centralization of wealth and power in the hands of a small minority; the concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere leading to serious climate and biological disruptions; the growing output of plastics; cement production in China; and airline travel and the surplus of liquidity seeking opportunities for investment—are being directed to unproductive activities like military expenditures and the defense industry, ever increasing the threat of nuclear war...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Christopher Leonard, author of "The Lords of Easy Money" has a piece in the 6/11/22 NYT (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/11/opinion/fed-federal-reserve-inflation-democrats.html) that...

[S02 E11] New

In the second episode of the Cities After…summer climate change series, Prof. Robles-Durán takes a deep dialectical dive into one of the most popular consumer "solutions" to the climate crisis: the electric car. He begins by sharing the reductionist points that both the auto industry and...

[S12 E25] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on US's groceries inflation; US teacher crisis; capitalists profiting from guns and protection from guns, UN report on global suffering from Ukraine war's and sanctions regimes' costs to world's people in terms of fuel, food, and interest rate inflations; and median New York City...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I have always been interested in the idea of what individualism would be like under socialism. Say, for example, some people don’t enjoy working in groups and prefer to work independently through freelance as they then have...

[S5 E13] New

We have to accept that empire and militarism is not what’s going to save the world, it’s what’s going to destroy the planet.” In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad continues discussing America’s problem with...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Dear Prof Wolff, can you please explain the similarities and differences between...

[S12 E24] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about the effect of Ukraine sanctions on inflation, Musk as economic dictator, Idaho progressives’ impressive gains, and offers a practical response to...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Prof. Wolff, do you believe the equality we seek can be brought about by the swift and sudden collapse of corporate fascism, a civil war, or by an evolution in the culture through constant...

[S4 E09] New

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey explores how geopolitical conflicts escalate into war, both historically and today with the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Harvey looks at NATO’s role in escalating this crisis, lessons to be learned from the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and the looming possibility of nuclear...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Prof Wolff, can you explain the relationship between debt and inflation? Would canceling $1.7 trillion in student debt cause inflation to...

[S02 E10] New

In this episode of Cities After…, Prof. Robles-Durán introduces a summer series on climate change, urban ecology, and its dialectical origins. It is essential to first differentiate how urban ecology should be understood in contrast to...

[S12 E23] New

In this week's show, Prof Wolff discusses the stale old debate (competition vs monopoly) and which to blame for inflation; unionization drives across US campuses, and Eastern Kentucky University in particular; how US stores manage inflation; and Elon Musk...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I have a question regarding Robots and AI. What happens to using the workplace instead of the state when there are no jobs for 80 percent of the people, no place to...

[S5 E12] New

**CW: This episode discusses mass murder and school shootings.**

In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad looks at mass shootings in the US and in particular the most recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. She examines the psychological, emotional, political, and economic reasons the US...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "The strategy of d@w regarding changing society is, as far as I understand, to build a movement bottom up from cooperatives to network of cooperatives. I live in France and there was an important person, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who favored that approach. He was in strong opposition to Marx’s more aggressive approach and had some influence in the ideas of the participants in the adventure of the french commune. It would be interesting to...

[S06 E07] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Cinar, Larry, and Kevin talk with Terence Courtney, the Director of Cooperative Development & Strategic Initiatives at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, an organization focused on land retention, cooperative development, and advocacy for small black-owned farms in the Southern...

[S12 E22] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about insurers defrauding pensions, record highway deaths, inflation and risk, interest rate rises, Massachusetts to vote on millionaires tax...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "The Australian people have just voted to remove the authoritarian conservative government, which recorded its worst election result in 70 years. The Greens (our main left-of-centre option in Aus) recorded it's highest vote in its 30-year history and will hold the balance of power in the Senate. With the combined third-party vote now roughly equal to...

[S4 E08] New

In this episode of David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey offers his perspective on two questions being debated in leftist circles: are we entering a new kind of capitalism? Is the current capitalism a type of new feudalism? In order to approach these questions, Harvey looks to capitalism’s past and present—at the rentier class...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I see so many young people that are highly qualified and educated and hard working yet they struggle to find work in their respective fields. Could there be a greater underlying economic or...

[S02 E09] New

This week we want to introduce the first Cities After…Grassroots Special, a quarterly series in which Prof. Robles-Durán speaks with core members of grassroots social movements about critical lessons from their work in the streets and the many projects they are pursuing to fight for the right to the city.

For the inaugural episode, Robles-Durán spoke with Santiago Mas De Xaxas Faus, João França, Delia Ccerare Paniora and Maka Suarez, four core members of Spain's most successful housing movement: La PAH (Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca, translated as The Platform for People Affected by Mortgages). They speak about their recently published La PAH: A Handbook—A manual that...

[S12 E21] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff discusses today's US child care workers' crisis; how sanctions on Russia profit fossil fuel companies and worsen pollution; systemic causes of the US infant formula shortage; how food corp executives helped write Trump's 2020 order keeping Covid-plagued meatpacking plants operating; meat price...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Dear Professor Wolff, can you speak about the advisability of cutting gas taxes in...

[S5 E11] New

"Capitalism is really bad for our health.” In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad discusses mental health through the lens of a 4-legged table of connection: intimate relationships, friends, larger groups such as PTAs, work, or political groups, and connection to your country and shared humanity with the world. Under capitalism, Fraad explains, each leg of the table is made very shaky. With abuse, alcoholism, crime, and suicide all going up, as well as...

A Supporter of Democracy at Work asks: "The concept of the productive worker being both employer and employee in all areas is brilliant and necessary to overcome the injustice of the potentially dangerous and egregious financial disparity between...

[S06 E06] New

Does capitalism allow real friendship? How does commodification shape our dating lives? How do people share intimacy in a world in which data is translatable to wealth? These and many more...

[S12 E20] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about the GOP's stance on student debt forgiveness, US corporations replacing home ownership with rentals, today's US economy not "strong," and left unity, as 4 French left parties work to...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Can you talk about the economics of planned parenthood and...

[S4 E07] New

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey points to a number of hopeful changes in the political landscape of various countries: Colombia, Peru, Brazil and France. Harvey continues by drawing on Marx’s arguments on the 10-hour work day as a guide for today’s anti-capitalist..

A Supporter of Democracy at Work asks: "Is there anything the Biden administration can do to decrease the rate of inflation significantly, even though...

[S02 E08] New

In this episode of Cities After…, Prof. Robles-Durán speaks with Miodrag Mitrašinović, one of the world’s foremost researchers on public space. Robles-Durán and Mitrašinović consider differing definitions of "public space," contrast Hudson Yards in Manhattan with...

[S12 E19] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on the unionization of Grinnell College student-workers; US GDP drops 1.4% in Q1 of 2022; food inflation versus rationing; Germany's refugee shame; small US businesses to plan price inflation; and western corporations leaving Russia replaced by...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "How rigged is the stock market against working people? How does the stock market...

[S5 E10] New

With rising inflation rates, mass resignations, poor working conditions, and expensive housing, it’s clear that capitalism in the US is falling apart. To counter this, the right wing is working hard to repress each and every marginalized group in order to keep the working class divided. In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad looks at that fascist push to maintain a hierarchy in family, faith...

[May 2022] New

Marxism: From Critique of Capitalism to Alternative System [May 2022] 

with Richard D. Wolff  

Co-sponsored by Democracy at Work, Left Forum & Judson Memorial Church

In this lecture, Prof. Wolff will discuss the following:

1. Rising US labor militancy: Amazon to Grinnell College
2. Housing and stock market: bubbles and bursts...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Do you think that it might be worthwhile disambiguating the differences (and general confusion) among assets...

[S06 E05] New

In this episode of ATC, Cinar, Larry and Kevin talk with John Hayes of MyCoolClass about the rise of educational platforms and online learning. MyCoolClass aims to give power back to the teachers as they navigate the online teaching world and show how cooperative principles...

[S12 E18] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff discusses global impacts of food inflation, endless class struggle over length of the workday and workweek and US deaths by guns. In the second half of the show, Wolff interviews housing activists Manon Vergerio and Velvet Ross (Fannie Lou Diane) on the US housing crisis...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I stumbled upon your video about dialectics about a month ago and I was wondering if you could...

[S4 E06] New

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey looks at the conditions of labor in the US today: the supply and demand as well as the characteristics capital requires from its labor force. If those characteristics are not met, Harvey explains, or can be met for a cheaper wage, capitalists will often...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Dear Professor Wolff, could you discuss economics' at not-for-profit academic hospitals? How do these hospitals afford the salaries of highly paid administrators (CEOs, Deans, Chairs, etc) who do not contribute to...

[S02 E07] New

Billionaires, or more accurately, oligarchs, exert disproportional influence and control over the world’s political power, media outlets, military discourse, human labor, and natural and urban resources, including those that we commonly regard as public. In this episode of Cities After…, Prof. Robles-Durán looks at the idea of...

[S12 E17] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about Sri Lanka’s economic crisis as a global example, and how US billionaires escape taxation at our expense. In the second half, Wolff discusses...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Can Prof Wolff please explain what it means when a country...

[S5 E09] New

In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad continues her discussion of mental health. She argues that we need to do away with the medical model of mental health that diagnoses depression as a brain disease and seeks to treat it exclusively with medication rather than acknowledging the societal and systemic...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Hello Prof. Wolff, I came across this article that shows there’s a study on 'Re-imagining' Capitalism (https://hewlett.org/newsroom/major-philanthropies-launch-effort-to-establish-multidisciplinary-centers-at-leading-academic-institutions/). Why is the Hewlett Foundation engaging Howard University’s Center for an Equitable and Sustainable Society? Could this be a way of making...

[S6 E04] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Cinar, Larry, and Kevin talk about the issue of innovation under both capitalism and a possible cooperative economy. The innovation we’ve seen over the last 250 years has been so immense that people often believe if we changed our economic system, we’d lose the drive for innovation. Though the innovation achieved under capitalism has led to...

[S12 E16] New

This week on Economic Update, an analysis of Ukraine propaganda war, US inflation worsens, the US college debt crisis and New York City eviction crisis...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Hi, Prof Wolff. I work as a pilot in the airline industry. We enjoy great pay, benefits, work rules, etc. compared to other labor in the USA. This is because we have strong unions. There is a company that is doing great financially, has publicized massive growth plans, but is dead-set against meeting pilots’ demands for...

[S4 E05] New

In this episode, Prof. Harvey examines the current US inflationary crisis and suggests that its cause goes beyond the mainstream explanation of supply and demand. He argues that the crisis has been engineered by capital in an effort to protect profits, weaken the power of labor and discipline social movements. Harvey looks back at the inflation of the 1960s...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "What are some potential macroeconomic consequences if a significant number of corporations began to...

[S02 E06] New

In this episode of Cities After…, Prof. Robles-Durán talks with Laura Raicovich, NY-based writer and art curator, about the roles that the global oligarchy plays in art museums and cultural institutions. They discuss how cultural institutions have never been the neutral, inclusive spaces they often market themselves as. Rather, these spaces, both public or private, rely heavily on...

[S12 E15] New

This week on Economic Update, Prof. Wolff discusses nurses’ suicides as results of our profit-driven healthcare, sanctions and their effect on inflation, US states where 40% of workers earn under $15/hr, and US corporate...

Two Patrons of Economic Update ask: "Can you please explain the difference between the government borrowing money (from the corporations/rich/other countries) vs. printing money? What are the differences between government bonds for financing...

[S05 E08] New

"One out of four American women take antidepressant drugs." In this episode, Dr. Fraad addresses how mental health is diagnosed and treated in the US. Human suffering and misery have been systematically categorized as disorders for which treatment...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "My original understanding of your position and approach to creating more worker coops was that it could NOT really be successfully done by any government forcing changes in the internal structure of enterprises. I have heard that during Stalin's time that was tried, but failed. My understanding of your position was that, while the government could help in some ways, any large increase in the number of worker coops would have to occur by people...

[S6 E03] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Cinar, Larry, and Kevin talk with Hazel Corcoran and Jared Blustein from the Canadian Worker Cooperative Federation. Hazel has been the CWCF's executive director since 1995 and Jared is a founding worker-owner of The Allium, a plant-based worker co-op in Calgary. The group discusses the unique landscape of...

[S12 E14] New

In the first half of this week's show, Wolff evaluates US capitalism as a system of production and distribution of goods and services. In the second half, he compares...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I was wondering what Prof. Wolff’s opinion is on this video (youtube.com/watch?v=xguam0TKMw8) in terms of the...

[S4 E04] New

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey talks about the ever rising mass - the rising quantity of money, debt, GDP, military expenditures, greenhouse gas emissions, plastic waste, etc. - and asks what are the qualitative transformations...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Curious if you have any comment about the ‘grand legally binding leftist coalition’ announced in...

[S01 E01] 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...

[S12 E13] New

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...

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...

[S5 E07] New

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...

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...

[S6 E02] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Larry, Cinar, and Kevin dive into the issue of leisure as it relates to both our current capitalist system and a future cooperative society. What does leisure look like under capitalism and...

[S12 E12] New

This week on Economic Update, Prof Wolff presents updates on Amazon workers' strike, the impact of US inflation, and the underappreciated economic aspects of Russia-Ukraine war...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Can you be both a Marxist and a market socialist and...

[S4 E03] New

“The one sector of government that doesn’t experience austerity is the military budget.” In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey looks at the role of military expenditures in contemporary capitalism in the US and how it affects the rest of the world. From WWII to the Cold War, to the Iraq War, to the...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I have always been interested in how workers would build personal wealth and assets in a socialist society like how they...

[S02 E05] New

In this episode of Cities After…, Prof. Robles-Durán discusses how the western oligarchy has been intrinsically interconnected with its Russian counterpart through massive urbanization projects around the world. Oligarch Business Districts have been developed in major cities at the command of...

[S12 E11] New

This week's show on Economic Update, Prof. Wolff talks about the emerging new world order, Ukraine and inflation, and the economics of sanctions.  On the second half of the show...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I’m writing because I’m curious about Critical Theory and its relationship to a current hot topic, Critical Race Theory. What are Critical Theory’s roots? What were its originators in the Frankfurt School trying...

[S5 E06] New

Our nation's racism was a deliberate policy developed in response to rebellions in the 1600s when white indentured servants, free black men and women and enslaved black people rose up together against their...

[S6 E01] New

Welcome to Season 6 of All Things Co-op!

In this first episode of Season 6, Cinar, Larry, and Kevin introduce the theme of Season 6: there is an alternative. Critics on the Left love to talk about what they’re against but rarely offer real alternatives. Playing off the widespread feeling of capitalist realism—that there is no alternative to our current economic order—the ATC guys propose that building a...

[S12 E10] New

This week's show features a discussion of what Marx offers in the way of a basic critique of capitalism and an alternative economic system that would be better for most people, and how this...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Quick question that may seem silly but I think about it each time I buy something at a store. I usually have my bag. The cashier seeing this takes the 5 cents that is a reward for my bag, and...

[S4 E02] New

Technology has become the largest industry in the world. In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey picks up where he left off from the previous episode to further explore the implications of technology as a business. To do this, Harvey looks closely at Apple as an example—the labor conditions in China, where...

[March 2022] New

The Inflation: Causes, Effects, & Outlook [March 2022] 

with Richard D. Wolff  

Co-sponsored by Democracy at Work, Left Forum & Judson Memorial Church

In this lecture, Prof. Wolff will discuss the following:

1. Impact of Ukraine events...

[S02 E03] *This episode is being re-aired*

In this episode of Cities After…, Prof. Robles-Duran breaks down the allure for many average working millennials of moving to the suburbs. Robles-Duran looks at five key contradictions of the contemporary American Suburban Divide: politics, wellbeing...

[S12 E09] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about the UK selling visa to the rich, why "non-profit" is really "un-taxed," Apple's CEO's 2021 pay of $99 million, AOC and NYPD arrests for stealing...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I wanted to know if you could explain the socialist model of Yugoslavia under the Tito government, how the companies self-managed by the workers worked, how they competed in the...

[S5 E05] New

**CW: RAPE, SEX TRAFFICKING**

In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad brings a Marxian class analysis to a highly controversial topic: sex work. Though illegal in the United States, sex work is all around—from brothels and sex trafficking to...

[S5 E10] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Kevin, Cinar, and Larry discuss the urgency of scaling the cooperative movement. Traditional capitalist enterprises leave the majority of workers feeling trapped and exploited. Democratically-run worker co-ops are a functional solution to a system built on...

[S12 E08] New

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I have heard various politicians, from both left and right, argue that to “look after” an aging population there is a requirement for population growth. The premise of the argument being that there needs to be sufficient numbers of working age people to fund those that have retired. My assumption is that it's...

Season 4 starts now!!!

[S4 E01] New

Technological dynamism comes in various forms: the organizational form, used to improve social productivity, such as the just in time system implemented by the automobile industry; the software of production which centers around keeping employees happy and motivated; and the hardware of technological change, via machinery and equipment. Technological change is driven by the coercive laws of competition...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "You frequently mention the amount of corporate debt in America (which exceeds $18 trillion, an outdated statistic by now), despite having record profits, which are used to buy back stocks to pay dividends to shareholders. As this is the case with capitalism, the bubble always bursts eventually. Under "normal" conditions, the losers would be absorbed by...

[S02 E04] New

In this episode of Cities After...,Prof. Robles-Duran talks with Josep Bohigas, Barcelona’s Chief Urban Planner, about the international image and perspectives of the hegemony of American Suburbia in Western Europe. Bohigas traces Spain’s suburban development from the 1920s until...

[S12 E07] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on Mississippi's legalization of pot, US's $30 trillion national debt, Mexican workers at GM plant vote in militant union, and Amazon's...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "You often mention the fact that capitalism had largely the time to experiment by trial and error until it finally succeeded in replacing the feudal system. The purpose is to substantiate that assertion that is often used in your monologues and...

[S5 E04] New

**CW: THIS EPISODE DISCUSSES ABORTION AND FORCED STERILIZATION**

Control of women's reproduction is a common weapon in the hands of the Right Wing. In the episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Harriet Fraad breaks down the fight for reproductive rights by looking at abortion access and forced sterilization. These issues are fundamentally about...

[S5 E09] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Kevin recommends a few resources for listeners who are interested in starting and running their own worker co-op. He then takes a step back and contextualizes cooperatives within our current economic system. What does it mean to do startup work in the...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I would appreciate hearing your thoughts about how this Canadian Truckers movement aligns with...

[S12 E06] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about the US' 2021 trade deficit and its implications, the FED's inflation policy dilemma, and the political economy of the Baltimore and Bronx fires. In the second half of the show, Wolff uses the actual history of fascism...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "What would the difference be between a worker-owned co-op and a consumer-owned one? Are consumers part owners themselves in, say, credit unions or utility cooperatives, by virtue of the...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Prof. Wolff, could you respond to these ideas of minarchism and anarcho-capitalism, which way too many people seem...

[S12 E05] New

This week on Economic Update, Prof. Wolff presents a critique of US Megacorp merger (Microsoft and Activision Blizzard), China vs US on inflation and economic growth, and the collapse of Boris Johnson...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "In a worker co-op oriented society, how would conflicts between the people who own and operate the co-ops and the wider whole of society be resolved? Say the workers at a plant have two means of producing a product: one that...

[S5 E03] New

Declining living standards, joblessness and pronounced inequality are leaving Americans feeling disconnected, helpless and depressed. In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad talks about the 3 Ds - depression, dissociation and...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "How did the people of the USSR come to accept the radical shift back to capitalism? Did they not retain an expectation that people should own their homes and means of production? The mass privatization of the Soviet economy was followed by...

[S5 E08] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Kevin talks to blogger and podcaster “The Blockchain Socialist” about how blockchain technology can serve as a mechanism for worker cooperatives and the Left. Though often tied to cryptocurrency, blockchains can also function as...

[S12 E04] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about the recreation of `company towns' (eg., Kalamazoo, MI) by the richest US capitalists, Biden and the reality of US jobs lost, how and why the US...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I’m curious how any attempts at worker self-direction and cooperative economics can be leveraged for building a new healthcare system (hospitals in particular) in the shell of the old. How can we address this highly disorganized and highly privatized...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Are credit unions preferable to standard banks for those of us who are eager to help...

[S02 E02] New

In this episode of Cities After..., Prof. Robles-Duran talks with Andrew Ross about his most recent book, Sunbelt Blues: The Failure of American Housing. Robles-Duran and Ross build on ideas from week’s episode, looking at...

[S12 E03] New

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "As we look through history and the present political culture it seems that it has been easier for the right to organize than the left, and easier for the enemies of the left to throw a wrench in their organizing. The example comes to mind of...

[S5 E02] New

In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad continues an ongoing critique of the for-profit health care system in the US and examines some of its deadly effects. Overdose numbers are far higher than in any other rich country and could...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "How would a socialist-style enterprise such as a worker co-op or WSDE relate to investors/banks/capital? Would the co-op or WSDE still be considered a socialist enterprise in it's relationships...

[S5 E07] New

In this episode, the ATC guys answer a question from a listener: "In the Soviet Union commodity production was retained and thus the money-commodity-money cycle that creates capital was able to continue, with the main change being that the capital accumulation...

[S12 E02] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about US bank closings as a sign of system decline; victory for 3000 striking Columbia University students; Laredo, Texas combats food deserts with co-ops; pandemic years worsen...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "The descriptions I've seen of worker cooperatives focus almost exclusively on for-profit business models. How could a worker cooperative model apply to government and nonprofit workplaces, where workers don't have...

[January 2022] New

Political Economy of Covid: Year #3

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "There's obviously a great deal of buzz/in-fighting among the greater independent left about the virtue of building a "Working People's" Party outside the Democratic apparatus, to better satisfy the wide range of political thought encompassed by the political axis most of us millennials are well familiar with, yet...

[S2 E01] New

Welcome to Season Two of Cities After! Prof. Robles-Duran begins this season with a series of four episodes in which to make sense of the growing suburban divide in the United States by honing in on it's divisive politics, the consequential production of COVID-19 boomtowns, and...

[S12 E01] New

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "How can we make further inroads toward business conversion to the cooperative model while so many business owners look down on their workers as incompetent or unfit for “leadership” and discredit the value of their labor...

[S5 E01] New

Welcome to Season 5 of Capitalism Hits Home! In this episode, Dr. Fraad explores identity politics by looking into the many facets of her own identity. 99% of us share an identity as exploited, oppressed people. We have different experiences and...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "In a world where workers own the product of their own labor, and all institutions are democratic, is there still a need for taxes and welfare? If so: Why are they justified? What should...

[S5 E06] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Larry, Kevin, and Cinar talk to Michael Lebowitz about his perspective on the social economic models in Venezuela and Yugoslavia. They speak about the creation of the social economy, the experience of...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "This article (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-12-15/no-future-under-plutocracy/) says business opposition to Roosevelt's New Deal was exaggerated, and worker power overstated...

[S11 E48] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on Columbia University grad student strike, the contradictions of 2021, Cuba's Covid vaccine, Trump clone and French politics' lesson, why US manufacturing jobs..

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Professor, in your idea of a gradual transition to 'Democratic or Co-Op Business' from purely Capitalistic, how do you expect the stock market to react? While I agree that our current system is broken, I still am highly dependent on my 401K to sustain my income...

[S4 E13] New

In this episode of CHH, Dr. Fraad looks at the epidemic of deaths in the United States. She examines the five interlocking forces of our for-profit health care system...

[S5 E05] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Cinar, Larry, and Kevin talk to Minsun Ji, a labor organizer and Co-op expert. They discuss what a platform cooperative is, how it differs from a corporate or capitalist platform, and its connection with...

[S11 E47] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents a critique of obscene wealth in the US and the economics of the rape crisis in th US and UK. The second half of the show features an interview with author Bob Hennelly, on the anti-mandate...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: “Why not prohibit profit-making companies that do not pay taxes...

[S3 E27] New

In this final episode of Season 3, Prof. Harvey talks about the history of Neo-Liberalism and how it relates to post-modernism. Trump's imposition of what is the truth, with his notion of alternative facts, is in many ways, a triumph of post-modernity. Harvey underscores the importance of...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Hi Professor, I was wondering if you could comment on an item popping up in numerous cities. The use of outdoor spaces where the city sanctions tent living and calling it a...

[S1 E14] New

In this episode, Prof. Robles-Duran is joined by Andres Arauz, arguably, one of the most influential and intriguing political and economic thinkers of the new Latin-American left. This episode expands on the previous discussion on the contemporary effects of the Latin American economic shock therapy and how it has changed the territorial and political dynamics of...

[S11 E46] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on 50 years of fossil fuel corps putting profits before science, CVS to close 900 drugstores as part of decline of US workers living standards, FBI lies in Malcolm X assassination...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "It is curious what companies will do in the event of a refund due. I find it very strange that Chrysler sent me a Visa card...

[S4 E12] New

The UN released its 2021 World Happiness Report. In this episode of CHH, Dr. Fraad answers why as world's richest nation, the US is not even one of the happiest. What do Americans need to do to be happier...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Lately for the last couple of months I have felt like my workplace has felt so toxic. It feels like sometimes you are all alone in a fight against customers, management and coworkers. Could there be any...

[S5 E04] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Larry and Kevin talk to Patrick Conlon of Worker Ownership Resources and Cooperative Services, otherwise known as WORCS...

[S11 E45] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about teacher burnout economics, inflation as an employer-employee fight, the "labor shortage" isn't, "Build Back Better" does not begin to approach what Europe already has, the basic political economy of...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: Hi Prof. Wolff, I came across the following article from the restaurants specialized magazine 'Food service equipment' where they point out the increase of restaurants that charge, on average, £200+ per head...

[S3 E26] New

In this episode of ACC, Prof. Harvey speaks about monopolistic competition and its impact on market pricing and location. All monopolistic competition is spacial competition that creates a highly unstable economy and has a tendency to...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I’ve also been listening to Michael Parenti quite a bit, and I think he’s right to focus on how we have materially benefitted from being an empirical world power. I think this is an important area to explore when it comes to developing a consciousness of the exploitation of the Global South, and I would love your perspective as an economist. Could you explore the connection between...

[S11 E44] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on his recent debate with Ayn Rand Institute on capitalism vs socialism, inflation in Europe, an analysis of right vs left splitting in US today, and real vs fake causes of...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "A "great" jobs report was released today; the stock market soared. I'm skeptical. I see that of those 531,000 "jobs added," a great many are in relatively low-wage sectors such as Leisure & Hospitality, Retail, etc. - how many will we learn in January were merely seasonal? Meanwhile, per the report, "the number of permanent job losers, at 2.1 million, changed little in October but is 828,000 higher than in February 2020." The Workforce participation rate is unchanged. Inflation's up and product is not on store shelves. So how "great" IS this job report and economic health generally?"

[S5 E03] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Cinar, Larry, and Kevin bring back Camila Piñeiro to discuss new legislative developments in Cuba that specifically focus on growing worker cooperatives...

[S11 E43] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on South Dakota leads US to become world's #2 "tax haven,"  pandemic's economic shock cut by very uncapitalistic means, why employers want the govt to pay workers to go back to work, and how libertarians...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Hello Prof Wolff, I’ve heard complaints before of the perpetual hamster wheel that cities are on with regards to municipal bonds and Wall Street. Are you aware or is there any model of governance...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Under worker cooperatives are strikes necessary and do they happen...

[S3 E25] New

In this episode of ACC, Prof. Harvey examines 2 schools of thought within the Marxist tradition, one that focuses on the falling rate of profit, and the other that explores the rising mass. Harvey argues that both schools miss an important contradiction that separates each of them from the other: the role of competition...

[S1 E13] New

In this podcast, Prof. Robles-Duran's attempt is to revise and follow on the urbanization of shock therapy, a topic that he first wrote about in 2011 for a book titled "Urban Asymmetries: Studies and Project on Neoliberal Urbanization" and later expanded on in an essay he wrote for the 2014 edition of the Tirana Contemporary Art Biennial. Ten years later...

[S11 E42] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on Biden's and Democrats' fading tax reforms, German and Austrian politics shift left, Yale sells out to rich donors, product shortages...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Now that Tesla is worth more than US $1 trillion, and Elon Musk is the wealthiest person in the world, there is more discussion of increasing the tax on billionaires specifically. Right-wingers are defending billionaires from taxation, arguing that unsold shares can't be taxed, and that billionaires, in their total pool of wealth, cannot fund the government for very long. Can you explain how taxation could work to include more progressive taxation of the billionaire class and refute some of the arguments from the right? Thanks."

[S04 E11] New

In this episode of CHH, Dr. Fraad talks about the strikes sweeping the nation. In spite of a compromised AFL-CIO and no powerful Socialist labor Party or powerful Socialist media, American Labor is...

[November 2021] New

China - US’s First Real Competitor in a Century

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I very much enjoyed your answer about the economic impacts of the abortion ban laws in Texas. Usually, there's some greedy motivation for the laws we see getting passed (Voting "safety" laws, Anti protest laws, laws protecting the secret origins of dark money, laws that make our drug prices higher). Who benefits from...

[S11 E41] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff discusses how Amazon rips off small business and squeezes workers, US and China's military tactics, top mainstream economists grasp the deepening critique of capitalism, and how strikes at Nabisco and Kellogg expose capitalism's classic contours of...

A Patron of Economic Update asks:"It is my impression that all left wing economists including Marx agree that capitalism was an improvement over feudalism. Could you please elaborate in what ways capitalism was an improvement? Could you point me to any previous videos or books...

[S3 E24] New

In this episode of ACC, Prof. Harvey talks about the real players in our capitalist society who operate outside of the market system and are accumulating massive amounts of wealth. Players like Carlos Slim, the Koch brothers, Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, reside in the "attic," where Harvey argues real wealth and real power are being assembled.

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I am informed that during the era of COVID 19, a small oligopoly of shipping companies have used their market power to increase the cost of shipping by a large factor, of over 10:1. This is starting to cause crises and shortages in other parts of the world economy. My question comes in 3 parts: 1)Is this a real effect (or have I been misinformed) 2) What are...

[S11 E40] New

The program's first half focuses on the realities of China's rise and not the Cold War rhetoric. The second half analyzes the inflation now threatening the US economy. Its causes and consequences turn out to be quite different from...

[S4 E10] New

In this episode of CHH, Dr. Fraad talks about the 40 Million Americans face eviction after October 31, 2021. What kind of society treats the right to shelter, and with that the right to life as a commodity? Should that kind of society exist? Eviction...

[S5 E02] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Larry, Cinar, and Kevin talk about the lessons from occupy as we commemorate the 10 year anniversary of that revolutionary fall. They discuss what we should learn from that experience, what we owe to it, and how...

[S11 E39] New

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Could you talk about how the U.S. still has colonies around the globe and how they have exploited them for over 100 years to the level of making them almost completely dependent on the US market? (i.e. Puerto Rico, USVI, Guam, etc.) And how, especially in PR...

[S3 E23] New

In this episode of ACC, Prof. Harvey talks about what inspired and motivated him both personally and professionally. He quotes the poem "Burnt Norton" by T.S. Eliot...

A Patron of Economic Update asks:  "What are your thoughts on the emerging cooperative ‘Cooperation Jackson’ and what’re some models or practices that socialist can advocate for on the municipal level. Thank you, again!"

[S01 E12] New

In this episode, Prof. Robles-Duran continues to discuss the social, spatial and environmental effects of mass tourism by focusing on Barcelona, with two very important personalities from Barcelona’s municipal government and urban social movements alike... 

[S11 E38] New

On this week’s show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on the following topics: US wars lost: against Afghanistan, Iraq, and Covid; private profit from climate disaster; systemic infrastructure neglect; decline of whites in US; UK fears about US loss in...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "To what degree can all economic systems to date be viewed as pyramid schemes, since they all seem to depend substantially upon population growth? And given that world population will have to level off at some point...

[S4 E09] New

Rape is a hate crime. This podcast analyses the forces that shape US rape in gender, culture, psychology and capitalism...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I would be considered to belong to the “wealthy” class in my community and country espousing a pro socialist , anti capitalist ideology. I am often accused of being a hypocrite because of what I own or the fact that I have people that I employ with my business (4) and with my household. (My spouse has a bigger business...

[S5 E01] New

In this first episode of Season 5, Larry, Kevin, and Cinar share their thoughts on the status of co-operative organizations, the need for more overtly political co-operative organizations, and how big a role co-operative organizations should play in attempting to build...

[S11 E37] New

This week on Economic Update, Prof. Wolff pays homage to Mikis Theodorakis, Greek musician and political hero, and discusses Starbucks workers in Buffalo, the economic fallout of Supreme Court's anti-abortion act, what Hurricane Ida fatalities show, and the $8 trillion cost...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I am very interested in the labor movement and am curious about your opinion on co-ops within academia. I recently emailed Noam Chomsky and asked him what he thinks about the idea. He replied that the problem would be how to survive in a market society, as we don’t want universities to be selling products. I then asked if he thinks universities would be able to survive on federal grants...

[S3 E22] New

In the episode of ACC, Prof. David Harvey talks about the crisis of affordable housing on a global level, with particular emphasis on China and the US. Harvey argues that providing affordable housing for people cannot be accomplished by the private...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I am still struggling with the concept, terminology and reality of inflation. A little reading tells me that inflation is actually an increase in the supply of money mainly through the creation of debt by banks. It seems to me that there would be a "natural" increase in the supply of money because of an increase in population, workforce and productivity but not an increase in prices. Price increases are caused by owners...

[S01 E11] New

In this episode, Prof. Robles-Duran talks about the startling urban and socio-environmental consequences of mass tourism before, during and after the pandemic. He emphasizes four key contradictions: 1) The global privatization of local cultures; 2) Labor, Technology and Digitalization; 3) Alienation in The production of Infinite spectacles; 4) Environmental...

[S11 E36] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff present updates on global supply chain slow-downs; student costs/debts in US, UK far higher than in most peer nations; FED adds inflation to the ways its policies worsen income and wealth inequalities...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Could you comment on the relevance of Antonio Gramsci to today's struggles for socialism? How do his theories address some of the failures of socialism in developed countries over the last one hundred years...

[S04 E08] New

Capitalism is a class system of a small employer class making profit from the labor of a huge class of employees, who depend on employers for survival. Patriarchy is a system in which men are entitled to appropriate services from women who are considered less than fully human. Both systems...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Could you respond to Rand Paul's Town Hall video about the $3.5 Trillion spending bill. I find it to be a blatant misdirection of blame to the gov't instead of employers in the country. Clip: fb.watch/89IjRqxxm0; Full video...

[S9 E28] REPEAT

20th century socialism is now behind us. Socialists continued to evaluate both its achievements and failures via extensive self-criticism. A changed socialism has emerged, focused on a transition of workplaces from top-down hierarchical capitalist structures into democratic worker cooperatives...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Dear Prof. Wolff, Could you talk about the various effects of overwork on the economy, From the perspective of workers, the employers who push it, and the economy as a whole. I would also like to ask about the various responses to Overwork such as the Chinese “lying flat" movement, and Japanese hikikomori (who have withdrawn from society) and Karoshi (death by overworking)...

[S3 E21] New

In this episode of ACC, Prof. Harvey examines what is happening in China today, the many changes taking place within (the formation of a billionaire class, uneven geographical development between metropolitan cities and rural areas, a cultural revolution), and highlights its impact on...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Hi, I once heard a Professor of Political Science at Columbia named Todd Gitlin interviewed. Professor Gitlin was once the second in command of Students for a Democratic Society during the late 60's, As I understood it, he argued that the dogmatic and extremist leftists of that era actually helped the capitalist elite. They made it very easy for the capitalist elite to...

[S11 E35] New

This program is devoted to Occupy Wall Street (OWS) on its 10th anniversary. Prof. Wolff discusses OWS as a historic turning point, as legacy for the US left, and his personal experience. Wolff presents OWS's 4 basic causes...

A patron of Economic Update asks: "I have recently started reading about David Graeber and his understanding of anarchism, and it sounds very much like what Prof. Wolff talks about when he explains socialism as understood by Marx, and how to democratize workplaces. I was wondering what your take is on anarchism and how it relates to socialism, and whether it is incompatible with capitalism...

[S04 E07] New

In the episode of CHH, Dr. Fraad talks about the importance of celebrating Labor, which is essential to life. But she argues that we need to go beyond and learn what our labor history is...

A patron of Economic Update asks: "How should we see the CCP? Is this a Socialist project that is in the process of achieving communism? Or is China just another example of a state-capitalism that leans more authoritarian? How should we approach socialist states that do things that contradict our values without helping the reactionaries...

[S01 E10] New

In today's podcast, Prof. Robles-Duran will continue to discuss Post-pandemic urbanization trends by taking a deep dive in the speculative global rent markets and their exacerbating social ills. For help with this, he is joined by Dr. Jaime Palomera from Barcelona’s radical research cooperative La Hidra who will help focus a conversation on a striking report that they published two months ago titled “The Social Impacts of the Rental Market”, done in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Barcelona and the Institute of Government and Public Policy at the University of Barcelona...

[S11 E34] New

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on the complexities of anti-vaccination movements, the long decline of religion in US capitalism, Disneys’s shift to serve the richest, lessons from AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka's leadership, and failures of GOP, Dem leaders to stop last 75 years ...

A patron of Economic Update asks: "Dear Prof. Wolff, Douglas Lane, on the Zero Books podcast, recently summarized a critique of worker co-ops from "a Marxist perspective," saying that "market forces" determine that co-ops can only reduce work hours or raise wages if the enterprise remains "profitable." If profit is the surplus value...

[S3 E20] New

In this episode of ACC, Prof. Harvey discusses some of the contradictions that Marx uncovered as he examined the abstractions of capital. He explores the contradiction between the rate of change and the mass of value, and the crises that emerge from the two...