A Patron of Democracy at Work asks: "The focus on economic growth, something you talked about in the September 2022 Global Capitalism lecture, seems misplaced, at least for rich nations. I'm reminded of the Kenneth Boulding quote from the early 1970’s—“Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either...

[S5 E18] New

In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad dissects the bizarre American adoration of the British monarchy following Queen Elizabeth II’s death. The monarchy symbolizes the absence of social mobility, hierarchy, and the...

A Patron of Democracy at Work asks: "Prof Wolff, now that we've entered a recession here, how would the continued Fed interest rate hikes correlate to supply shortage due to our low production capacity? At what rate would the Fed...

[S06 E12] New

In this special All Things Co-op season finale, Kevin traces a brief history of international relations, discusses the rise of international law and the failure of the UN to address our current global dilemmas, and...

[S12 E37] New

This week on Economic Update, Prof. Wolff talks about the unionization drive among minor league professional baseball players, high poverty rates among US families working full-time year round, and the economics of discrimination against pregnant women. In the second half of the show, Wolff interviews Prof. George DeMartino... 

A Patron of Democracy at Work asks: "In his book "One Nation Under God: How Corporate American Invented Christian America, Kevin Kruse talks about an alliance between American capitalists and conservative religious leaders, going back to the 1930s. This alliance pushes capitalism in churches under a biblical veneer of 'free-market Gospel.’ Capitalists supply the money, and the churches...

[S4 E14] New

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey considers a looming question: is capitalism too big to fail? He speculates on what approaches may lead to a successful socialist alternative. Is it a reorganization...

A Patron of Democracy at Work asks: "We agree that capitalism is imperfect and that it separates people into the employer and employee classes. However, resources needs to be planned, coordinated and managed otherwise chaos ensues. In many cases, resources are best handled in bulk to attain...

[S02 E14] New

Concurrent to the very important contributions of early Marxist eco-feminists in the 1960s and 1970s, Prof. David Harvey was amongst the first intellectuals that began to read in Marx a complex critique of capitalism's destructive metabolic relation to nature, a topic that has been constant in his writings from 1970 until today. In this episode of Cities After…, Prof. Robles-Durán speaks with Prof. David Harvey on...

[S12 E36] New

This week on Economic Update, Prof. Wolff talks about the prospects for a labor-union-worker co-op alliance; megacorp stock buybacks; why and how US/UK sanctions on Russia failed so far; the financial abuse of US retirees; and lastly...

A Patron of Democracy at Work asks: "China is having some problems, specifically with their housing market. What's the reason for this and...

[S5 E17] New

**CW: This episode contains discussions of rape**

In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad takes a look at capitalist-driven loneliness. Crime is often thought of as a person breaking the law, but what about the crimes capitalism allows, and even celebrates? In our workplaces we get ripped off, monitored, and lose our humanity. Commodities are sold to us only to get recalled, addictive pain-killers destroy lives with...

[September 2022] New

China vs. US - System Rising vs. Falling

with Richard D. Wolff  

Co-sponsored by Democracy at Work & Left Forum

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

1. Compare economic performances (GDP growth, inflation, real wages)
2. Ukraine War/Taiwan Provocations as both China-US conflicts...

A Patron of Democracy at Work asks: "Professor Wolff, how can consumers support the push for unions in...

[S12 E35] New

In this week’s show, Prof. Wolff gives updates on China's changed global economic strategy, California's struggle over higher minimum wages, Boston Mayor siding with Starbucks' strikers, and “regulatory capture" issue again as Philip Morris hires top FDA tobacco scientist. In the second half of the show, Wolff interviews Rob Robinson...

A Supporter of Democracy at Work asks: "GDP accounts for what we produce, but abjectly fails to take into account what we destroy to produce it, nor does it accept in its estimation the vast value of the natural world, and how this...

[S4 E13] New

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles (ACC), Prof. Harvey reflects on the current Ukraine-Russia conflict and shares his conflicting...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Hello Professor Wolff, I’m not sure how familiar you are with Canadian economics but things are very bad here. The average home price in 1980 was $47k ($163k adjusted for inflation), in 2000 it was $119k ($190k adjusted for inflation). Between January 2020 and March 2022, the average home price soared from $504,350 to $795,952. The average home price in my town, with a population of 100,000, is $1 million now. My entire generation has been...

[S02 E13] New

In Pt. 4 of Cities After…Summer Climate Change series, Prof. Robles-Durán talks about the most significant delusional solution to Climate change to date: The Circular Economy, an economic framework that highlights enormous business opportunities in the reuse and recycling of...

[S12 E34] New

This program covers the origins, evolution, and current significance of "communism." After a brief history of communism as a utopian ideal of community, we treat Marx's presentation in the Communist Manifesto, and then communism's subordination to "socialism" to World War 1. That War changed everything. It split socialists everywhere into a Socialist Party and a Communist Party with key differences but also commonalities. When most European communist parties collapsed...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I noticed that in the Merriam-Webster dictionary result on Google Search for the word Marxism it listed antonyms as democracy, self-governance, self-government, self-rule. This seems very off and yet it comes from such a reputable source. Marxism is not by any stretch the...

[S5 E16] New

**CW: This episode features discussions of sexual assault and police brutality**

In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad draws on her therapeutic expertise to discuss psychological mechanisms people unconsciously rely on when facing a reality that is too much to bear. These tools—dissociation, denial, and projection—can happen in both our personal and political lives. Fraad looks at personal traumas from clients as well as societal traumas, such as...

[S06 E11] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Cinar and Kevin discuss the issue of the environment, its destruction, the cause (spoiler alert: it’s capitalism) and the only true way we can address this looming crisis. They discuss the underlying reason why we have...

[S12 E33] New

In this week’s show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on record homelessness in New York City, rapidly rising US household debt as recession looms, Washington retreats from globalization to economic nationalism, and 2.2 million in the US lacking running water. In the second half of the show, Wolff Interviews Dr. Harriet Fraad...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "In college many years ago I took a couple introductory courses in economics. There I learned that a free market was a market with perfect competition where buyers and sellers could freely enter the competition. From this definition, it followed that a free market would set the price on a good so that supply equaled demand. And there was enough of a discussion on...

[S12 E32] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff defines recession and shows its relation to inflation and stagflation in their respective roles within capitalism's inherent instability. Rooted in the structure of capitalism, recessions represent both costly burdens on employers and employees alike and also strong incentives to question, challenge, and go beyond...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I’d like to ask a question because it seems to me that whenever a situation occurs where unionized workers try to take over a business from their employers, offering to buy it, the employers would rather...

[S06 E10] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Cinar and Kevin talk with Erik Esse, the producer of the new documentary The Co-op Wars. The Co-op Wars traces the history of the food cooperative movement in the mid to late 1970s in Minnesota's Twin Cities. The rapid development of the food co-op network in the area prompted a split between anarchist "hippies" and...

[S12 E31] New

In this week’s show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on successful unionization at Trader Joe’s, lottery tickets as disguised regressive taxation, gasoline inflation brings record profits to big oil companies, and pharmaceutical industries' ad campaign to...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Can you imagine that journalist cooperatives could exist, function well, and possibly help us out of some of our current problems? (Maybe such have existed, or do exist, but I just am not aware of them?) We know that the present media system is ethically bankrupt, where corporate or government (or quasi-government) directed agencies distract, manipulate, and...

[S12 E30] New

In this week’s show, Prof. Wolff gives updates on US freight workers strike preparations; progressives and labor targeting municipal government; Chipotle store-closing to stop unionizing, and Occupy Wall Street's "Debt Collective" $5.8 billion student loan forgiveness win. In the second half of the show, Prof. Wolff interviews Noam Chomsky...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I am confused by the 7/12/22 article in the Washington Post: 'Republicans threaten Wall Street over climate positions' by Steven Mufson (https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment). Are Republicans really...

[S06 E09] New

Polls show that most Americans think economic inequality is a problem, but if you listen to right-wing capitalist apologists, you’ll hear that economic inequality is either not that big of a deal, a consequence of economic freedom, and/or...

[S12 E29] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on the decline/fall of Boris Johnson and the parallels with Trump; the Sri Lanka collapse and its lessons; Match Corp secretly funding sides in "culture wars" to keep customers, and the latest from UK's Conservative party. In the second half of the show, Wolff talks with Marianne Williamson...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "My question is about the wage-price freeze concept. If we are to assume that workers would have their wages frozen after decades of stagnated real wage growth and a collapse in purchasing power and we freeze prices how they currently are, then how would workers be able to pay for necessities when such a huge...

**Anti-Capitalist Chronicles will take a brief hiatus during August 2022. We'll be back with new episodes in September!**

[S4 E12] New

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey continues his discussion of Brad DeLong’s new book, Slouching Towards Utopia, in which DeLong notes the contradiction between an emerging middle class over the last century through technological innovation and stagnant levels of happiness. To explain this dilemma, Harvey looks closer at how these technological advancements shape...

[S12 E28] New

In this week's show, Prof Wolff discusses the unionization efforts by post-doc medical researchers vote union, central bankers mislead on inflation, rising economic footprint and power of...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I recall having heard you say that Karl Marx never really talked much about the State because he wasn't all that interested in the State. People tell me their beef with Karl Marx is that he advocated for...

[S5 E15] New

In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad continues her discussion of the recent Supreme Court decisions and asks: why were these decisions made when they do not align with the majority of American’s beliefs? When a system fails for the mass of people, fascism can develop to ensure that system continues. As the US becomes more and more divided, Fraad argues that...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "This is a question that I hope Dr. Wolff will discuss regarding US profit extraction from basic necessities for workers and families. How much does the extraction of profit from basics like health care, energy, housing, transportation, communication and food hurt the competitiveness of US workers by...

[S06 E08] New

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Larry, Cinar, and Kevin celebrate Democracy at Work’s 10 year anniversary by reflecting on their history and involvement with d@w. The ATC guys discuss the value of d@w, their own political histories and...

[S12 E27] New

In this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on SCOTUS decisions, on the chaos of a declining capitalism, French elections and a strongly resurging French left, and on the meaning of recent collapse of the cryptocurrency markets. In the second half of the show, Wolff interviews Eleanor Goldfield...

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Workers are organizing and Trade Unionism is on the rise in the UK and around the world. Can you offer an analysis of the present wave of class...

[S4 E11] New

In this episode of ACC, Prof. Harvey discusses the new book by Brad Delong, “Slouching Toward Utopia,” which aims to explain the massive creation of wealth over the last 150 years for the upper and middle class, its effect on the world order and why it’s failed to deliver an increasing sense of happiness among that top 50%. Harvey takes us through the history of the various world powers, from...

[July 2022] New

War, Sanctions, Deepening Splits: Economic, Political, and Cultural

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. Global economic splits: US/UK/Japan/Australia vs BRICS+
2. US political splits: inflation, interest rates, recession, stock market crash, deepening inequality, Democratic Party self destruction
3. Cultural splits: abortion, Miranda, church-state...

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...