Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Updates on poverty in California, childhood obesity in US, economic fallout from (real meaning of) Trump steel tariff. Prof Wolff responds to questions by explaining how US politics has sustained US capitalism and what the politics of change will require.

Updates on social costs of criminalizing marijuana, US food outlets taken over by foreign conglomerates, capital labor conflict in India, Trump's Signature Bank swamp, New Zealand makes 10-days paid domestic violence leave mandatory. Interview with Matt Christman and Will Menaker of the Chapo Trap House podcast phenomenon: how and why its mix of comedy and sharp social criticism grew to be so popular."

Updates on Europe's higher labor force participation; Cuomo campaign fakes "small donations"; US restaurants decline as pinched incomes switch to food delivery; "market" housing system causes homelessness; education fails to overcome black-white wealth gap. Interview with Dr. Harriet Fraad on causes and consequences of US declining fertility rate.

Prof. Wolff continues his interview with Moumita Ahmed, co-founder of Millennials for Revolution (formerly Millennials for Bernie Sanders) and Digital campaign strategist from Queens NY.

Updates on New Zealand firm succeeds with 4 day workweek; Vienna's public housing successes; Fordham adjuncts' union wins big; Burberry destroys $ millions in new clothes; precarious US jobs worsen alcoholism among young; US airlines raise profits by shrinking toilets. Interview on collapse of Toys-R-Us chain (causes and consequences) with worker Cheryl Claude and organizer Charles Khan.

Updates on Trump's tariffs cost Americans jobs, shifting capitalist alliances don't change the system, Irish parliament stops investing in fossil fuels, Washington state forced fast food employers to stop rigging labor market against employees, why Germany's "dependence" on Russia is less that the US dependence on China, and why China does not "steal" US technology. Interview with Moumita Ahmed, co-founder of Millennials for Revolution."

Updates on Nissan emissions cheating, Americans value labor unions, 2017 corp tax cuts boost share prices, worsened inequality, Trump/GOP trade war reality vs fakery. Interview Elizabeth Marciano, West Va. teacher on state's successful, historic 2018 public school teacher strikes.

Prof. Wolff continues the interview with Bob Hennelly.

Prof. Wolff continues his interview with Eli Campbell.

Prof. Wolff continues the interview with Prof. David Harvey.

Updates on the Left victory in Mexico's election, SCOTUS's Janus decision, Foxconn fakery in Wisconsin, forced labor for Medicaid beneficiaries, and scapegoating of immigrants exposed. Interview with Dr. Harriet Fraad on the personal, psychological effects of a dying US empire.

Updates on Colorado's laws favoring coops, capitalism and suicide, rent control on California ballot, foreign trade controls, French govt vs GE, Ford buys station it helped wreck. Interview with David Harvey on Marx's contribution to understanding capitalism now.

Updates on the exploding suicide rate in the US, irrational home-building reflects and worsens inequality, VA nurses sue because of overwork required but not paid for, Uihlein family gives extreme right wing candidates (including Roy Moore), mocking claims that this is a one-person-one-vote democracy, Interview with Eli Campbell on the exploding student debt issue and the campaign to boycott its repayment.

Updates on tariffs as political fiction, Irish state apologizes for the gross exploitation of girls and women, illegal toxic vehicle emissions continue, Senator Gillibrand seeks to cut restrictions on worker coops. Interview with reporter Bob Hennelly on the US housing crisis as a sign of an unraveling economy.

Updates on China's life expectancy, Ireland's vote, US unemployment, Amazon's quitting bonus, Johnson and Johnson put profits before public health, die-ins at Publix succeed, Macron gets union backlash, Poor People's Campaign exposes US poverty, Canada races to the bottom, super-rich spend wildly. Interview with Dr Harriet Fraad on #metoo movement and its economic and social effects.

Updates on Armenia's Political Spring, banks big profits, Harley-Davidson fires hundreds, unjust criminal penalties, US households' financial distress, Germany bans diesels, US drug companies put profits above health again, and huge wealth increase among world's 2,754 billionaires. Interview with Roderick Prude (union worker) and Dyln Namm (student) on successful student-worker alliance at New School University's cafeteria struggles.

Professor Wolff takes a deeper look at the life and work of Karl Marx in celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Updates on decline of cities/private cities, freelancers' economy, why legalize sports betting now, Fiat-Chrysler-Porsche added to emissions cheating scandal, new federal jobs guarantee, Catholic University attacks tenure. Interview with Chris Hedges on unsustainable US system.

Updates on Theranos bankruptcy and workers' risks, our second "gilded age," mortgage lenders turn to rich borrowers, Trump on drug prices is just rhetoric, economic effects of breaking Iran treaty. Interview with Prof Miguel Robles-Duran on gentrification and crisis of cities.

Updates on University of California workers' strikes, privatizing fire departments, big money buys academia, fast-food workers unionize, the capitalism-loneliness-scapegoating links, Hillary Clinton pro-capitalist/anti-socialist, VW CEO is not the problem: system is. Interview with Dr. Harriet Fraad on capitalism's destruction of the family and "family values."

Updates on critique of Uber and gig economy; WI Sen Johnson endorses inequality; Norway to pay male and female athletes same; corporations buy back their own shares; deaths of overworked Japanese; 10% NY school kids homeless; and majority of major US corporations already pay much below official 35% tax rate. Major discussion of changing economics of socialism.

Updates on German workers who elect almost half of corporate boards of directors, major US corporations with negative tax rates, Kentucky governor maneuvers against black-lung victims, involuntary part-time employment, epidemic of US evictions, and dangerous long-term use of anti-depressant drugs. Major discussions of economics of socialism and of phony claims of 'no money' by state leaders (example: Connecticut).

Updates on teachers' strikes, capitalism abuses facebook, colleges reward privilege and reproduce it, Shell Oil knew about fossil fuels and global warming for last 50 years, UK housing size shrinks, Sinclair Broadcasting traps employees, US anti-depressant epidemic. Interview Rob Robinson: continuing discussion of water as human right vs for profit: how people fight and win.

Updates on labor strikes at Disney, home sales and prices drop sharply, Nestle profits by privatizing water, hurting the post office profits UPS and FedEx, Larry Summers wrong on taxing soda, more costs of the VW emissions scandal, the economic costs of sexual harassment. Interview with Julianna Forlano, journalist and comedian on 'being funny in times like these'.

Updates on big French strikes protect workers' gains; rising sub-prime loans, students pay more as states do less for public tuition costs; West Virginia teachers strikes inspire same in Oklahoma, Arizona and Kentucky; US poverty worse than other nations, Prof. Perotin finds worker coops superior to capitalist enterprises; and high tariffs on imported trucks created high prices, profits of US truck industry. Interview Dr. Harriet Fraad on Stormy Daniels as part of "winds of change" rising in America.

Updates on NRA economics, anti-Chinese tariffs, BMW emissions cheating, Brexit's lesson, IBM dumps older workers, Tennessee teachers fight and win, CBO reports US income inequality deepening even counting welfare etc. Interview Prof. Ian Seda-Irizarry on "heterodox" economics at City University of New York.

Updates on doctors prescribing fentanyl for pay, why deficits are not the issue, how tobacco companies dont solve the cigarette problem, big corps battle over net neutrality, German city denies food to non-German hungry, Trump vs Stormy Daniels, pay discrimination against women. Interview with Ken Byrne on the successful Conway School transition to one run by its teachers.

Updates on how globalization worsened inequality, 1980-2016, workers strike YMCA, UK universities and Oklahoma schools, Quebec doctors reject pay increases, US warns Africa about China, huge Japanese coop movement. Interview Tim Faust on medical care and insurance in US today.

West Virginia teachers strike, Trump tariffs, Germany makes public transport free, UK living standards crash 2005-2015, US rich schools get richer, debtors prisons return in US. Interview Dr Harriet Fraad on breakdown of traditional family, causes and consequences.

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff presents updates on how Democrats helped destroy their party by backing campaigns against labor and the left after 1945, jobs created under Obama/Trump, lobbying in Trump's swamp, deregulation and risky bank lending, worker coops to reduce inequality. Interview with attorney Leonard C. Goodman on how the legal system supports a rigged system.

Updates on global capitalism's extreme inequality (Oxfam report), Victoria's Secret's billionaire owner, why immigration is a weapon of political distraction," how GOP tax cut helps the rich more than others, MSU sex abuse scandal reflects "running schools like a business." Major discussion: Marx's life, goals of his writings, and their lasting relevance.

Updates on capitalist fishing industry self-destructs, how malls mirror US capitalism, blaming government self -destructs in Oklahoma, renationalizing in UK, Mulvaney says interest rate spikes coming (how tax cuts hurt us). Interview with lifelong unionist Charles Fabian on decline and potential of US labor movement.

Updates on economic data hype vs reality, big capitalists against health capitalists, profit-driven housing rip-offs, Saudi Arabia taxes its own super rich, London top male execs abuse women they hire, and US vs UK homelessness. Interview with Dr. Harriet Fraad on "Capitalism and Mental Health."

Updates on corp tax savings not used for bonuses or wage increases, why tariffs fail to rescue jobs, UK and US universities react to economic change, Trump's solar panel tariffs are political theater, and Ursula LeGuin's critique of capitalism. Interview with Mary Douglas, Exec. Director of Democratize the Enterprise.

Updates on New York City's suit against big oil and dumping $5 billion in fossil fuel investments, fast-rising US consumer debt, further attacks on labor and living standards in Greece, collapse of Carillion Corp exposes failure of privatization in UK, and how CVS' touch-ups of beauty images expose economics of advertising. Interview with Prof. Bertell Ollman on Marx's distinctive contributions to analyzing capitalist society, past and present.

Updates on problems and solutions for workplace discrimination, China's ascending economy, capitalism's drive to income and wealth inequalities, economics of immigration's winners and losers, US capitalism and African-Americans. Interview with co-author Prof. Richard McIntyre on new book: Knowledge, Class and Economics: Marxism Without Guarantees.

Updates on UN report on poverty in the US, oreos produced in Mexico, US households with zero or negative net worth, Germany's negative utility prices, Germany's bold labor strikes, Iceland law on equal pay for equal work, the myth of US economic "recovery," and Canada's Tim Horton sabotages rising minimum wage. Interview with Dr. Harriet Fraad on US opioid epidemic: psychology and capitalism.

Updates on net neutrality, workplace sexual harassment, bitcoin, worsening global inequality, Europe's recovery and instability, and using prison labor to fight fires. Major discussions of consumerism, gathering revolt against capitalism, and the economics of alternative populisms.

Updates on Economic Threats: Corbyn vs Morgan Stanley, cars for super-rich, information vs profit, Fed chair Powell's over-reach, why regulations are never enough, and corporate criminality. Interview with David Jette about public vs private banking.

Updates on UK company's parental leave policies, Citibank fined for abusing student borrowers, US tobacco companies air self-critical ads, Bezos' obscene wealth, and ideological attack on US higher education. Major topic discussions: Marxian economics and UK Labor Party policy initiatives.

Updates on other countries undercut US tax changes, US graduate students: fewer and taxed more, "recovery" myth vs foreclosure stats, Valve Corp: worker coops better for innovation, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize snubbed, Starbucks: not really worker-friendly. Interview with Dr. Harriet Fraad on revolt against sexual abuse.

Updates on Uber's corrupt profiteering, sugar producers immoral cancer research, Trump's personal business, neglecting New York subways, UK's historic wage decline, and Norway's sovereign wealth fund. Interview with economist Stephanie Kelton, adviser to Bernie Sanders.

Updates on corrupt Congressional "tax reform," giant corporations' abuse of power, GE CEO wastes millions, corporate structure and sexual harassment/abuse, Detroit's fake "renaissance," dying US malls, unaffordable rents expose fake economic "recovery," and pharma giant Astra-Zeneca shows how capitalism endangers health. Interview of author and broadcaster Laura Flanders on mass media changes in today's capitalism.

Updates on Maine's progressive economic changes, US Senate documents how the very rich abuse the estate tax, Nestle profits as nearby Flint's water still polluted, poverty and 'social exclusion' in Greece and Europe, Trump/GOP cuts health programs, US profits rise as wage share falls. Major discussions: (1) economics of migration and (2) economics of coalitions between labor unions and worker coops.

Updates on critique of Uber and gig economy; WI Sen Johnson endorses inequality; Norway to pay male and female athletes same; corporations buy back their own shares; deaths of overworked Japanese; 10% NY school kids homeless; and majority of major US corporations already pay much below official 35% tax rate. Major discussion of changing economics of socialism.

Updates on mostly low-paid service jobs in US future, Senate deregulates banks, college spending per student reinforces income inequality, US loneliness a factor in illnesses and premature death, Univ of Chicago grad students unionize, Brazilian civil and religious authorities push almost-rotten food for the poor, and costs of pollution. Interview Dr. Harriet Fraad on psychology and economics of sex work industry.

Updates on privatized probation, New Zealand rejects austerity, electricity cutoffs refute "recovery," declining medical insurance, neo-liberalism attacked, rich funders of fake 'public interest groups.' Interview with two professors (Umberto Lorenzo and Richard McIntyre) on Cuba's socialist economy changing toward worker coops.

Updates on passage of CA Disclose Act; Monarch Airlines fails; Equifax, Yahoo, and Johnson & Johnson are untrustworthy US corporations, 2 Sisters Food Group is the same in UK, Washington sues big pharma corporations for contributing to opioid crisis; and socially destructive corporate behavior. Interview with Emma Yorra, specialist in the development of worker coops, Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Updates on economic costs/benefits of refugees, rise of BRICS nations in world economy (vs US decline), closing and privatization of US public libraries, size of slavery and forced child labor in world economy now, and how the "gig" economy is just another effort to profit by lengthening the working day. Major discussion: what the historical transition to capitalism suggests about transition from capitalism to a worker-coop-based economic system.

Updates on Trump/GOP tax plan, Americans having "trouble paying bills," post-1989 Russia more unequal than USSR, Eastern now colony of Western Europe, targeting finance vs entire system, closing rural US hospitals, Puerto Rico as US colony. Interview Dr. Harriet Fraad on economics, psychology and mass murders.