Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

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 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."