Democracy is an illusion! It’s become a political system fostered by the élite, for the élite, in order to fool the people that they have a stake in the system. In actual fact, they have virtually none. The whole political system in the modern era, despite having noble beginnings, is now used to benefit the few at the expense of the many. – Mark Alexander, June 29, 2018
Professor Richard Wolff explains how four states in the U.S. are lowering their minimum wage, and the context of how low the minimum wage in the United States is relative to other countries.
Chris Hedges discusses his personal insights into the psychology and private behavior of the super rich and how these things relate to the state of the world today.
Big Picture Panel: Julio Rivera, Reactionary Times/Newsmax/Right Wing News/Politichicks & Alex Lawson, Social Security Works. Americans don't like oligarchs. A new AP survery has found that a whopping 82 percent of Americans think wealthy people have too much influence in Washington. 69 percent say so about large businesses - 65 percent say so about lobbyists - and 59 percent say so about Wall Street. Based on those numbers - it would seem like there's a wide consensus in American politics against the very institutions that the Republicans Party exists to support. Is America fundamentally a progressive nation?
On this Big Picture, Thom discusses gerrymandering and the threat it poses to American democracy with author Dave Daley. Then, Thom talks to Hughey Newsome of BOLD.global and Move-On-Up.org and Valerie Ervin of the Working Families Party about the vote delay on the Senate GOP’s healthcare bill and Trump once again deceiving his supporters with “Made in America” week.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair tells Sophy Ridge that he thinks Brexit shouldn't happen and explains why he "feels sorry" for Theresa May. He also shares his views on Jeremy Corbyn's "politics of the 1960s" and explains he feels social media could be bad for democracy.
Richard Wolff comapres wealth inequality in the United States with that of other developed countries. He proceeds to dwell upon possible reasons behind these numbers.
Abby Martin remarks on the 31st anniversary of the President Ronald Reagan's Economic Recovery Act, and speaks with to Richard Wolff, Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, and author of 'Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism', about why 'Reaganomics' is not a cure-all for the US economy's fiscal woes.
In this EconoMinute, Prof. Wolff talks about the absence of democratic decision-making from our workplaces. He advocates for a democratic economic system, worker cooperatives as alternatives to the capitalist enterprise and as a way to build a new and better economy.
ACLU SoCal, L.A. Progressive and Occidental College hosted Richard Wolff for a discussion on economic rights and reform, on February 10, 2015 at Occidental College.
A major financial executive offers to effectively privatize infrastructure as the US Government seeks funding for new projects. Richard Wolff weighs in on the proposition.
Former prime minister says Brexit process is doing economic and political damage. Speaking on Friday, Blair says stagnating living standards are causing a change in public opinion on Brexit
Mobile payments overtake use of cash in China. Imagine not having to carry cash, or a card to pay for things. That’s the reality in much of China these days – where a majority of electronic payments last year were made using mobile phones and apps. Al Jazeera's Florence Looi reports from Beijing.
Millions of casual workers in the UK are being promised greater job protection, following concern about exploitation by employers. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to tackle issues within the so-called "gig economy". But is her own job safe? Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan reports.
Robert Reich, a visiting professor at the UC, Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy and former U.S. Secretary of Labor talks about the inequality of income, wealth and opportunity in the United States and asks his audience to speculate on what will happen if these trends continue.
Professor Richard D. Wolff. is one of the world's leading Marxian economists and is a professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, where he taught from 1973 to 2008. He is also currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University in New York. He is also a founding member of the Green Party of New Haven Connecticut, is the host of Economic Update, at WBAI in New York City, and has co-authored 13 books, most recently "Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism" in 2012.
Do we have true capitalism? What exactly is Marxism, and why does it exist? Most Americans have a knee-jerk reaction against Marxism, but is it fully justified to not even speak of it? What political histories and structures are compatible with different economic systems? Is there a positive role Marxism has taken in national and world economies?
Avowed capitalist Cenk Uygur discusses these questions and much more with Professor Richard D. Wolff.
Abby Martin talks to Richard Wolff, Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, and author of 'Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism', about the recent school closures in Chicago, and how it reflects a systemic problem within the current capitalist model.
Thom discusses what Ronald Reagan’s economic policies have done to America’s middle class with economist Richard Wolff, author of the book “Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism.”
Dr. Richard Wolff, Democracy At Work, joins Thom Hartmann. So - can Yellen help guide the US through the stormy seas ahead or is it time to radically rethink our economic course?
In an exclusive interview with Every Investor, Professor Steve Keen from Kingston University has warned that politicians who promote austerity economics are naïve.
Piketty, arguably the world’s leading expert on income and wealth inequality, does more than document the growing concentration of income in the hands of a small economic elite. He also makes a powerful case that we’re on the way back to ‘patrimonial capitalism,’ in which the commanding heights of the economy are dominated not just by wealth, but also by inherited wealth, in which birth matters more than effort and talent,” wrote Paul Krugman in The New York Times. Krugman and his fellow Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz (author of The Great Divide) join Piketty to discuss the genius of economics.
Have you ever feared that moment of economic insecurity? Encountered some unpredictable event, lost a job or simply just left the university not knowing what’s to come. Guy Standing talks about how flexible economic practices create conditions of uncertainty and unpredictability in our life, we might soon face a disruption of the whole economic system. He shows how basic income can be vital and affordable tool to respond to the changing world of work.
Guy Standing, who is a Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, has written books about social uncertainty and economic insecurity. In his bestseller “Basic Income: A 21st Century Economic Right”, he argues that “Every person, regardless of age, sex, marital status or work status, should have the right to a basic income, adequate to enable him or her to cover basic needs.”
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warns British ministers and businesses who are calling for "frictionless trade" with the EU after Britain leaves that it is "not possible" on Thursday
Exploding real estate prices, zero interest rate and a rising stock market – the rich are getting richer. What danger lies in wait for average citizens?
For years, the world’s central banks have been pursuing a policy of cheap money. The first and foremost is the ECB (European Central Bank), which buys bad stocks and bonds to save banks, tries to fuel economic growth and props up states that are in debt. But what relieves state budgets to the tune of hundreds of billions annoys savers: interest rates are close to zero.
The fiscal policies of the central banks are causing an uncontrolled global deluge of money. Experts are warning of new bubbles. In real estate, for example: it’s not just in German cities that prices are shooting up. In London, a one-bed apartment can easily cost more than a million Euro. More and more money is moving away from the real economy and into the speculative field. Highly complex financial bets are taking place in the global casino - gambling without checks and balances. The winners are set from the start: in Germany and around the world, the rich just get richer. Professor Max Otte says: "This flood of money has caused a dangerous redistribution. Those who have, get more." But with low interest rates, any money in savings accounts just melts away. Those with debts can be happy. But big companies that want to swallow up others are also happy: they can borrow cheap money for their acquisitions. Coupled with the liberalization of the financial markets, money deals have become detached from the real economy. But it’s not just the banks that need a constant source of new, cheap money today. So do states. They need it to keep a grip on their mountains of debt. It’s a kind of snowball system. What happens to our money? Is a new crisis looming? The film 'The Money Deluge' casts a new and surprising light on our money in these times of zero interest rates.
With no post-Brexit free trade deal yet struck to ensure easy access to EU markets, some banks are already moving jobs to Frankfurt and Dublin. And now a new report for the Association of Financial Markets in Europe warns that the cost of restructuring could be as much as 15 billion Euros. Chief Executive Simon Lewis speaks to Ian King.
Chris Hedges discusses his personal insights into the psychology and private behavior of the super rich and how these things relate to the state of the world today.
Last month more than 4,000 people gathered in Chicago for the People’s Summit. Independent senator, former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders delivered the keynote speech. During his speech, he repeatedly criticized the Democratic Party, calling it an "absolute failure," and blaming it for the election of President Trump. "I’m often asked by the media and others: How did it come about that Donald Trump, the most unpopular presidential candidate in the modern history of our country, won the election?" Sanders said. "And my answer is that Trump didn’t win the election; the Democratic Party lost the election. Let us be very, very clear: The current model and the current strategy of the Democratic Party is an absolute failure."
