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Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Democracy at Work, Richard D. Wolff 579 Episodes Aug 18, 2026

Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff is a weekly nationally syndicated program produced by Democracy at Work and hosted by Richard D. Wolff. The program explores complex economic issues and empowers listeners with information to analyze not only their own financial situation but the economy at large. Beyond focusing a critical eye on the economic dimensions of everyday life - wages, jobs, taxes, debts, interest rates, prices, and profits - the program also explores systemic solutions to our economy's problems including alternative ways to organize production and distribution of the goods and services we all depend on.

Episodes

The Resurgence of White Supremacy
The Resurgence of White Supremacy Aug 18, 2026 30:50 This week on Economic Update, Professor Wolff delivers updates on U.S. businesses receiving refunds for Trump's illegal tariffs without lowering prices raised to cover them, a 24% decline in foreign students coming to the U.S., and an emerging labor shortage in the U.S. economy. The second half of the show features an interview with Prof. Lucas Wilson, Mt Holyoke College, on the resurgence of whit
DSA Revives Socialism in U.S. Politics
DSA Revives Socialism in U.S. Politics Aug 11, 2026 31:21 This week on Economic Update, Professor Wolff delivers updates on new U.S. government rules that are universally hostile to international students, the reduction of prosecutions for white collar crime by the U.S. Justice Department while increasing pressures on Shawn Fain, head of the powerful United Auto Workers union, an that there are now over 200 people in the Caribbean and Pacific that have b
The Great Shift of Economic Thought from Macro to Micro
The Great Shift of Economic Thought from Macro to Micro Aug 3, 2026 30:44 The rational approach is to ask which works better in an industry or to meet any social need: private enterprise or government enterprise. It is irrational and dogmatic to think only one or the other is allowed. For 100 years we have wasted time debating which is good and which bad. It's time to move on. Let's talk less about macro-issues like private vs public and more about the micro issue: what
A Critique of Profit
A Critique of Profit Jul 27, 2026 30:34 This week on Economic Update, Professor Wolff devotes the entire show to a critical analysis of profit. The point is to show that it is a very biased way to look at capitalist economies and a biased way to make investment decisions. Both biases are shown to be deeply undemocratic. We hope you enjoy this discussion and look forward to joining you next week for another all-new episode of Economic Up
U.S. Housing Crisis Deepens
U.S. Housing Crisis Deepens Jul 20, 2026 31:52 This week on Economic Update, Professor Wolff presents updates on the Australian dockworkers' union's fight against A.I., the German auto workers' fight against VW layoffs, Private Suites running private terminals for rich U.S. flyers, and Bayer/Monsanto profiting by manipulating U.S. farmers' organizations. The second half of the show features an interview with Donald H Whitehead, Jr., the direct
Markets: Institutions Deeply In Need of Criticism
Markets: Institutions Deeply In Need of Criticism Jul 13, 2026 31:57 This week on Economic Update, Professor Wolff presents an analysis of how markets work, which parts of society they favor and serve, and which they discriminate against. He also unpacks why markets are NOT the same as capitalism, and where markets are NOT allowed to exist in the world today, including in the U.S. He wraps up today's show with an analysis of why market idolatry now functions as a k
U.S. Capitalism as a Crisis for Men
U.S. Capitalism as a Crisis for Men Jul 7, 2026 30:53 This week on Economic Update, Professor Wolff delivers updates on rising wages for app-based NYC food delivery workers, a wave of U.S. firms being sold to their workers, McDonald's disaster with an AI experiment, and how Canada's leader Carney is also a major campaigner for capital and against labor inside Canada. The second part of today's show features an interview with psychotherapist Tess Fraa
Marx's Key Insight: Capitalism's Surplus
Marx's Key Insight: Capitalism's Surplus Jul 5, 2026 32:23 The central concept of Marx's contribution to a critical understanding of the capitalist economic system - the entry point into his distinctive analysis - is "the surplus." Today's show is devoted to making clear (1) what the surplus is, (2) how and why the surplus is central to understanding capitalism's key features, and (3) how the surplus explains such flaws in capitalism, such as the endless
Supermarket Jobs, Super Exploitation
Supermarket Jobs, Super Exploitation Jul 5, 2026 31:29 This week on Economic Update, Professor delivers updates on the so-called Social Security Crisis, the gross inequality of stock ownership in the U.S. today, the exploited and underpaid non-tenure track faculty ("adjuncts," etc.) who are joining unions, especially the UAW, which won a union election on June 3 at the University of Southern California, which includes 2,700 members. The second half of
Lessons from China's Economic Development
Lessons from China's Economic Development Jul 5, 2026 31:55 On this week's episode of Economic Update, Professor devotes the entire program to the why and how of China's passage from abject poverty and colonial humiliation to become, in unprecedented, record historical time, a superpower economy challenging the US today.
The Yellow Vests  Mass Movement in France
The Yellow Vests Mass Movement in France Jul 4, 2026 32:35 This week on Economic Update, Professor delivers updates on the big union wins for 40,000 workers in the UC system, the ongoing strike of graduate student workers at Harvard, and basic statistics on the extent of hunger in US households (between 1 in 7 and 1 in 5 households). In the second half, Professor Wolff interviews Professor Ida Susser, author of the new book, "The Yellow Vests and the Batt
Center for Popular Economics: Goals and Achievements
Center for Popular Economics: Goals and Achievements Jun 8, 2026 31:16 On this week's episode of Economic Update, Professor delivers updates on why and how worker co-ops are a strategic direction for socialism, and Europe's deindustrialization. The second half features an interview with Anne McGrew and Will Chaney about the Center for Popular Economics and its work since 1978, teaching economics in ways that neither college and university departments nor labor unions

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