Articles
How the 1% got richer, while the 99% got poorer
It's official: wealth inequality accelerated over the past quarter century. The American dream was never a more hollow promisePublished on October 26, 2011Appeared originally in The Guardian "Comment is Free" on October 26th, 2011
A demonstrator tapes a dollar bill over his mouth in the Occupy Miami protest. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The just-released Congressional Budget Office report, Trends in the Distribution of Household Income Between 1979 and 2007, supports a basic claim of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement sweeping the country: that deep economic inequality is corrupting politics, culture and American society as a whole.
Top Economists on How to Fix the Economy
On Wednesday, October 12th 2011, the New America Foundation released a bold new plan to pull the global economy back from the brink. Economists give The Daily Beast their views. Plus, read the details of the proposal.Published on October 25, 2011Jared Bernstein, senior fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
I think the authors are absolutely on the right track. and they’re smart to get outside the usual constraints—they essentially ignore issues like “shovel ready” or how our economy could actually absorb $240 billion a year in new infrastructure projects without trying to drink from a firehose. They say we will help underwater-mortgage holders who can ultimately service their loans but not the ones who can’t, when, of course, it’s not obvious which is which.
Against the Grain - KPFA Radio Interview (Oct 19, 2011)
Published on October 23, 2011AUDIORichard Wolff discusses the crisis of capitalism, how the US became so unequal--and why he believes revolution, not reform, is in order.
The David Pakman Show - Income Inequality Isn't Good for America
Published on October 23, 2011VIDEORichard Wolff, Economics Professor and one of David's former professors, joins in on The David Pakman Show to dispel conservative propaganda about why rising income inequality isn't a bad thing, and explains the nuts and bolts of why significant income inequality negatively affects the economy. After viewing the clips visit our Election Central 2012 page and participate in our 3 part election survey.
Economic Update on WBAI Oct 22
Published on October 23, 2011AUDIOUpdates this week focus on Walmart's elimination and cut-backs of health insurance for its employees, on the failed inspections that recently allowed unclean melon production to kill 25 Americans and sicken many more, on the rising scandal of college students' debt burdens, and on the grotesque Herman Cain plan that would sharply lower taxes on the richest Americans. The major focus was a comparison of the 1930s with the current crisis in capitalism to draw lessons for the kind of economic policy now that the Occupy Wall Street movement might consider.
Special Comments - Short Clips
Published on October 16, 2011VIDEOIn this series of short video clips, Professor Wolff discusses Deficits and Debts, Europe's Crisis and Austerity, Tea Party Politics, Social Security, and What Obama's Economic Policy should be.
Deficits and Debts - Causes and Cures
Europe's Crisis and Austerity
Major Corporations and Tea Party Politics
The Real Economics of Social Security
What Obama's Basic Economic Policy Should Be
Global Capitalism - A Monthly Update & Discussion Oct 2011
Published on October 12, 2011VIDEOThese Tuesday evenings will each begin with an update and analysis of major economic events of the last month and their contexts of longer-term economic trends shaping politics and society here and abroad. We will focus on the evolving global capitalist economic crisis and its consequences. We will examine topics such as
Capitalism and Poverty
The US Census Bureau recently reported what most Americans already knew. Poverty is deepening. The gap between rich and poor is growing. Slippage soon into the ranks of the poor now confronts tens of millions of Americans who long thought of themselves as securely "middle class."
TO VIMA Interview Questions
Below is a set of answers to a list of questions posed by a reporter for a major Athens, Greece daily paper, TO VIMA. Its Sunday edition for August 14 carried an article based on those questions and answers, although not written in that same form. The link to the original Greek publication is available on this page in the upper right-hand corner.
1. Was there anything Barack Obama could have said to prevent the US downgrading?
Occupy Wall Street - Richard Wolff Speaks
Published on October 9, 2011VIDEORichard Wolff speaks to Occupy Wall Street's Open Forum on Tuesday, October 4, 2011. Speaking in Liberty Square near Wall Street without microphones, Wolff focuses on the economic crisis and the problem of capitalism as a system as they relate to the new social movement being achieved by Occupy Wall Street and all those inspired by it across the country.
