Richard D. Wolff

I love Economic Update, and I'm a dedicated listener. I just wanted to bring this article to Dr. Wolff's attention: (http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2016/07/12/supplier-bankruptcy-filing-could-disrupt-gm-production/86997150/). It's a perfect example of what happens when a monopsonistic purchaser controls the other firms that feed its supply chain. In this case, GM wouldn't let a company go into bankruptcy because it was under an obligation to sell GM the parts that GM needs to produce their vehicles. That sounds reasonable, but what comes next shows how truly ridiculous our economy is and has become. The reason why the company is facing bankruptcy is that GM had demanded the supplier sell the products at an unfair price that didn't allow them to function as an enterprise. So now GM has basically turned this firm into a colony that feeds their corporate empire. The smaller firm can no longer cover their costs, make their profits, and succeed as a capitalist enterprise because the larger firms won't pay them enough, but they must continue production despite all that because the larger firm demands that they do so. Love the show! Thanks to Dr. Wolff and all the folks at Democracy at work for their efforts.