Richard D. Wolff

Is it possible if he we appointed Director of Finance by Hillary if she is elected that he could break up the big banks and by holding Wall Street accountable for the bailout take that money to energize free school, healthcare, pay down the deficit and secure social security as were his plans?

Could you do a video on negative interest rates and what affect they might have on the economy. Have we seen negative interest rates in the past? I remember seeing a video about how in medieval times local people would store their grain and get a tally stick. As the grain grew older it was worth less and therefore encouraged spending. Is this true and is this similar to negative interest rates? Could they actually be a good thing?

Hi, I enjoy your weekly radio talk. I'm a Robert Reich liberal who is losing the faith. I'd be very interested to hear a socialist critique of the joe stiglitz report (http://community-wealth.org/sites/clone.community-wealth.org/files/downloads/report-stiglitz.pdf). Fair to have questions whether it would ever pass congress, but beyond that? Thanks, Chris Lee, Kenwood, CA

Ichak Adizes : Industrial Democracy: Yugoslav Style – English edition First published in 1971, this book presents case studies of two Yugoslav companies which were observed in operation during the spring of 1967. In an attempt to analyze several aspects of organizational behavior by studying its relationship to a dynamic environment, the study describes the process of decision-making on the company level after the Yugoslav reform of 1965. A comparison of the environmental forces and their effect in organizational structures is made in this book.

Ichak Adizes : Self-Management: New Dimensions to Democracy First Published in 1975, this book was developed from a seminar at the center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, in Santa Barbara, California, which focused on the participation of workers in decision-making as a means to democratize society, provide for economic growth, and improve the quality of life.

Based on a cooperative economy, how would we arrange our national and global power center structures without empowering another plutocracy? I need to see the bigger picture! Also interested in a comparison between Mondragon, and Italy's Emilia Romagna.

addressing the issue of the global capitalist problem, can we realistically assume that the wsde model can be a viable alternative to dismantling the capitalist structure? If mondragon is our model, how then can we rationalize their partnership with some of the largest capitalist enterprises in the world? Are wsde a sustainable venture within the competitive capitalist economy and how can we survive within a profit driven system?

Dear Professor Wolff, I enjoyed your July monthly update's discussion of productive capital on strike in the U.S. You said that investors with low risk appetite are so desperate that they will accept negative interest rates to invest in the debt of countries like Germany. I've also seen in the natural gas industry investors "chasing yield" - overlooking some of the risks of investing in shale gas expansion out of desperation for relatively high-yield investment opportunities. Both points suggest a lack of productive investment opportunities in the U.S. I have two questions: (1) Why is more of that money not being invested into foreign corporations, e.g. in China, which appears to have come out of the recession faster than many other countries? Why do the banks seemingly prefer to hoard it?, and (2) If the financial sector would be doing better if there were more outlets for productive domestic investment, why is there not more support for Keynesian policies? Is it just ideology, or are there other reasons that finance is not pushing in this direction? Thanks!

Dear Prof. Wolff, Thank you for appearing for the full hour on Po'town, Ore's community radio station KBOO this morning, with interview conducted by Per Fagereng. In the phone-in caller section about the social forces leading to the creation of Social Security and Unemployment Insurance by FDR in the wake of the NOT-SO-GREAT-DEPRESSION when the U.S. Treasury was broke and not one but 2 Socialist Parties were pressuring the 2-Party Duopoly a caller asked your opinion about General Smedley Butler's revelations of a plot to overthrow FDR's administration. You implied without elaborating that the events in Turkey last week, the attempted military coup to topple the Erdogan regime had some economic causes like the pressures FDR brought to bear on the Robber Barons and their LLC's to accept a new tax burden to pay for the federal government's planned Social Security and Unemployment Insurance programs. Can you elaborate or clarify since even in the non-advertiser driven journalism I followed last weekend and since of the events in Turkey, no such economic factor was cited. Thanks, Mitch Ritter Lay-Low Studios Media Discussion List, Ore-Wa

Professor, can you please comment on the attack in Nice? It seems this is a major historical fact since the French government wants to " destroy the ISIS" and Obama our president agreed to help them. It's sounds to me like a world war has already happened but we just don't give its name to it. In South America, violence has become just so unbearable that going out of the house is very much indeed going to war. In my native country, Brazil the number of kidnapping is tremendous. It is a civil war- but we call it urban violence.

Dear prof. Wolff, Do you agree on my point that if you compare the power of voting with the power of lobbying groups it's unequal? (we're bringing a knife to a gun fight) In other words that's where the main inbalance in the current 'system' is? If you agree on this point, could it maybe be possible to lobby back politicians by voters (ordinary people) by giving politicians financial bonusses for making promises really happen? So for example force politicians to make: Specific, Measerable, Acceptable, Realistic, Time Bound targets before there are elections. And give them a bonus if they achieve a target. It's in its essence the same as large corporations do with politicians, and it seems to works for them. Stefan

Karen Hudes, a wold bank whistle blower, talks about the tons of stored gold with agreements after WW2, then switching to fiat currency. The world gold belonging to the populace needs to be released now to back the new currency. The fed is bankrupt but that announcement will be made after the election. I heard of a people in Africa have started using the cell phone to transfer money to each other for goods and services costing a fraction of a penny each time. Please give us your take on this possibility. - KPFK listener

If Milton Friedman is the far right's economist, from the Chicago School of Thought, which influenced politics into the 21st century... Who is the far left's version of him? Is there a Marxist-Leninism's version of Milton Friedman? I would be interested in reading their work. Thanks for everything!

We always talk as if poverty is the problem, but the problem is concentrated wealth. Instead of raising the minimum wage, maybe we should install a Maximum Wage. No One is worth $10,000 an hour. That's obscene. Would love to hear a discussion and see a movement on imposing a Maximum Wage. Not in terms of taxing the wealthy, but simply a cap on income.

Can collective cooperatives run globally, trading only among themselves? This way, it can be shown that a global network of socialist organizations can work - and with improved working conditions, others can be naturally drawn towards the network? Cooperatives world wise will only trade among themselves. And we can have globally recognized socialist symbol which all cooperatives can wear / display, so we would know where to trade from? This way, in addition to intellectual activism, a economical proof will also emerge globally. Is this feasible?