Capitalism Hits the Fan - Richard Wolff

Economist, author, Professor emeritus UMass, Amherst, Richard Wolff, speaks about the current economic crises, its' roots and what we can do about it.
Filmed by Paul Hubbard at Brown University, Providence RI on 12-2-09

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• capitalism
• hits
• fan
• richard
• wolff
• economic
• crises
• marx
• socialism
• brown
• university

[SeeTimeRun391]

What happens when the disparity between the classes reaches critical mass? "We Are The 99ers of Occupy Wall Street" is what happens,along with all the other ground swell movements cropping up around the country and the world. Mr. Wolff saw this coming two years ago. His book really opened my eyes, and I hope he has involved himself in some way with this New Revolution. The power elite of business and government will have a hard time backing away from this. Accountability is long past due.

[goodolarchie]

@postpanic1 Oh boy, an anti-vaccine wacko. How did you end up here?

[GainesvilleNews]

Capitalism requires a defacto Ponzi scheme of population growth beyond what the planet can eventually sustain. Increasing global resouce scarcity is ending the usefullness of population growth as a capitalistic profit model. Collectivisim is taught to be a dirty word except where conservatives use it successfully in places like silicon valley. If we are lucky enough to avoid nuclear self-destruction new economic models will necessarily thrive on population stabilization or even reduction.

[ComradePaine]

@pretorious700 No you don't get it. You lack a class-based analysis of society and without this you will not understand anything this man is saying.

[gmwonder]

Gotta love all the people here claiming "he doesn't get it", the dude is a professor of economics with an heterodox view on the subject matter (extremely rare from an economist). Who are you? Just because you took a economics class in high school or community college doesn't mean you have an idea of what is going on.

[XpEAnUTBuTtERsUckSX]

Ok he is basically correct, but he fails to mention what happened during the 70's, Breton woods e.c.t, the dollar has lost tremendous amounts of it's value since it's last link to gold was severed, inflation theory couple'd with what he is saying essentially spells out why the middle class is shirking, unemployment is rising though profits are better than ever.

[XpEAnUTBuTtERsUckSX]

This guy is horrifically ignorant, being well read is dangerous, you need to know everything.

[pretorious700]

This guy just doesn't get it. He doesn't even mention government handouts and entitlements, which cause budget shortfalls. Yes, teachers get laid off when government promises more than it can fund...it's simple, the "evil" is not in the layoffs, it's in the promises doled out for votes.

[hmoulding]

If the depression lasted from 1929 through 1939, and if only America's entrance into WWII ended the depression, what happened in 1940 and 1941? I think Mr Wolff is over simplifying and distorting some facts.

[Rhea303]

Yes, yes, yes. He's right. The world (life) is imploding. Thanks for posting this video.

[rpoet60]

@SeeTimeRun391, when class envy goes global, you & I and most of the readers here become part of the 1%.

[rltmlt]

A final prediction that, two years later, has become our reality. An all volunteer military fighting ever increasing numbers of foreign wars, there’s not enough guns or will to take on this force. There won’t be enough holes to hide in. The vast majority of our elected officials just ripped up the Constitution by passing the N.D.A.A., this legislation makes American Citizens fair game in a Fascist police state. It’s already over !