Wolff Responds: Capitalism on Life Support
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
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In this Wolff Responds, Prof. Wolff argues that the system in the US is falling apart. Capitalism is surviving because of all the support provided by the American government to corporations - who are receiving the bulk - and to Americans.
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In Australia, some corporations’ executives have been paying themselves bonuses using the taxpayers money which was paid to these corporations to enable them to pass on to their employees to keep them linked to their companies. The payment is called JobKeeper. This has been widely reported and the public is horrified.
Yeah, same old story! That is why the JobKeeper money should have gone straight to the employee and not to some of these corrupt employers and their CEOs. One day these elite's and out of touch politicians will get what's coming to them. I hope they get to feel the pain that the ordinary citizen has felt, especially over the last twenty years, caused by their crony capitalism!
In America, the CEOs just steal it all out in the open.
Hmm... sounds like it's about that time to roll out the old guillotine, no? 😈
They shouldn't be surprising, U.S. corporations did this in 2008 enmass and are once again doing this.
So much greed. Reminds me of that BS expression here in the USA 'trickle down'. What a crock of $hit that was. Don't know how anyone had the freakin' nerve to utter those words. It was incredibly obvious that they were wiping their filthy shoes on our faces.
We must evolve culturally, monetarily and scientifically or we will all die.
the plot thickens..
I watch Wolff and Peter Schiff. Schiff says real capitalism is the solution, Wolff says socialism is. Dispite their different opinions what the "solution" could be, both name basically the same flaws/defects/corruptions or however you wanna call it. I think we have neither "real" capitalism nor "socialism" (btw, I also dont believe, in their absulute forms and that only forms of amalgamations exist), I think we have the worst of both worlds, an unsustainable "corparate socialism". And to top that, a brainless consumer culture on steriods (massive debts). Capitalists and Socialist always brag about the shrinking middle class, but what if its not only the fault of the government and corparations. What if one reason is, that our system lead to a society, that made their citizens to "dumb" to accumulate wealth? I mean, my parents know sh*t about economics, investing, etc and my school also didnt teach anything usefull. Without the internet and youtube, I would basically know nothing and would probably be broke
@@donkalzone6671 you nailed it... "flaws/defects/corruptions " human inherent flaws will corrupt either system.
Good luck try to push a moral law nowadays, good luck trying to tell the fed to stop printing money.
Barabim Baraboom well the petrodollar standard is failing and will die altogether in less then 20 years. They will have to back their fiat currency on something. The default is usually gold
Starts the video about the death of capitalism with an endorsement from a sponsor. This is irony not working hard at all for it’s money lol 😝
As the government tells big investors that they are guaranteed to not lose money if you invest in private companies then we are no longer in the realm of capitalism.
Sure it is, the government is doing what it always does, guaranteeing private property ownership and profits for the capitalist class. The whole point of the state is to prop up and continue the ruling classes material interests.
@@ansoc1173 So.... no state would be better?
Newsman TheMan state ruled by the working class would be better
@@tribinaaux4043 Nope, democracy doesn't work as well as it sounds.
Thank you Dr. Wolf, for your clear analysis on what is the true picture of the U.S. economy.
No it doesnt
@@Azamat421 lols
I feel like Wolff is getting more popular I’m late for being early. Thank you Richard wolff for the scary lessons
Norman Keena good thing I’m not a capitalist!
@@itsfreerealestate15 pity we live in a capitalist world, pitty there is a pandemic, well maybe now, maybe we will get better social service. neah, I'm dreaming.
I always loved the original title that Supply Side Economics was called, what can I say I'm old-fashioned, but calling it Horse 🐴 and Sparrow 🐦 Theory; if you feed the horse everything than the sparrows can pick through its shit for subsistence. They than branded it as Trickle Down Economics, which, I don't need to even insinuate how that sounds.
wow, very apt
Oh dear gods I love that. Horse and Sparrow Theory. I will be using that as it explains the system much better than the more common. That is brilliant!
They keep calling it the Free Market. But with the Feds of the world propping it up and the financial pain going on the people of the world with austerity I think is is not a free market but a pretty darn expensive market.
Food is getting ridiculous! Remember when gas was $4.00 a gallon and they raised prices? When gas went down, did they drop prices? No!
I like how Michael Parenti has responded to those who claim that this is not 'free-market,' or that we need more 'free-market' capitalism. Parenti talked about the US around the turn of the 20th Century, before labor fought and won the 14-hour day, 12-hour day, and later the 8-hour day (which is now going backwards increasingly.) When we had no worker safety or child labor laws, etc. This was the time of 'super-free-market' capitalism.
It's kind of sad that so many have forgotten (or never heard of) the countless people who fought and died fighting against the capitalists for so many things we take for granted today. It was the capitalists who fought like hell against us for the 12 hour day. They sabotaged, smeared us in their media, threatened, tortured, and murdered many of us along the way. These same capitalists fought us every inch of the way. And now that they have monopolized our media (and everything else), they have been erasing our history.
the free market is intended to be heavily regulated to be free of rentiers.
not laissez faire.
Nah, this isn't a free market anymore. The state hates free markets. Trust me, if countries had freer markets, a lot of people would love capitalism, but sadly we now have corporatism.
@@edebs6243 I get what you mean, but nowadays we've evolved. And it's true that this regulations have improved a lot of lives, but there are still some state involvements in the markets that aren't really required per say, they're just there to screw businesses, even small ones. And the capitalists that you're talking about were authoritarian. Authoritarianism doesn't work, which is why we fought them. And then came state communism, which we fought as well. A freer market with regulations (that make sense) would improve the world.
The government works for corporations but the working class gets crumbs. And now the stimulus for workers looks like it is dead in congress. What a shame.
Now for the Randian response in Galtese: B-b-b-b-b-but we've never truly seen the Invisible Hand! (w/ angelic chorus in background).
Smith's supernatural "hand" was his own hand. "Everything for us and nothing for anyone else"
Love You Dr.Wolff! You are so honest, and keep us informed!
Thank you, Professor Wolff.
Thanks for making these videos..... very useful
Thank you Professor Wolff.
Capitolism died years n years ago. We have cartel oligarchy now.
We have a mixed economic model plagued by cronyism now.*
I'm grateful; for your insight and wisdom.. thank you.
thanks
It's time to pull the plug...
to your internet..
Richard, your daily videos literally help me to cope with living in this nightmare.
Outstanding sir.
Your the best Professor
As the coyote from Bugs Bunny would say, “sheer genius”. Love Professor Wolff!!
Everything you said is absolutely correct and thruth.
Thank you Prof. Wolff for pointing out that both parties are diverting the public's attention from the source of the the real problem. Social programs are what are supporting the entire economy from going completely to hell. However, a large group want to be in denial, and another group are on a suicide mission. Hopefully, good wins over evil.
Spot on absolute truth right here!
How do we decided how much money to print? Is the money supply tied to measurable economic parameters? What are the risks of having too much or too little currency? Should we break up "too big to fail" corporations?
@mxt mxt True, but does the Treasury then print currency to reflect the loans issued?
We are also seeing the effect of the tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods. That cheap Chinese product that was all we could afford is no longer cheap. Furthermore the American dollar is losing value against other currencies.
Experts have already warned that Trump Trade War with China is a lose-lose proposition. Effects can be felt now by ordinary Americans paying for their daily goods with added tariff tax
I salute you wolff hat off for teaching us how the economy is really going when politicians are deceiving the people thank you again absolutely
interesting that we also ,with our 5 % word population, have far more people in jail than half the world
Fact is, we do not stockpile weapons and military equipment. We use them constantly, going as far as running out of bombs on more than one occasion. We spend more and more on weaponry each year. Expand the number of wars, number of bombs dropped almost daily.
Meanwhile even the weapons we sell other countries are sold at a loss. We give countries like Israel money or buy oil from Saudi Arabia, then sell them weapons with that money.
Yet the money we give them inflates the national debt, incurring ever-increasing interest on the debt. Money created from thin air. Saudi Arabia charges the US more for oil than they do European countries. Which increases the cost of fuel in this country, which affects the cost of everything else.
Weapons contractors are happy, as are their rich investors.
I'm just waiting for the draft to be reinstated. Maybe that will wake some people up.
Yes.
why does this channel have no views... it's the reality check both right and left need
I'm just going to reiterate something I've been thinking for a while now:
There are two concepts in science, called the Fermi Paradox and the Great Filter.
The Fermi Paradox, named for physicist Enrico Fermi, is the apparent contradiction in the absence of any signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, despite many things we know about physics, astronomy, biology, etc., implying that alien life * should * be commonplace, and if commonplace, then detectable by technology we already possess. We have confirmed enough things about science that either the probability of humanity being the only life in the Milky Way is extremely low, or the probability of life arising in the first place is extremely low.
The Great Filter is a possible solution to the Fermi Paradox.
If our scientific findings indicate that life should be commonplace and detectable, but we have detected no signs of it, there is some factor we have not considered which prevents life from arising, evolving, and advancing to the point at which we can detect signs of its activities across interstellar distances -- or just directly visiting us.
There are many possible candidates for the Great Filter, each of which a potential hurdle that could prevent life from advancing to the point we could detect it:
- the right composition and configuration of star system, planet and moon(s)
- abiogenesis -- the spontaneous emergence of early life from non-living organic compounds
- advancing forms of single-celled and then multi-celled life
- life that is intelligent enough to begin using tools
- advanced technological civilization, such as we are now
- spreading offworld and across the stars, as we might do over the next few centuries
If any of these hurdles is substantially more difficult than we currently understand it to be, then life may itself be rare, or never get as far as we have. There are also potential catastrophic events that could wipe out a civilization like our own, such as a massive asteroid impact, a nearby supernova, a dangerously nearby and precisely-aimed gamma ray burst, etc. Some of the worst scenarios for climate change fit in here nicely.
Personally, I've come to consider that capitalism, or indeed any hiearchical & competitive socio-economic system (of which capitalism is only the latest in a long lineage) -- and precisely, the inability to move * past * such a system -- to be the most likely candidate for the Great Filter.
It leads inevitably to struggle and conflict over resources and dominance, which grow exponentially more destructive with advanced levels of technology; especially nuclear weapons. Even without warfare, the strain such conflicts put on our civilization and the biosphere of our planet may push it past the breaking point. If we are lucky enough to avoid driving ourselves into extinction and instead merely regress to an earlier level of technology, well, we've used up many of the easily-accessible natural resources that were vital for the industrial revolution; if we fall too far back we will *not* get a do-over, and could become stuck at a more primitive level of technology permanently.
TL;DR: it may not be just "socialism or barbarism," but "socialism or extinction."
Actually climate change is probably the main hurdle...since humans are really bad at anticipating things
and extremely poor in reacting to them and then they make the wrong choice and the cycle repeats.
Any evidence that we exist, would depend on electronic signals traveling thru space, and even if they did
manage to travel intact at the speed of light, the possible range is less than 100 light years and we are
on the verge of self extinction as it is....and those on the receiving end, would have to be at the same level
of tech in order to receive them....and it took 650 millions years for complex life to
evolve a species capable of self extinction.... so the odds of detection are pretty low to begin with, and life could
be abundant, but never get to this point, so it's not really a mystery....and space is not a hospitable place, for
any biological form, let alone an advanced one.....so given the present reality, it's not something that deserves
a whole lot of attention.
This last decade has been so miserable that I wish we could pull the plug, rather than keep crapitalism on life support.
In the 17th Century Dutch-Guelph bankers caused the English Revolution and established the Bank of England (BOE) in 1694. For a thousand years before, usury and "corruption in high places" impoverished Europe, i.e. the Dark Ages (St. Ambrose), but, these criminals were only very loosely organized at a local or national level, i.e. Templar Knights, Khazar bandits, the Calvinists, Spanish Conquistadores hunting for Peruvian silver, Venetian bankers hunting for West African gold, and the Trans-alpine money lenders. The BOE systematized usury into a highly regulated system concentrating wealth into the modern plutocrats who systematized and internationalized corruption - world wide - and here is where we stand 326 years later.
1:53
The downside is it makes 300 years for the corps to rot.
And we get to smell the stink all the way to the end.
This system will be defended to the death by the rank and file who are most screwed over by it. They are people for whom capitalism is a core pillar of freedom itself. They simply cannot entertain the thought that there can be a viable alternative. (See the TINA principle)
that 600...only for those who actually got it..my neighbor filed in may, and hasnt got a red cent from unemployment. [private capitalism cant ..or wont]
Succinct as always.
Thank you.
Is that printed money that corporations are borrowing from the fed reserve.
🌟👏👏👏☝️☝️BRILLIANT, Professor!!!
Private capital could but it won't help. Bezos could help, Wal-Mart( the Walton family) could but they won't.
Try doing the math on that and see how far you get.....ever wonder why Wolff never uses numbers and even when
he does they don't support what he claims?
Let me help you, let's say Bezos with his latest ill gotten gains is now worth 200 billion....your share would be $606.
and his money would be all gone, so you get $606. once. That's it, all done.....hell add up all of those billionaires that
own as much wealth as the bottom half....the result is NOT life changing and I doubt it would last you 6 months.
Also Wolff's claim that 'capitalism" suffers a crash or recession every 4 to seven years, and this is actually TRUE,
but only from 1929 to the present, before that it was every 28 years on average...so what happened after 1929
that changed "capitalism" so drastically???? I vaguely recollect that the "government" had something to do with
this and Wolff seems to understand it too, he just hasn't figured it out yet.
What is TRUE is that, this AIN'T capitalism and government has had everything to do with it....and you get to VOTE,
"so you have no right to complain" George Carlin ....face it "your government is just not that into you. " Jimmy Dore
The RW adamantly refuses to aid anybody who needs help.
Prof. Wolf, could you explain why our government cannot hire the millions of unemployed American to fix the infrastructure, to do the tracing of covid-19, make masks, a very lightweight industry, and even ventilators? If we want to be self-sufficient and get our jobs back from oversea, isn't this the time to do it?
We’re on a trajectory for things to slowly get worse until the next inevitable crisis
We are being robbed blind!
The fed reserve is buying corporate debt with printed money.
Socialismo o barbarismo !
Anarco-capitalism?
So where do we go from here?
th-cam.com/video/QX3M8Ka9vUA/w-d-xo.html
Trump wins. It doesn't mean you cant stop consumerism, use only what you need, learn a skill, help others while remembering that Trump is just a man, not a king, and definitely not a savior.
Yah, the Working Poor, like myself are getting scammed right now... nothing we can do
We can revolt. We can withhold our labor. We have the power.
The system is failing and it is inevitably doomed one day. But I have to wonder how this change will occur?? And when?? Will there be some form of overthrow in the 21st century or will our current system evolve through political struggle and government reform??
The "Taking" and "Giving" is way out of Balance....assuming a stable state and smooth flow system is the goal.
We don't have enough venelator to save it lol
How does capitalism survive ?
The structure and method of modern capitalist cartels reminds me of the European Medieval Robber Barons. They gathered together in cliques and bands and robbed everyone...in the name of The Law! Laws which simply diddled and fiddled everyone out of their money so all the wealth ended up in the Robber Barons Castle Vaults.
The Big problem is American debt and China is not taking any chances with that bubble... Americans/the world need to reduce debt but no-one likes to work just to pay off a debt!
don't believe a think you hear about UK health care.. there are cashiers in every single office.. but... they are used to pay the patients their travel expenses to get health care. Not to deprive sick people of money for profit.
Just keep printing $trillion$ each week and the system wont burst...
Well that started in 1933 in the US and in Aug 1971 for everybody else...it also happens to
be the idea behind MMT...so everything will be fine.....and it will be cashless too, so no wheel barrows
this time.
I wonder... is it capitalism that can't handle this crisis? Or is it just neoliberalism of the US and UK variety? Other capitalist countries seem to be stepping up to the plate.
Fuck it guys, don’t look for faults. Exploit the system as men we must survive given the current societal conditions. I have seen people make more money in their lifetimes during this corona outbreak. I regret not leveraging my business to the gills, if I had know I would have received such support from Ppp loans and mortgage forbearances, i would have totally leveraged my assests.
capitalism is an economic system, and in principal has nothing to say about the management of the state. so, usa is not a 'capitalist' nation, it is rather a parliamentary republic, with an active quasi-king called 'president.' it is closeley modeled on georgian britain. which is why it is ineffectual in recent years.
as for the economic system, capitalism is best thought of as banditry in a good suit. the melding of these two ideas has been very productive until recently, the rape of an 'empty' [like israel, but on a grander scale] continent guaranteed wealth, and the primitive political society ensured the rich got richer, and kept it.
but globalization and the climate crisis has put the bandit nation under stress. like the titanic, there will be lifeboats for the rich, and early death for the poor.
this sort of thing has happened before, sometimes there is revolution, and sometimes that leads to a better life for the lowers. the recent flowering of the prc should give hope to all. if you haven't got an island, or even a lifeboat--- learn to shoot.
Forbearance and moratorium, phew! That is good news. Hopefully all home owners and renters will qualify. Temporary relief. Very, Very Temporary. Lives are going to be shaddered. To have been prepared sounds like an expense that I believe the average USA politician would view as a waste of resources. They'd lay odds that 'it' wouldn't happen on their watch. And, they do have a lot on their plates that they have to juggle. I mean, just look at their net worth before they took office and their net worth again when they left office. Especially their children's net worth. Politicans work many levels and work contacts. I don't believe that most politicians are actually out to help the masses. I wish luck to the few PureHearts entering politics. They have to battle everyone seeking to buy their soul, or destroy them. So glad that evictions are on hold, it gives people a little time to figure out what they are going to do next.
Sooner or later the borrowed, printed and QE money and stock market bubble will burst
Bear years: ~8.05
Bull years: ~78
Since 1935
statistically speaking you will be right.. one of these years
This is beyond a bubble. Bubble is too gentler word.
Professor Wolff shows great concern about America's lack of preparedness for the pandemic but where was he before the pandemic started in this country back in March? I don't recall hearing a peep out of him a year or two ago whereas one would have expected him to be sounding the alarm bells like Bill Gates did as much as five years ago. Can someone help me out regarding this question?
This man was taking about the fuck ups of the government and economy years ago... go TH-cam his videos from 2019 2018 ... And if u think Bill is concerned about the people i doubt that ...
Tax the ROBOTS
AOC for President. (From a UK viewer.)
isn’t capitalism working out okay in other countries, especially in regards to covid?
Capitalism is always sliding towards monopoly and totalitarian government regardless of how many regulations and social programs a country has. It's in the very nature of capitalism. Most if not all of those countries that appear to be weathering the crisis are doing so using mass debt and currency manipulation, capitalism is not sustainable.
@@ansoc1173 Scared money doesnt make money bro...
@Luke F how do you choose which workers are part of the decision making ?
@mxt mxt How do you reach consensus?
@mxt mxt Ok, that eliminates the majority, thanks
All things fall apart, all but the Love of God in Heaven. Let the dollar do what it was meant to do, let Salvation of Christ do what it was meant to do. Smh. Place hope in Love and Truth, the dollar is done. We are beyond economy and politics at this point.
Vote vote vote vote....doesnt mean anything if you dont vote....register if you havent. #MoreThanAVote....Demand actual action and benefits from elected officials....BLM...JUSTICE FOR BREONNA TAYOLOR, GEORGE FLOYD AND THE REST...
Somehow "the economy" being dependent on the government makes a mockery of libertarian ideals? Are you shitting me? Well then, Richard, let's decouple the government completely from the economy (or just not have a state, at all), then. Then, the organizations that can offer value to individuals will survive, and everything else will perish.
But its not capitalism, when the goverment is constantly supporting everyone its not capitalism. Lot of welfare programs, corporation bailouts nobody is held accountable for their mistakes, goverment spendings was never cut even though the goverment is having deficit for 10years straight. United States is simply not capitalist country.
Warfare ... Who still gets warfare ? And dont say immigrations because half if them take they ass to work in the fields
First one here. Communism will win.
socialism you mean
@@benxjymmi2951 no, i meant communism
All Party-based politics defaults to Fascism.
Fascism always wins.
The goal is to transcend the former isms by learning from them.
@@stevenhershkowitz2265 Fascism, to use Mussolini's definition, is the merger of state and corporate power. With the elimination of privatization, i dont see how there could be corporate elites to influence the state. Perhaps you are talking about political chauvinism and the re-establishment of class society, in which case you're probably correct. I don't see communism as the end of socioeconomic development, there probably will never be an end point. Flaws will almost certainly rise in communist society once it has been thoroughly developed, in which case we will transition to whatever system reconciles the problems. Rulership of the state and the economy by society as a whole is merely the next step, not the final one.
But here's the thing, you keep criticizing and I judge them accurate, but I do not hear what you want to replace it with? Talk substance please, without that you sound like someone who seeks no more than supporters.
The government is the road that enables the car, which is capitalism, to move forward. Remove roads from cities and towns and cars are rendered useless. Likewise, jettison the government created legal framework that gives private ownership legitimacy, and get rid of the government led initiatives that compel industry to innovate beyond what is profitable to them in the nearest fiscal quarter, and the progress that is often ascribed soley to capitalism would never materialize. Those who are staunch believers in the myth that capitalism is a self-sustaining and autonomous machine are about as naive as the kid who thinks he is balancing his body on his bike all by himself, while not noticing the parent who is holding his seat to prevent him from falling on his ass.
libertarian solutions which dissolve the state,dissolve the ability of the people to collectively assert their power. The only thing this enables is larger, tyrannical private power to roll over everyone else...kind of like now, but worse.
Starts the video about the death of capitalism with an endorsement from a sponsor. This is irony not working hard at all for it’s money lol 😝
everything is nationalised now
Wolffeee, how are you doing my depressing friend?
Bear years: ~8.05
Bull years: ~78
Since 1935
Scared money doesn't make money Wolfeee...
🤣🤣🤣
Communism is as communism does.
I just got into bitcoin trading and I made my first profiy,which I knew about this earlie
For real bitcoin is a life changing business
EXACTLY..the world is now aware of bitcoin
Investing in bitcoin now should be at the top of every wise individuals list
You are right the market is profiting if you are really a good broker or account manager 😄😄
Bitcoin is the future it's really a big chance to make money
Settle for Biden please guys 😔