Ask Prof Wolff: What the NYTimes Gets Wrong about Inflation
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2024
- A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Christopher Leonard, author of "The Lords of Easy Money" has a piece in the 6/11/22 NYT (www.nytimes.co...) that addressed the issue of inflation's cause(s). He danced around your principal point, without actually saying it, namely that capitalism is in its death throes. I would be interested in your comments on his writing."
This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response.
Submit your own question to be considered for a video response by Prof. Wolff on Patreon: / community .
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Don't forget to hit the like button guys.
You know they're afraid of Professor Wolff because they try to spam up his videos.
I've noticed that too. I've reported the damn Bitcoin things again and again.
There's another one too that sounds like AI streams of nonsensical right wing arguments.
CZcams is owned by wealthy-class right-wingers. Those same wealthy-class right-wingers have bought and bribed both right-wing American political parties. So of course YT is going to allow right-wing spammers and scammers.
Other CZcams creators have mentioned how they actively monitor the comments sections of their videos to delete the spammers, scammers, and abusers. D@W could likely do the same if they had workers who were up to the task.
I think we will enter *De-flation* cycle soon. Everyone is talking about inflation, Demand destruction, commodities are rolling over, increasing interest rates, real estate dropping. Interesting times.
I was retired and it's bad enough that I'm now looking to go back to work , finding something local that I dont need to drive to because I can't afford to run a car is my plan. Inflation means my retirement pot of just under £400k ( and going down )is now nowhere near enough.
Former U.S. State Department employee William Blum said in quote “No matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you can imagine”
@@richardsoncuthel810 Be that one guy that keeps cool and uses a bear market to your advantage and capitalize long term, by compounding your investments today. Who cares if prices drop more. Know the value of what you own and stay the course. When you're pushing against the crowd and sticking to a disciplined strategy you're going to come out on top of the stack
@@lylahthompson2169 How can i take advantage of the bear market . I have always thought the stock & crypto market is a fool game just like going to the fair/carnival and trying to win a prize . fools are born everyday
thank you for sharing prof wolff
I have a request. But first I want to thank you for all of your well-clarified explanations as I've learned a great deal from you over years. So I am grateful that you frequently point out the boom/bust nature of capitalism and the crashes every 4 to 7 years and so on. But I really, really wish that every time you said that... that you would also follow that up with something like, "And as a result of every one of those crashes, vast amounts of wealth are removed from everyday workers and transferred upwards to the ultra-wealthy who already own nearly everything, through bail-outs and such. And we pay for those!" I feel like this is the more important point that needs to be pounded into every person's mind ad nauseum so that we understand that these crashes are not just unfortunate accidents that cause hurt all around, but that this is actually how the system is intentionally rigged against the 99.9% of us to keep stealing our money away. Thanks again.
Not just bailouts: since the investor class always has cash available when everyone is losing their homes they have the luxury of being in a position to buy up all of the distressed assets. What is a financial calamity for the bottom 90% represents a massive discount and buying opportunity for the rich. It’s an endless feedback loop that only accelerates the wealth divide.
@@filmjazz Thank you for adding that. I agree. This is a very important addition to my request.
Bro, you've wasted your time getting brainwashed.. The guy is a scammer.
@@candorsspot2775 Care to back that up with even a single fact, pointing out something Dr. Wolff is wrong about?
@@filmjazz I'll use his own logic. He correctly states that when extra money is printed you can avoid inflation if more goods are produced. If more goods aren't produced, you have more money chasing less goods therefore higher prices... Correct. He then says the solution is to have price controls. How does that solve the problem? You still have too few goods. All you do is create shortages where those who can buy things first, leave nothing for everyone else. This has happened time and time again with gas shortages in the 70s and various other countries trying the same thing.
The other minor issues are he doesn't acknowledge that it's govt spending and lockdowns that one, slow production and two increased the money supply. How could producers keep up with money printing when shut down? How can producers keep up with the huge amount of money printing during COVID? He makes it seem like there is no limit to our ability to produce, which is also a silly claim.
The only solution here is for the govt to shrink spending and let inflation subside. We have to repay what was borrowed during COVID. Inflation is that tax. It will have to be paid.
If anyone at Democracy @ Work reads this can you guys turn up the microphone? These video are always much quieter than all the other videos even on full volume and unless all the traffic stops and I turn off my AC and fans I can barely hear it. That would be good thanks!
Thanks for the video. I have questions after reading some comments below. Some good points were made. I know that economics is crazy complicated, and one could study it for years. But, it would be great to have a follow-up video answering some of the concerns expressed by commenters.
It's called stock market manipulation. Why would anyone with tons of money want the federal reserve to manipulate the stock market? So they know when to buy this and sell that.
This is very good for people in the 'know' because it practically eliminates investment risk.
Thanks!
Thx Prof.
Ignorance of how an economy works is also a feature of capitalism. During your talk, i couldn't help but recall Bush's "Voodoo Economics "....I would laugh but the craven
Ideology of the ruling class fills me with despair.
To be clear, Bush said that to mock Reagan's supply-side theory of "trickle down" in the primary race. He later clumsily walked that back for obvious reasons.
The fed has only one tool. When you're a hammer...
Thanks for repeating. "Capitalism is a BOOM BUST" system. Very true! It is like an internal cumbustion chamber. Why can't we see our flaws and move more toward non cumbustion system in our Economy?
Capitalism is not causing the boom bust. The Fed does.
The class interests of the capitalist come first when capitalist parties control the government.
What about "the Fed buying "debt""? The tool that does the pumping. And the top 1% getting that money that the Fed prints. Why does the top get the Fed "product" of trillions of dollars??
I disagree Mr. Wolff. Capitalism is stable. To the owners. Capitalism is like a house that has a schedule or switch to cause a fire. When the owner flips the fire causing switch he runs inside with a fireproof suit and steals the possessions left behind by the occupants who had to flee the building.
Capitalism is running as it was designed to do. So it's very stable in that sense.
That doesn't make any sense. Capitalism is, by its very nature, volatile. And volatility is the opposite of stability. This manic dynamic is captured in the boom-bust cycle and in recurring financial crises. But the instability and self-destructive character of capitalism is best expressed in the climate and biodiversity crises.
@@liamjamesburke7326 I think you may have misunderstood my point comrad.
that is the real issue isn't it. Our society is too singularly focused. That shift was put into motion by the capitalist. now you have a bunch of bozos running around believing in their rights..their money..their stuff. nothing is done alone..nothing...that's the first shift people need to make. we need a moment by the people
@@liamjamesburke7326 Another metaphor as example.
Apple was found guilty of performing system updates of phones to ruin the battery life. This is a problem. But the cheapest solution would be replacing the battery. Which you ofcourse have to do directly through Apple or your phone won't work because of the operating system stopping it. Now most people don't want to pay $70 and be without a phone for a week. So most people opt for purchasing a much more expensive new phone.
Apple designed this nonefficient process on purpose, and no one bucks it. It is running as designed to do so, to extract as much wealth as possible. So therefor from Apples (the Capitalists point of view. It is running stable.
Stability and Efficiency or moral are not 100% synonymous terms.
@@MutualistSoc He did miss your subtle point. Allow me to try in different terms. True: capitalism IS volatile, and markets are SUPPOSED to gradually rise and gradually fall. True: capitalists are greedy and do ANY (underhanded) scheming to control outcomes in their favor. So, you are both correct, and currently, wealth-hoarding capitalists have orchestrated and executed a plan to 'invest' in purchasing global governments in order to control monetary outcomes (refer to IMF and WEF billionaires brought to you by capitalists controlling outcomes). They built the metaphoric house, set it on fire, and while people are distracted with fire, their asbestos suit investment leaves them free to pilfer and plunder taxpayer funds.
Have I summarized that as clearly as mud? Just the way capitalists like it.
There hasn't been energy/food inflation but there has been asset inflation and it has been raging for the past 20, hell 40 years. Housing in this country is cruel!!
Yeah he just tried to pretend like asset inflation doesn’t exist because it wouldn’t fit his narrative.
The inflations that you see at the stores could not be a result of 'too much extra money in the economy' because of all of the job losses, how could the stores expect to have customers with more money to spend? A $1000 check every three months does not suddenly mean that the population has become rich and the stores can raise the prices to capture extra wealth. If you do the research Covid profoundly and negatively impacted businesses resulting in layoffs and closures. What the stores were doing raising the prices was to try to capture extra money from people in the stores that could still afford to spend the money. Under ideal circumstances the stores would have profitted more with volume sales but the second best option is to jack up the prices for the few who are not as price-sensitive.
Regulations going up because of Biden, franchise aren't wealthy
MY Professor!!♥️💗♥️
Current inflation is just Wall Street gouging
Nooo...Well, yes and no. It's JoJo BiBiden printing like 10 trillion bucks.
@@TheJackal917 those tax cuts did a lot of this
@@TheJackal917 you... you realize Trump printed trillions too... lol
@@douglaslarsen162 not like Jo. Jo printed so that Trump is an infant compared to him.
@@daddyaf945 how tax cuts contribute to inflation?
Um…. That’s your magic answer? Instead of the usual function of the FED, just cap prices? That’s the one thing that we know WON’T work. It will lead to shortages of whatever good or service you cap the price on. In that case, everyone will lose.
Price caps and price freezes absolutely _don't_ work, unless your goal is to create shortfalls in supply, failing to meet demand. The result is that people have plenty of money which can't buy what they want because it's not available. This drives illegal black markets and bribe-based economics, which is inefficient and increases real inflation. But those who refuse to participate simply have to do without.
Franchise net profit fallen not gone up , in Australia Amazon a small business owned
Mr Powl decided to help his friends steel the public's money before the empire fails
That is what Chris hedges journalist stated they are up to ages ago. About 5 years ago.
Nixon's price controls worked? Might as well say a horse walks into a bar..
Yep - check out a history book sometime, it has cool facts like this in it. Prices did, in fact, not change while the program was in place
@@5508Vanderdekken I guess stable beef prices were good, despite the stores being out of beef?
@@chuckleaf8027 well buddy, those were the terms of debate YOU set. What happened to the prices, not what happened to inventory levels, if beef inventories did in fact run out
@@5508Vanderdekken I guess you could say the price controls worked, but that's not much of a win if there's no beef to buy. I read plenty about it, and there's mention of cattle farmers refusing to send cows to market, chickens being drowned, soybean shortages, then the gas shortage, but a win is a win, right???
@@chuckleaf8027 Again, not what you said. Did the price controls work? While they were in place, yes. Welcome to economics big guy - this is how argumentation in this field works
We appreciate you
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Our current level of price inflation is the direct result of the anti-pandemic "stimulus payments", and that was the doings of the gov't (both executive and legislative branches), not the doings of the Fed Res Bank. The Fed did indeed create the now money out of thin air, but it was at the direction of the gov't that it did so, and the new money was distributed by the Treasury Dept of the gov't, not by the Fed Res Bank. But Wolff is wrong, wage/price controls cannot cure price inflation caused by raising the ratio of money to GDP (aka Monetary Inflation).
The pandemic payments only replaced the complete collapse in incomes. Look how many millions didn’t get enough to cover rents and mortgages. Tens of millions fell behind. Secondly the bulk of the support went to the very rich and they didn’t need to spend. So the Feds savings figures are wrong. They think that people are still spending their stimulus payments, that ran out months ago.
Nothing to do with ratio of money to GDP. The money supply fluctuates expanding and contracting all the time. Price inflation causes the money supply to increase. Prices go up, the amount you spend using your credit card is higher, and therefore you get more credit money created and added to the money supply.
@@henrygustav7948 Sorry, that's totally assbackwards, as in 180 degrees wrong. Charging puchases on you credit card does NOT create new money.
@@clarestucki5151 New debt is money creation. When it is repaid it’s destroyed. That’s why the entire Ponzi debt market needs ever expanding debt, and lower interest rates as well to maintain those debts.
How many times are you going to post stupid, wrong comments on these videos? Where was all the inflation after 2009 when the government and the fed pumped all the money into the economy then? That alone disproves your argument
If the ones who made the most money during the Pandemic paid a tax or a tariff on their profits it could pay off the inflation and bring balance back to the system.
Get in touch now 👆.....
You get the pharma companies to pay back everything they have mafia style racketeered off the governments. They created the problemm for $$$, we can create the solution . Trial before no jury, then rapid execution.
No it wouldn’t because that is not how inflation works.
@@ExPwner Quite right, but a windfall tax would provide more revenue with which to substitute decreased consumer and industry spending.
Nothing to worry Mr Wolf all they have to do is blame Russia for it and the problem is solved Russia did this Russia did that so no worry about no sense talking about it
Forces beyond our control are effective for a while......
The fact that the State Department has devoted around 60 Billion US Taxpayer Dollars to provoking Russia, so Sanctions could be enacted and Russia could be removed from European Union Markets, so LNG could boost the GDP a notch, is ignored as the blame is shifted to the other departments of the Administration.
The ability of the Federal Reserve Note to retain significance seems the ultimate goal of the last 4 out of 5 Administrations.
Now we face the fact that the administration seems to be faced with a minor economic issue, as the Investors who bet heavily on LNG sales to Europe are seeking return on investment.
Europe was buying a little LNG, about 20% of the demand went to the US providers, a $50 billion share of the markets in Europe. That was not enough.........
So Russia had to go, and with them went the Stainless Steel, Grain and Natural Gas at 1/3 the price of LNG.
Inflation is all we have left.....
The Inflation was created by the State Department, not the FED.....
The Federal Reserve Note needs the Treasury Department to pay for the isue of Dollars, and the Treasury needs GDP figures that help them find funds to pay for Treasury Notes.
You can adjust GDP for a while.....
Russia is the catalyst. The attack on Ukraine and its ripple effects across the economy should have been a moment where big business can show some generosity, but it wasn't. They decided to keep raking in whatever money they can scrape at while taking from those who are now more desperate than ever, but this would not have happened without Russia.
@@sirshauniv511 Your reasoning seems a bit superficial?
The reason Russia is a catalyst, is the resources they were distributing in Europe, were making it difficult for US Gas Producers to sell Gas at 3 times Russia's Price.
So Russia had to go.....
That created Inflation first in Fuel, then Metals, then in grain.
Those are all commodities that Russia was selling at a low price.
The US producers were unable to compete so they arranged to drive Russia out of business....
@@sirshauniv511 they wanted to put Russia and their knees but they end up in their own knees that's the problem with the West they never think the thing that the gods of the world don't blame Russia Russia then put songs into nobody blame the West they put the sanction and now they're crying like a bunch of babies Russia told them thousands of times do not expand NATO close to my borders it's a security threat for Russia but they didn't give a s*** so here is the results what do you think if Russia comes and puts their weapons in Canada or Mexico or Cuba you think Americans they will tolerate that I don't think so same goes for Russia I'm not holding sites my friend I'm looking the fact
@@danielhutchinson6604 Such is a massive oil spill ready to burn at any moment. Russia invading was the spark that day it alight. Putin is not alone in responsibility, but there is no absolving him of the major role he played.
I also question why you are speaking as if some conspiracy is actively trying to take down Russia?
Thanks prof Wolff! Hey you need to try to get on the joe Rogan show and drop some knowledge on the viewers!!!
Rogan is an idiot, a self proclaimed idiot.
This is a new perspective for me; never thought I'd feel sympathetic towards the Fed. Very glad I subscribed to hear stuff like this!
Get in touch now 👆
Anyone who does not realize that Wolff is a bad faith actor has been duped.
What I wonder about is how much deadweight loss would occur. Given that production costs are increasing, an inability to move the sale price could cause the price of production to exceed the fixed sale price, and things could fall apart. I understand that Richard Wolff is one of the better of the world's economists, but how would you avoid deadweight losses outweighing the rest?
Could the FED support the Bad Bonds that Frackers were facing?
The QE that ran for a couple years was supporting some dead weight.
The reasons that the Economists offered seemed to indicate a willingness to roll Debts into convenient packages like the housing debt that was bought up when the Banks were facing default in 2008.
The US domination of World Trade has to be operated by the Federal Reserve Note being the Reserve Currebncy of the planet.....
He is NOT one of the better economists. He is one of the worst. He fails on almost every economic take possible.
So why isn't Biden doing what Nixon did????? Who is advising Biden. Professor....please contact Biden!!!
JAMES CONNOLLY
Where oh where is our James Connolly?
Where oh where is our gallant man?
He's gone to organise the union,
To smash the bonds of slavery.
Where oh where are the citizen army?
Where oh where are our fighting men*?
They've gone to join the great rebellion,
And break the chains of slavery.
Who'll be there to lead the van?
Who'll be there for to lead the van?
Oh who but our own James Connolly,
The hero of each working man*.
They carried him up to Kilmainham,
They carried him up to that jail,
And there they shot him of a bright May morning,
Laid him in a quick-lime grave.
Who mourns now for our James Connolly?
Who mourns now for our gallant man?
"Oh lay me down in yon green garden.
Make my bearers union men.*"
They laid him down in that green garden,
Union men* each and every side,
And they swore they'd forge one mighty union,
And fill that gallant man with pride.
As sung by Liam Weldon
* women
Professor Wolff is renowned for pumping out a lot of drivel. Wage and price controls never work. (Any educated economist can tell you that.) People don't produce wealth unless they stand to benefit from their efforts. Also, although the relationship between money supply and price levels may not be simple, the relationship still holds. The basic money supply (M1) increased by a factor of 13.1 between 2008 and 2022. Given the supply chain problems of the last 2 years, is it really surprising that inflation has reared its ugly head? I wish it could be arranged for Professor Wolff to try to run a small business for the next 2-3 years. He might actually learn something.
I have attempted to operate 3 different Small Business organizations over the last 50 years.
I agree that a person who has been surrounded by academic thought is not scuffling with the reality of dominant Business structures that dictate prices.
The Professor does offer theory in a easy to understand form and is a better teacher than many Econ Instructors.
The contemporary Cash supply, seems to face the challenge of support through the US GDP, as the numbers seem to fade in the Income column, of the US production of Goods and Services, and the debts of the Treasury Department selling Treasury Notes seems to be approaching unsustainable areas.
The US seems to use Military Strength currently, to sustain the effort to be the Big Dog?
To me it seems like the use of Capitalism itself is facing significant challenge?
Well said! This guy is a liar and embarrassment to economics.
It means the excess of money is met with an increase in production. Problem is, production and circulation are oceans apart to the advantage of one entity and not for the benefit of all. The world is divided between rich and poor nations. This presents a social inequality that threatens the health of the planet and all species life.
Where production is not; employment is low and where production is high employment is low in the system that uses innovation to lower the cost of production for money prime, it cannot employ people when innovation to the production process replaces people. Very little living labor making up the true value of things without the country buying back the difference in money prime to actual production costs is seen by how high the price of things rise to a great fall. No amount of infusion of capital will resuscitate capital. The solution is a mass dissemination of the tech hardware and a reorganization of production for the mobilization of a great many millions of people to stop living in idleness of work to the point that work is no longer a natural part of their being and disastrous to the health of the planet.
Under the present order of the rich/poor nation dichotomy production and circulation are never in the same country and never proportional to real requirements of a certain standard. Not in the US, anyway. Everything is built cheap. But that still should not blind us from knowing where prime comes from. You know where it comes from when you see capital flow in and out of the process of circulation. The Fed conception of how exchange works is flawed. It sees money only going through one step. The purchasing phase and skips over to the last stage; assuming everyone will buy when they go to the stores after everyone who has money has little left of it after real expenses.
For many decades many Americans did exactly that; they were buyers but the Fed forgets many Americans entered into a contract with employers for the necessaries of life; now it is clear from the creation of money prime in production that the system of market of buyers and sellers, equal in the eyes of the law, are unequal partners in production.
Get in touch now 👆.....
I'm surprised to hear that there was no inflation for 20 years. That might have been true with certain products, but...
Its not true.
I think he meant a low/healthy amount: around 2% per year
@@mushroomman8118 I think 2% is a government number though. I remember housing and education and healthcare going up a lot more than that. Still, 2% compounded over 20 years is a lot.
Very nice as usual from the professor. If the government would freeze the prices then the companies wouldn't be able to maintain the same return as usual to the shareholders.
The result of inflation could be a recession. Will the same returns to the shareholders be guaranteed then?? Many helped but weak companies will,during that recession, even go bankrupt. So it seems fixing the prices is logically speaking the lesser evil (?) (Ok, I am layman)
this economy is basically a house of cards,ias illustrated by the collapse of Archigos Capital,the "personal " hedge fund of Bill Hwang last falL,which brought the "lords of easy money" to the rescue--doing the "lord's" work by pumping scads of money through the Fed;s discount window to keep the house of cards standing,"praise the lord,praise his holy money".Meanwhile the Fed chairman blames the inflation on "out of control wages",which haven't come close to keeping up with inflation,let alone blameworthy for overheating the economy.peace
Get in touch now 👆
Read books by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to understand Marxism under the Soviet system. The Gulag Archipelago and A Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovitch are a good to start. Simon Siebag Montefiore also has a couple of excellent biographies of key marxian operatives during the Soviet marxian period. To understand the marxian cultural revolution in CCP China, read Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China a family history that spans a century, recounting the lives of three female generations in China, by Chinese writer Jung Chang.
I doubt you will find any fans of Stalin or the cultural revolution, even among die-hard leftists.
@@NotAPacifist825 if you read those books and your still a fan there's really really something wrong deep inside.
However, the financial and monetary system is exploitative. Interest is wealth redistribution from labor and business to the creditor / rentier class. Interest is the apex predator capitalism has evolved to and it basically is feudalism all over again, except it burrows into every transaction. The “virtuous circle” is utterly the opposite. Gesell offered an alternative in Freigeld and historically we see variants of it in Bractaeten/ Wörgl / Cheimgauer. Their essence is demurrage which drives money into circulation from the holder because of the tax imposed past a holding period. It is *price stable*. Interest rates are determined by market pressure and remain low. It promotes steady commerce and from that the CB can print or burn money to keep the supply stable.
Agree 100%. We have regressive monetary and tax policies. The application of interest basically makes people who don't have a lot of money pay more for big-ticket items than someone who can afford the full price many times over.
I'd love to hear what Professor Wolff's opinion on fractional reserve banking is. I've never heard him mention it.
No it is not. No one forces you to take on debt. It is not stealing labor value.
@@ExPwner Taking on debt is intrinsic to the financial system because lending is the carrot to bring the means of exchange back into circulation, while inflation is the stick. Because money is also a store of value, interest arises to return its exchange function back to public utility. Without a carrot or stick, the store of value aspect of money strangles its public function as the means of exchange. This is basic economics.
@@ExPwner Because interest is charged, a loan must result in growth or it will cause inflation or recession to service the interest. For those that can raise prices, from them comes inflation. For those that cannot, austerity follows. It is a toxic relation that taints every aspect of economy.
@@ExPwner of course, let em starve.
DOWN with $$$atana$$$ - Let the Sunshine In !!!
Price freezes always come after the corporations have screwed their workers, small businesses, and consumers to the max and everyone is about to demand pay increases, about go on strike, or about change jobs even their line of work, so that, these working people can somehow get back to square 1.
The cyclical nature of capitalism is largely a function of credit, which is a valuable service when managed wisely, but when applied to consumption rather than efficient production, current spending derives from future income, which is then unavailable for consumption in the future, resulting in a bust which follows the credit-driven boom. Similarly when credit is applied to speculative investments in existing industry, as opposed to creating new productive capacity, the effect is identical to that of consumption, if the industry is not actually increasing production to meet a real demand. Often the speculative "investment" is extracted as "profit" rather than contributing to future, real profits. Fundamentally, any productive activity which meets a demand not driven by credit has the potential to hold back inflation and grow an economy. It is mismanagement of credit, production, and consumption which drives irrational volatility. But we can't let the Fed and financial institutions off the hook. They exist to serve the short-term profits of the wealthy and their own profits. The Fed is a profitable business in its own right, established to serve the needs of the banking industry, and stabilizing the economy is somewhat of an afterthought, taken seriously only when it serves the wealthy.
Capitalism is a system of exploitation and that is what creates the problems. It can't help but go into decline for a number of reasons from business secrets to a declining rate of return on investment. All of capitalism's worst aspects have come to the for in the Imperialist era.
@@kimobrien. Every criticism you have advanced of capitalism is also true of "communism," placed in quotes because true communism has never been practiced on large scales. Capitalism is corrupt, and communism is corrupt, because humans are corrupt, selfish, and sometimes evil. The question is not about the economic system, but about how it is managed, fairly or unfairly. Corrupt communist officials who distribute all of the luxuries to themselves are morally no less exploitative than capitalists.
@@crawkn Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution did not degenerate into a corrupt Stalinist dictatorship. If anything just the opposite occurred. That does make them perfect but only intellectuals pine away about perfection and how imperfect human beings are. Getting rid of private property in the mass production industries is a great advance over capitalism the only ones who think and say otherwise are those who apologies for capitalism, neoliberals and the ignorant. The only thing that neoliberalism has produced is Putin who wants to be a new CZAR with a prison house of nations. Cuba does not keep business secrets nor do they or their citizens invest in foreign countries in anticipation of a profit backed by military force. Nor did they or the Soviet Union stop or slow production based upon profits or because of a declining return on investment You only get the problems of capitalism when you start using only the methods of capitalism. In the Soviet Union and China under Mao and Stalin that started with giving themselves privileges lying about it an then justifying it as necessary. Fidel Castro never had to stop dissatisfied intellectuals from deserting. The revolution just trained more Doctors and Engineers.
@@kimobrien. I really can't say much about corruption in Cuba, I haven't studied it, but Cuba is an economically impoverished nation, so to display it as a resounding success story for communism is rather naive. And when I state that corruption stems from human nature, not an individual economic system, I am not being "intellectual," I am simply stating a fact which is obvious to everyone, and you clearly acknowledge it in your own description of the reasons for failures of communist states. In any case your reply did not address the content of my original comment, so this whole exchange is not relevant.
@@crawkn The usual Cuba isn't relevant because its poor. Cuba is extremely relevant precisely because Cuba started very poor as a colony of the United States and almost single handedly extract itself from the US Empire and put itself on the Socialist road. Cuba is a thorn in the Empires side and for over sixty years the US has been unable to crush them despite a cruel multinational blockade condemned by the rest of the world. While Gorbachev was doing perestroika and glasnost. Fidel started rectification and announced that Cuba would never adopt capitalist methods. Cuba has 10,000 foreign students studying medicine at no direct cost to the student. It set an example of solidarity with the rest of the world unmatched by any other country. Nor do I accept the theory that "human nature" is somehow fixed and unchangeable. Capitalism did not start in the big and successful feudal states either.
Professor Wolff, the question that can be logically raised then, is: ¿how do you put a cap on prices if energy prices keep on rising due to a failed sanctions policy?
Thank you in advance for your kind response.
State should build power plant and sell the energy without 3rd party company.
the point is why do we allow prices to be raised on goods simply because they are scarce, whether truly scarce or more likely artificially made so, the basic things humans need to live productive, humane lives must be removed from the predatory nature of markets.
@@KGRICK1
And that's why free market doesn't work for essential items such as water, electricity & gasoline.
👍✊
Raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would help a lot of people. Over 5 million American small businesses shut down permanently during the pandemic, so that "raising the minimum wage would hurt small businesses" argument is rendered invalid (especially because most surviving businesses are of the corporate variety). The working class needs help, and that would be immediate help for those that need it most...
sadly the capitalists would simply raise prices as they are doing now, the system deliberately keeps the majority insecure, Greenspan said it out loud his last year as fed. chief.
That’s not how economics works.
Franchise too richard wolf calls corporation
Firstly, getting rid of the "system" means eliminating property and the state. Which means money, wages, exchange, markets, classes and government dissappears overnight. That leaves everything in the commons and people free to engage in community based production of useful stuff and administration, with heaps of time left over to engage in art and culture.
No it does not. Eliminating property is economic idiocy and a recipe for less production. This is not even debatable. What you advocate is not functional.
Capitalism & inflation are based on greed but greed eventually will destroy the greedy.
Get in touch now 👆
mr wolff is a very weak economist. its the vast difference over the past 2 years in the money suppoly, a 45 percent increase . the system will seek equiibrium one way or another, by tax increase or inflation.
a planned economy is way less stable. capitalism responds to chaos, a planned economy has to wait for the government to respond
As opposed to the instantaneous response time of the market
Get in touch now 👆
@@ennuiband5341 prices and decentralized solutions are quicker than state dictates. Doesn’t have to be instant.
Among the many "myths" we are now dealing with ( again ) is that the U.S. is a Christian nation...
even though history and the "constitution" directly contradict that...we have this observation from
St. Augustine 1600 + years ago...
[It] is not merely legitimate for a man to possess things as his own, it is even necessary for human life, and this for three reasons. First, because each person takes more trouble to care for something that is his sole responsibility than what is held in common or by many-for in such a case each individual shirks the work and leaves the responsibility to somebody else, which is what happens when too many officials are involved. Second, because human affairs are more efficiently organized if each person has his own responsibility to discharge; there would be chaos if everybody cared for everything. Third, because men live together in greater peace where everyone is content with his task.
This doesn't appear to match the "socialist" paradigm...and is centuries before "capitalism"
became a thing.
We will now hear from the "willfully ignorant, functional illiterates" who will have nothing
relevant to offer yet will insist upon confirming the description and defending their imagined
safe space from valid criticisms and questions they have no answers for.
Barbarism and capitalism are very similar.
@@NotAPacifist825 Right...this whole concept of "life" is beyond those such as yourself...
and I agree UR.
@@NotAPacifist825 Except the body counts... tens of millions dead at the hands of Mao and Stalin, making Hitler seem like a piker.
@J GALT
Can you define, in your own words please, this "capitalism" and " the "socialist" paradigm" , that you refer to ?
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All that money printing and I don’t know about everyone else but I didn’t see a penny of it! So not sure how it could cause inflation given it was handed out to so few people.
I disagree that no one wants inflation; I think that is exactly what those in power want. Why else would they provoke a war with a major power during a cost of living crisis?
Just think, they could have:
Denounced the violent coup in Ukraine in 2014 which saw the overthrow of Ukraine’s elected President
Denounced the shelling and murder of its own people by the Kiev coup regime
Denounced the shelling and murder of its own people by the Kiev puppet governments
Welcomed the democrat will of the people of the Crimea
Urged the Kiev regime to abide by the Minsk agreement
Made it clear that Ukraine would never be allowed to join NATO
Fully supported Russia’s legitimate security concerns on its own borders
Not imposed any sanctions on Russia
Made it clear that Sweden and Finland would never be allowed to join NATO
Denounced Lithuania for blockading Kaliningrad
But during a cost of living crisis they decided to do the exact opposite and provoke a war and a prolonged one at that, greatly worsening the cost of living crisis, with no fucking end in sight.
Inflation is being deliberately orchestrated to raid the savings of the middle and working classes, among others.
What the hell are you on? The government literally handed out checks by the thousands of dollars to practically everyone.
And also silencing people such as yourself who do not only impart logic, but truth as well. I call it purposeful warmongering for the few and $$$$$$$$$$
@@ExPwner Not in the Uk they didn't. And for the USA, this was not extra money right, but covering what was lost? So the question is, why didn't we see massive deflation and then an inflation. Funny how prices just go up, most of the time. Prices, very very sticky going down, as smooth as a baby's backside going up, that's the law of capitalism!
@@stevecu6176 I was talking about the US.
@@ExPwner Ok James but even in the USA:
Quantitative easing after the 2008 crash and since was and is being used to bail out the capitalist institutions, not to bail out the masses. In fact, the masses paid for it through austerity. The same goes for all forms of quantitative easing, they go straight into the balance sheets of capitalist institutions. Any money going to the masses is paid for by the masses, Peter is robbed to pay Paul. This is why quantitative easing has no inflationary consequences.
We talk about inflation, as if it is general, but the inflation is the inflation of energy, gas and oil, and because they are inputs into every product it only appears as a general inflation, but it isn't. The inflation we are seeing is being orchestrated and played out in imperialist conflict.