Economic Update: US Capitalism at the Crossroads

Jan 29, 2024

What Donald Trump & Joe Biden Get Wrong about the UAW* Strike & USA's Economic Future | The Warning

Sep 19, 2023 | Steve Schmidt breaks down the impact the UAW strike could have on the 2024 presidential election race and how Joe Biden needs to improve his stance with middle class Americans in order to prevent Donald Trump from winning a second term.

* United Automobile Workers

US Stripped of Top Rating by Fitch

Aug 2, 2023 | Bloomberg's Wendy Benjaminson and Ryan Teague Beckwith discuss Fitch downgrading the United States' rating from AAA to AA+ and how the past issues of the debt ceiling debate played a part in this downgrade along with the current talks of a potential government shutdown later this year. Wendy and Ryan speak with Annmarie Hordern and Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg's "Balance Of Power."

Thom Hartmann: Has PM Liz Truss Wrecked the UK Economy? Featuring Richard Wolff

Is British prime minister Liz Truss trashing the economy of her country? A tax cut for the rich and little for the poor. The pound sterling has crashed against the dollar and the euro.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has publicly rebuked the UK government, which is almost unheard of.

Is the country spinning out of control financially?


Bio: Professor Richard Wolff, Economist / Co-founder, Democracy At Work / Author of numerous books including The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself (also available as an eBook) / Host-Economic Update w/Prof. Richard Wolff on FSTV

The Dollar Is Strong. That Is Good for the U.S. but Bad for the World.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Federal Reserve may have no choice but to wage a relentless inflation fight, but countries rich and poor are feeling the pain of plunging currencies.

The Federal Reserve’s determination to crush inflation at home by raising interest rates is inflicting profound pain in other countries — pushing up prices, ballooning the size of debt payments and increasing the risk of a deep recession.

Those interest rate increases are pumping up the value of the dollar — the go-to currency for much of the world’s trade and transactions — and causing economic turmoil in both rich and poor nations. In Britain and across much of the European continent, the dollar’s acceleration is helping feed stinging inflation.

On Monday, the British pound touched a record low against the dollar as investors balked at a government tax cut and spending plan. And China, which tightly controls its currency, fixed the renminbi at its lowest level in two years while taking steps to manage its decline.

In Nigeria and Somalia, where the risk of starvation already lurks, the strong dollar is pushing up the price of imported food, fuel and medicine. The strong dollar is nudging debt-ridden Argentina, Egypt and Kenya closer to default and threatening to discourage foreign investment in emerging markets like India and South Korea.

“For the rest of the world, it’s a no-win situation,” said Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell and author of several books on currencies. At the same time, he said, the Fed has no choice but to act aggressively to control inflation: “Any delay in action could make things potentially even worse.” » | Patricia Cohen, Reporting from London | Monday, September 26, 2022

After Worst Start in 50 Years, Some See More Pain Ahead for Stock Market

THE NEW YORK TIMES: At the halfway point of the year, it’s been a historically horrible time for stocks. Bonds are in bad shape, too.

The stock market is on track for its worst first half of the year since at least 1970. | Julia Nikhinson/Associated Press
Wall Street set records in the first half of the year, none of them good.

The economy is on the cusp of a recession, battered by high inflation and rising interest rates, which eats into paychecks, dents consumer confidence and leads to corporate cutbacks. As it has teetered, markets have tanked.

The stock market is on track for its worst first six months of the year since at least 1970. The S&P 500 index, the cornerstone of many stock portfolios and retirement accounts, peaked in early January and has fallen 19.9 percent over the past six months.

The sell-off has been remarkably broad, with every sector except energy down this year. Bellwethers including Apple, Disney, JPMorgan Chase and Target have all fallen more than the overall market.

And that’s only part of the horror story for investors and companies this year. » | Isabella Simonetti | Thursday, June 30, 2022

Elon Musk Says a US Recession Is ‘Inevitable’

THE GUARDIAN: Tesla CEO says slump is likely to come in near term, amid plan to lay off 10% of firm’s salaried staff

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, says a US recession is ‘more likely than not in the near term’.Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters
Elon Musk has warned that a US recession is “more likely than not” as the Tesla chief executive confirmed plans to cut 10% of salaried staff at the electric carmaker over the next three months.

The world’s richest man said a recession in the US was inevitable but would most probably come in the short term.

“A recession is inevitable at some point. As to whether there is a recession in the near term, that is more likely than not,” Musk said in an interview via videolink at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday.

Musk said Tesla was planning to reduce salaried staff numbers by 10%, confirming plans revealed in an internal email this month by Reuters. » | Dan Milmo and agency | Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Chris Hedges | Richard Wolff: The Future of the American Economy

On Contact with Chris Hedges: Richard Wolff & the Precarious State of the US Economy

Feb 13, 2022 • On the show, Chris Hedges interviews economist Richard Wolff on the precarious state of the U.S. economy and its consequences.

Times Have Never Been Better for Billionaires.

Feb 16, 2022 • These are very difficult times for working families. But for billionaires and the CEOs of large corporations, times have never been better. I’m on the Senate floor to explain why.

Capitalism Hits Home: How Americans Cope with Falling Living Standards

Feb 3, 2022 • Declining living standards, joblessness and pronounced inequality are leaving Americans feeling disconnected, helpless and depressed. In this episode of Capitalism Hits Home, Dr. Fraad talks about the 3 Ds - depression, dissociation and denial - Americans are resorting to as coping strategies for their stark decline in health and living standards. Fraad offers examples of more productive and beneficial ways to cope and heal.

What an appalling economic system! A working man should be able to keep his family in relative comfort from the rewards of his labours. Children need mothers at home. (Or at least someone who will substitute for a mother.) Children can't bring themselves up! If a man (one person) cannot support the family, then there is something radically wrong with the economic system. You cannot be pro-family and be pro- this ridiculously anti-family set up. Republicans! Are you listening? – © Mark

Price Inflation Is Expected to Pop Again as Policymakers Await an Elusive Peak.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Inflation closed out 2021 on a high note, bad news for the Biden White House and for economic policymakers, as rapid price gains erode consumer confidence and cast a shadow of uncertainty over the economy’s future.

The Consumer Price Index most likely climbed 7 percent in the year through December, and 5.4 percent after volatile prices such as food and fuel are stripped out, economists in a Bloomberg survey estimated. The last time the main inflation index eclipsed 7 percent was 1982.

Policymakers have spent months waiting for inflation to fade, hoping that supply chains would catch up with booming consumer demand. Instead, continued waves of coronavirus infections have locked down factories, and shipping routes have struggled to work through extended backlogs as consumers continue to buy goods from overseas at a rapid clip. What happens next may be the biggest economic policy question of 2022. » | Jeanna Smialek | Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Fed Eyes 3 Rate Increases in 2022; Slows Stimulus as Prices Rise

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Federal Reserve officials suggested as many as three interest rate increases in 2022 as the economy heals and inflation persists.

“I think the risk of higher inflation has increased,” Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, said while testifying before Congress last month. | Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times
Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday said they will cut back on their stimulus more quickly at a moment of rapid inflation and strong economic growth, capping a challenging year with a pronounced policy pivot that could usher in higher interest rates in 2022.

A policy statement and a fresh set of economic projections released by the central bank detailed a more rapid end to the monthly bond-buying that the Fed has been using throughout the pandemic to keep money chugging through markets and to bolster growth.

Officials are slashing their purchases by twice as much as they had announced last month, a pace that would put them on track to end the program altogether in March. That decision came “in light of inflation developments and the further improvement in the labor market,” according to the policy statement.

Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell, speaking at a news conference following the Fed’s meeting, said a “strengthening labor market and elevated inflation pressures” prompted the central bank to speed up the reductions in asset purchases. » | Jeanna Smialek | Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Supply Chain Disruptions Continued to Fuel Price Increases in October

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Prices of clothes, lawn mowers and car parts surged in October, data released Wednesday showed, as supply chain disruptions continued to fuel shortages and raise transportation costs.

The increases drove the Consumer Price Index up 6.2 percent last month from the prior year, the fastest pace since 1990.

Factory shutdowns, clogged ports, a shortage of truckers and a surge in demand for imported products have combined to drive up shipping costs for food, furniture, automobiles and other products, which are being passed on in part to consumers. Major shipping companies like FedEx and UPS have announced rate increases. » | Ana Swanson | Wednesday, November 10, 2021

U.S. Employers Added 235,000 Jobs in August, a Marked Slowdown

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The American economy slowed abruptly last month, adding 235,000 jobs, a sharp drop from the huge gains recorded earlier in the summer and an indication that the Delta variant of the coronavirus is putting a damper on hiring.

The Labor Department report on Friday follows a sharp increase in coronavirus cases and deaths that has undermined hopes that restrictions on daily activities were nearing an end.

The unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, compared with 5.4 percent in July. Economists polled by Bloomberg has been looking for gain of 725,000 jobs.

“There’s no question that the Delta variant is why today’s job report isn’t stronger,” President Biden said. “I know people were looking, and I was hoping, for a higher number.”

The August showing would have been respectable in pre[-]pandemic times. But after gains of 962,000 in June and 1.05 million in July — and with more than eight million people unemployed — it was a sharp deceleration.

“Delta is a game-changer,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, an accounting firm in Chicago. “It’s not that people are laying off workers in reaction to Delta but people are pulling back on travel and tourism and going out to eat and that has consequences.” » | By Nelson D. Schwartz | Friday, September 3, 2021

Prices Jumped 5.4 Percent in June, the Biggest Rise since 2008

THE NEW YORK TIMES: A key measure of inflation jumped sharply in June, a gain that is sure to keep concerns over rising prices front and center at the White House and Federal Reserve.

The Consumer Price Index climbed by 5.4 percent in the year through June, the Labor Department said, as prices for used cars and trucks accelerated rapidly and accounted for more than a third of the surge. The overall inflation change was more than the 5 percent increase reported in May and was the largest year-over-year gain since 2008.

Investors, lawmakers and central bank officials are closely watching inflation, which has been elevated in recent months by both a quirk in the data and by mismatches between demand and supply as the economy rebounds. Quick price gains can squeeze consumers if wages do not keep up, and the pickup could prod the central bank to pull back on support for the economy if it looks as if the inflation is going to prove sustained. The Fed’s cheap-money policies are generally good for markets, so a rapid withdrawal would be bad news for investors in stocks and other asset classes. » | Jeanna Smialek | Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Sen. Bernie Sanders: People Are Suffering ‘in a Way We Have Not Seen Since the Great Depression’

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders discusses the need for Congress to pass a new coronavirus stimulus bill and the importance of the upcoming Senate race in Georgia. He tells Ali Velshi, “What’s happening in Georgia is going to impact the entire country.”

American Empire Collapse: It's about to Get Much Worse. Chris Hedges Joins [for a Discussion]

Velshi: The Gap between America’s Richest and Poorest Has Only Grown During the Pandemic | MSNBC

MSNBC’s Ali Velshi explains how recessions enrich the wealthiest while driving working class Americans into poverty.

Mehdi Hasan Reacts to Ivanka Trump Telling Jobless Americans to ‘Find Something New’ | All In | MSNBC

Mehdi Hasan: “She works in the White House today because her dad hired her for a job she is manifestly unqualified for. This is a woman whose husband and father’s catastrophic mishandling of this virus is the reason the economy is so bad right now.” Aired on 7/14/2020.