The Oakland Post

Capitalism hits the fan thanks to Wolff

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By CAROLYN WILLIAMS
Contributing Reporter

Sixty people gathered in the Oakland Center at Oakland University for a talk on the current economic meltdown by Richard Wolff, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

The event was hosted by the OU Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Political Science department, Department of Communication and Journalism, Department of Economics, and the journal Critical Sociology, Sage Publications. The audience on April 6 included OU students, faculty and staff, and people from all over the metropolitan Detroit area.

Wolff focused on the systemic causes of today’s economic crisis and how it was decades in the making.

He uses the instability of capitalism as a motivation for making fundamental system changes to avoid future economic disasters.

“This problem is going to get worse,” said Wolff. “You don’t cure a cancer by slapping band-aids on it.”

He talked about his appearance on the Fox News channel with host Glenn Beck, the rising media star whose trademark slogan is “I love capitalism.”

“In the last four months, I have done more public speaking than I have in the last four years,” said Wolff. “Something in America is changing if Glenn Beck puts a Marxist on his program.” The crowd roared with laughter.

Wolff went on to say that the American people are much more willing to accept ideas other than capitalism and that this was an extraordinary moment in American history.

He argues that more regulations and more bailouts by the Obama administration will not be able to cure what ails the current economic system.

“The current economic crisis is the worst of our lifetime,” said Wolff. “This is just the beginning, not the end.”

Using colorful charts to map real wages and corporate profits from 1970-1980 so that the average person could understand, Wolff addressed core economic problems associated with American consumerism, stagnated wages, and the downwardly spiraling cycle of private and government borrowing and debt associated with the mortgage meltdown.

“AIG bonuses cost the American people fifty-nine cents per person, and the bailouts cost $26,000 per person,” said Wolff.

Many in the audience said they felt that Wolff hit home with them and they wanted to know more about his views on the current economy.

“I thought it was interesting and insightful, very thought provoking, especially the parts about consumer consumption,” said OU sociology major Steven Dunham.

“I want to go to graduate school to study under Rick Wolff,” said Carl Harlow.  “I talked to him about it and I have just about made up my mind to go.”