Episode Overview

Title: Best Of 2025 Part 4: Today's Economic Failures
Date: August 19, 2025
Host: Richard D. Wolff, Democracy at Work
Theme:
Today’s episode offers a critical compilation of the most relevant discussions from previous Economic Update episodes, focusing sharply on ongoing economic failures in the US. Host Richard Wolff and contributors dissect policy choices around tariffs, deregulation, and political theater, highlighting who wins, who loses, and why. The analysis exposes the realities — and myths — of protectionism and tax policy, linking them to broader struggles over jobs, wages, and democracy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tariffs: Mechanics and Real-World Impact

[00:46–04:07]

• What Is a Tariff?
  The episode starts by demystifying tariffs:

  • “Basically what a tariff does is say if steel comes into the United States, whatever the price being charged, the importer is going to have to pay 25% more than that price… It’s very good news for the producers of steel and aluminum here in the United States.”
    — Economic Analyst [00:52]

• Winners and Losers:

  • US steel and aluminum producers gain; auto and can industries lose due to higher input costs.
  • “You may get some more jobs in the aluminum and steel business because their prices are going to go up… But you will certainly lose jobs in the companies that buy a now higher priced steel and aluminum.”
    — Economic Analyst [02:47]

• Reality of Employment Gains:

  • The net job effect is highly uncertain. It’s likely more jobs are lost across industries that use these materials than are gained in the protected sectors.

2. Tariffs as Political Theater

[04:07–07:33]

• Symbolism Over Substance:
  Both Wolff and the analyst argue tariffs are more about appearances and consolidating political power than genuine economic improvement.

  • “The poor President Trump, who can’t deliver on the promise to improve the actual conditions of the American mass of people, therefore resorts to symbols, to theater, to pretend activities that make it look like he’s doing what in fact he can’t do.”
    — Richard Wolff [04:44]

• Scapegoating and Campaign Finance:

  • Tariffs allow politicians to scapegoat foreigners for systemic US problems and build dependencies among US industries, as with steel and aluminum executives.
  • “Who’s going to back him more? Who’s going to contribute to his reelection campaign… more? He can have them bid for him because they will depend on his decision.”
    — Economic Analyst [06:44]

3. Global Repercussions and Rising Tensions

[07:33–10:35]

• Consequences of Nationalist Policy:

  • US withdrawal from international agreements (e.g., the Iran nuclear deal) is labeled as treaty-breaking by allies, inciting economic and diplomatic retaliation.
  • “Try to imagine…if the French government announced tomorrow it was punishing American corporations…”
    — Richard Wolff [09:19]

• Retaliation and Risk:

  • Foreign companies fearing US sanctions lose out, hurting their workers. Such conflicts, history warns, can lead to war.
  • “What kind of a world would we have? In the past when countries tried to control each other this way, it led to war. And you ought to be worried…”
    — Richard Wolff [09:39]

4. The Johnson Amendment: Churches and Political Activity

[10:35–20:07]

• Background on Johnson Amendment:

  • Established in 1954 to prevent tax-exempt institutions from engaging in explicit political campaigns.
  • “Only once in 63 years has a charity of any kind, including any church, had its tax exemption taken away because of its political activity.”
    — Richard Wolff [12:40]

• IRS Enforcement and Deregulation:

  • IRS resources for oversight have been slashed, even as the number of exempt organizations multiplied.
  • “Between 1980 and 2016, the number of tax exempt institutions went up five times, whereas the number of IRS agents reviewing them dropped significantly.”
    — Richard Wolff [14:25]

• Underenforcement & Deregulation as Policy:

  • Deregulation isn’t just about fewer rules; it’s about lacking the capacity to enforce existing ones, making abuses easier for the wealthy and well-connected but not really threatening political freedom for churches.

5. Tariffs Revisited: Contemporary Policy Failures

[20:07–28:44]

• The Economics of Tariffs, Redux:

  • Tariffs protect certain industries (e.g., US automakers) but harm others by raising input costs for US businesses globally.
  • “A tariff could protect some jobs and destroys others, because that’s the truth.”
    — Economics Professor [22:31]

• Intra-Capitalist Conflict:
  Policy is set by corporate battles:

  • “It's purely an outcome of a fight between two groups of capitalists, one of whom sees more profit with a tariff and the other one without one. And what we have, the rest of us who live in capitalist economies, we have to live with whichever one of those two groups of capitalists was the stronger.”
    — Economics Professor [23:48]

• Political Messaging and Dishonesty:

  • Politicians act as advertisers, misleading the public about winners and losers, rarely admitting “some win, some lose.”
  • “They can’t be honest because what they do is a kind of advertising… It’s a form of lying. And that’s what the politicians do.”
    — Economics Professor [24:48]

• Tariffs Fuel Inflation:

  • “Tariffs boost prices. Tariffs make the prices we pay higher.”
    — Economics Professor [27:30]
  • While politicians claim to fight inflation, they quietly worsen it through tariffs for select special interests.

• Retaliation Hurts All Sides:

  • Foreign governments retaliate, further hurting American workers.

• Core Lesson:

  • “Don’t be used as a tool…We should fight for the jobs we need and want. Don’t rely on capitalists to have a fight with one another and imagine they’re concerned about your job. They aren’t. They're concerned about their profits. And we ought to be concerned about what our lives are like. Don’t be fooled.”
    — Richard Wolff [28:33]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It’s very good news for the producers of steel and aluminum here in the United States. See, it turns out they haven’t been doing real well.”
  — Economic Analyst [00:52]

• “He slaps tariffs, so he ejects immigrants. He does all this stuff to blame other people for the economic problems...always good to scapegoat foreigners when your system and your society are in trouble.”
  — Economic Analyst [05:14]

• “In the past when countries tried to control each other this way, it led to war. And you ought to be worried by a country as big and important as the United States is imposing this kind of conflict.”
  — Richard Wolff [09:39]

• “Only once in 63 years has a charity…had its tax exemption taken away because of its political activity. Once in 63 years, is the political activity of the churches being effectively held back by the IRS and the Johnson amendment? Not if you get one case in 63 years.”
  — Richard Wolff [12:40]

• “There have been companies who saw profits in having free trade…And then there were always other industries…that needed tariffs not only to keep their profits, but to make any profits at all. So there’s always a struggle, there always has been, between those companies that want tariffs or protection… and those industries that don’t.”
  — Economics Professor [22:36]

• “If anything, that’s the central message of today’s program. When you hear descriptions of whether an economic policy is good or bad, please remember in every case it’s neither one nor the other. It’s a mixture. Some people gain, others lose. Some companies win, others don’t. Some profits are protected, other profits are destroyed.”
  — Economics Professor [26:23]

Key Segment Timestamps

• Tariffs: Definition & Immediate Impacts — [00:46–04:07]
• Tariffs as Political Theater & Constituency Building — [04:07–07:33]
• International Fallout: Iran Deal & Global Tensions — [07:33–10:35]
• The Johnson Amendment Explained & Deregulation — [10:35–20:07]
• Protectionism vs. Free Trade: Capitalist Battles & Political Messaging — [20:07–28:44]

Summary Conclusion

This episode of Economic Update powerfully dissects the illusions behind today’s headline policies, particularly tariffs and deregulation, laying bare their true beneficiaries and their cost to ordinary Americans. Through sharp historical and economic analysis, Richard Wolff urges listeners to look beyond official narratives, resist being pawns in battles between corporate interests, and focus instead on building real power and solutions for working people.