Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: Covid Criminals, Pandemic Profiteers
Date: February 17, 2022

Episode Overview

This episode of Economic Update dives into the economic underpinnings and social consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, critically examining how the crisis enabled political leaders and corporations—especially billionaires and pharmaceutical companies—to increase their power and profits. Host Richard D. Wolff is joined by John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for The Nation and author of Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers, to discuss pandemic mismanagement, profiteering, lack of accountability, and the neglected opportunity for shared sacrifice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Economic Updates (00:10–15:34)

Mississippi Legalizes Medical Marijuana

• Mississippi became the 37th state to legalize medical marijuana, after voters initially approved it in 2020 but saw it blocked by the state Supreme Court. The Republican governor relented under public pressure, but recreational use remains prohibited.
  • Quote (02:02):
    “There are also those who really want a recreational marijuana program that could lead...to more people smoking and less people working with all the societal and family ills that that brings.”
    — Gov. Tate Reeves, referenced and critiqued by Wolff

U.S. National Debt Hits $30 Trillion

• Wolff explains how massive government borrowing is a direct result of lower taxes on corporations and the rich, especially after the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
• The government borrows primarily from the wealthy and corporate sectors, which are the very groups who benefited from the tax cuts, creating a self-serving cycle.
  • Quote (05:21):
    “The corporations and the rich got the best of everything: they didn’t have to pay taxes, and instead lent that money to the government, which has to pay it back—with interest. This is a boondoggle for the rich, which it always has been.”
    — Richard Wolff
• A significant portion of U.S. taxes is also paid to major international creditors, notably China and Japan, who lend their surplus dollars back to the U.S. government.
  • Quote (08:42):
    “We are also funding the government we are supposedly critical of. We are sending...billions out of our pockets to the People’s Republic of China and indeed to Japan as well.”
    — Richard Wolff

Labor and Union Developments in Mexico

• 6,000 Mexican GM workers voted out their old union for a new, more militant one amid a broader wave of labor actions in North America.
• Example given: after 11 years, a Mexican GM worker earned $24/day, compared to Detroit workers’ higher hourly wages.
  • Quote (12:58):
    “In Mexico, $24 a day; in Detroit, seasoned workers… get more than that per hour. And that’s an enormous difference.”
    — Richard Wolff

Amazon’s Price Hike Amid Inflation

• Despite an annual inflation rate of 7%, Amazon increased its Prime membership fee by 17%, far outpacing inflation for consumers.
  • Quote (14:23):
    “That’s how you strike a blow against inflation.”
    — Richard Wolff (sarcastic)

2. Interview: John Nichols on "Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers" (15:34–End)

Why “Criminals” and “Profiteers”? (15:36–17:28)

• Nichols states the label fits because both political figures (not only Trump) and corporate leaders exploited the pandemic to advance personal and political interests, often at public expense.
  • Quote (15:57):
    “Because they are criminals and profiteers...it wasn’t hard to detail this reality.”
    — John Nichols
• Cites Trump’s admission (to Bob Woodward) of lying to the public about Covid severity as “a pretty criminal act.”

Rhetoric of Shared Sacrifice vs. Reality (17:28–19:45)

• While public rhetoric stressed shared sacrifice, most ordinary Americans—healthcare workers, immigrants, public transit drivers—bore the real risk and loss.
• Political and business elites forfeited collective responsibility, "leapt over that thought...and went to work to make money."
  • Quote (18:11):
    “Tens of millions of Americans did embrace that concept of shared sacrifice... But at the same time...you had the President...lying about the severity of the crisis, refusing to do things like a national mask mandate...you had companies like Amazon firing whistleblowers.”
    — John Nichols

Accountability and Public Awareness (19:45–22:37)

• Electoral consequences occurred (e.g., Trump’s loss, Georgia Senate flips), but no meaningful legal or structural accountability emerged for profiteers or for deadly mismanagement.
• Billionaire wealth rose dramatically: $3 trillion at the start of the pandemic, $5 trillion 18 months later.
  • Quote (21:21):
    “I would argue the billionaires did not share in sacrifice.”
    — John Nichols

Mechanisms of Profiteering: Case Studies (22:37–24:29)

• Pharmaceutical profits: Pfizer and Moderna benefited from significant public-sector research and government contracts, then secured lucrative deals and resisted global vaccine-sharing.
  • Shocking figures (23:44):
    “Researchers… have told us that Pfizer, Moderna and their partners were making $1,000 a second, $65,000 a minute, $93 million a day... and yet they refused to support efforts to share the vaccine globally.”
    — John Nichols

Why So Little Public Outrage? (24:29–26:17)

• U.S. media and political culture frames crises as "natural disasters," diverting attention from governmental and corporate responsibility.
• Other countries had significantly lower mortality rates due to different pandemic responses.
  • Quote (25:39):
    “The Lancet... estimated... 40% of the deaths in the first year... did not need to occur...because our system allows economic and political elites to think of their own advantage.”
    — John Nichols

The Shift to “Freedom” & Mandate Backlash (26:17–28:33)

• Discussion’s focus shifted from disease response to mandates and personal “freedom,” due to chaotic messaging (especially from the Trump administration) and deliberate political exploitation.
  • Quote (27:48):
    “Because of a failure of clear and coherent messaging from the top, we created a dysfunction in America that, frankly, didn’t exist in a lot of other countries.”
    — John Nichols

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tax and Debt Policy:
  “Never has a tax cut gone to so few who needed it so little, but they got it because that’s what their president was there for.”
  — Richard Wolff [04:38]

• On the Covid Response:
  “The truth is...at the very beginning of the pandemic, you had companies like Amazon firing whistleblowers who said that the warehouses weren’t safe, that people were getting sick and dying.”
  — John Nichols [18:31]

• On Billionaire Wealth Gain:
  “Eighteen months into the pandemic, [American billionaires] controlled $5 trillion, one of the most exponential growths in billionaire wealth in American history.”
  — John Nichols [20:54]

• On Pharmaceutical Profiteering:
  “They got contracts that were at exponentially higher rates of repayment than was necessary for what their costs were...Pfizer, Moderna...making $93 million a day.”
  — John Nichols [23:44]

Key Timestamps

• 00:10 – Introduction; Mississippi’s legalization of medical marijuana
• 04:30 – Explaining the connection between tax policy, national debt, and who benefits
• 08:30 – U.S. debt to China/Japan and the cycle of tax avoidance & borrowing
• 11:10 – Labor movement in Mexican auto industry
• 14:10 – Amazon Prime price hike and inflation
• 15:34 – Guest introduction: John Nichols
• 16:00 – Why call them “criminals and profiteers”?
• 18:10 – Rhetoric vs. reality: Who really sacrificed during Covid?
• 19:45 – Has there been accountability?
• 21:10 – How billionaires increased wealth during pandemic
• 22:30 – The mechanics of pharmaceutical profiteering
• 24:30 – Why so little public outrage?
• 26:20 – The debate shift from Covid response to personal freedom
• 28:33 – Episode close and final guest remarks

Tone & Language Notes

The episode is characteristically sharp, critical, and occasionally sardonic—with both Wolff and Nichols using clear, direct language to challenge conventional economic narratives and highlight systemic failures. Both repeatedly express astonishment and outrage at the “boondoggle” of pandemic capitalism and political opportunism, stressing the need for increased public consciousness and accountability.

Final Note

Listeners are encouraged to consider the wider systemic issues highlighted by Wolff and Nichols—not just the pandemic itself, but the structures that determined who won, who lost, and why so little structural accountability followed the crisis. Nichols’s book is recommended for further exploration of these themes.