Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: Morality and Economics
Date: November 2, 2017

Overview

In this episode, Richard D. Wolff delivers his regular incisive economic commentary, examining the intersections of morality and economics. The first half covers pressing updates: trends in job markets, financial regulation rollbacks, structural inequalities in education, loneliness as a public health crisis, labor struggles, and the global impact of pollution. The second half is a deep discussion with Dr. Harriet Fraad on the economics and morality of sex work, shifting the lens from cultural condemnation to the ways in which sex work—and all work—is organized, questioning who benefits, who is exploited, and what forms might be genuinely non-exploitative and empowering.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Changing Job Markets & Inequality

• Growth in Low-Wage, Insecure Work

  • The Bureau of Labor Statistics highlights that personal care aides and home health aides will become the fastest-growing jobs over the next decade.

    "They are among the lowest paid jobs in our economy... What this is telling us is that... better paying jobs [are] shrinking... what’s going to explode are personal service, low paid jobs... highly insecure, and jobs that are irregular."
    —Richard Wolff (02:15)

  • Automation and job offshoring are causing the disappearance of well-paying manufacturing and skilled jobs, rendering the US economy reminiscent of a 19th-century service structure:

    "The American economy is going back to what it was in the 19th century... A highly concentrated mass of wealthy people at the top with armies of personal servants."
    —Richard Wolff (04:20)

• Structural Shift for Whose Benefit?

  • Wolff asserts this change primarily serves the top 5% of income earners, expanding personal service sectors to meet their lifestyle needs.

2. Financial Regulation Rollbacks

• Senate Overturns Consumer Protection on Banking
  • The Senate reversed a rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that prevented banks from forcing individual arbitration upon consumers:

    "[The banks] want to be able to require that the dispute go to arbitration... because they win. They have big, deep pockets."
    —Richard Wolff (08:30)

  • Class action was key to achieving parity against bank misconduct, but this avenue has been gutted.
  • Wolff underscores the power of the financial sector and legislative complicity:

    "...a sector as badly-behaved as the banks... had the clout... to not be regulated even to the little bit that was possible since 2008. Extraordinary."
    —Richard Wolff (11:15)

3. Education as a Perpetuator of Class

• Private vs. Public Spending Disparities

  • Wolff exposes vast per-student spending differences in elite private schools, public universities, and especially historically black colleges, which entrenches generational inequality.

    "What this does is to confirm inequalities from generation to generation..."
    —Richard Wolff (13:24)

• The Role of "Market Forces" and Capitalism

  • Dismissing "market forces" as an empty label, Wolff insists the true cause is concentrated capitalist control:

    "It's a system in which the distribution of wealth goes to a very small number of people... A tiny group of people make all the decisions, take the wealth basically for themselves..."
    —Richard Wolff (16:48)

• UK Parallels:

  • Citing data from the UK, Wolff shows similar class entrenchment at Oxford and Cambridge, which overwhelmingly admit students from the wealthiest backgrounds and exclude minorities.

4. Loneliness as a Systemic Crisis

• Health Impacts of Social Isolation
  • Research by Julianne Holt-Lunstad (BYU) reveals loneliness has a higher risk for premature death than obesity:

    "Loneliness is a serious problem in this society. It is an epidemic."
    —Richard Wolff (22:02)

  • The rise in gig work and isolated economic arrangements exacerbate the crisis.

5. Labor & Worker Power

• Grad Student Unionization at University of Chicago
  • Over 2-to-1 vote in favor, challenging the "third party" anti-union argument:

    "There already is a third party in every major university. It's called the board of trustees... Businessmen and women. Not faculty, not administrators and not students. A third party with enormous power."
    —Richard Wolff (27:10)

• Bernie Sanders’ Endorsement:

  "Having a union ends the arrangement where the employer makes all the decisions unilaterally and... your voice can really be heard."
  —Bernie Sanders, quoted by Wolff (27:38)

6. Poverty Solutions & Class Divisions (Brazil Case)

• Chemically Processed Leftover Food for the Poor
  • São Paulo’s mayor, with church support, plans to create “pellets” from near-expired supermarket food for the poor:

    "When rich people become so rich that the mass of people are worried about food... [they] come up with plans... to give nearly rotten food... and tell poor people you’re doing them a favor."
    —Richard Wolff (29:06)

7. The Human and Economic Cost of Pollution

• Pollution Death Toll:
  • Study led by Dr. Philip Landrigan shows 9 million premature deaths per year from pollution worldwide, at a $4.6 trillion cost—more than war, hunger, or disease.

    "A company that’s profitable but killing children in its environment is a company that ought to be questioned, investigated, and probably stopped..."
    —Richard Wolff (33:35)

In-Depth Interview: Sex Work – Economics and Morality

[Second Half of the Episode | 28:30–End]

Dr. Harriet Fraad: Reframing the Morality of Sex Work

• Morality Must Include Social Context:

  • Fraad critiques moral condemnation of sex work, highlighting that for many, especially young people lacking education and support, prostitution is one of few viable economic choices:

    "I wouldn’t want to discuss morality outside of that social context."
    —Dr. Harriet Fraad (29:49)

• Widespread Hypocrisy:

  • Both note the pervasive coexistence of moral denunciation and the ongoing, often secretive, consumption of sexual services:

    "It’s classic hypocrisy... the more you repress sexuality, the more people are ashamed... the more they go underground to satisfy them."
    —Dr. Harriet Fraad (32:14)

Economic Structures of Sex Work

Fraad and Wolff dissect the moral implications based on how sex work is organized:

A. Slavery Model

• Service provider is owned, controlled, and has no say over conditions, with all profits taken by the master.

• "Slavery can also be accomplished for personal use... they have no control over anything."
  —Dr. Harriet Fraad (36:08)

B. Feudal Model

• Provider is attached by personal loyalty, as in the case of pimps or traditional marriage (historically), with power still in the hands of the “lord.”

• "It wasn’t till 2005 that marital rape was forbidden in every state in the union... women’s sexuality belonged to their marriage partners."
  —Dr. Harriet Fraad (38:15)

C. Capitalist Model

• Legal (e.g., Nevada brothels) and illegal businesses, where owners or boards dictate wages and conditions. Workers receive wages less than the value they generate.

• "Profit is made because people are not given what they’re worth... you have to make more than you actually give to somebody, or else you’re not a good capitalist."
  —Dr. Harriet Fraad (41:17)

D. Independent/Self-Employed

• Self-employed sex workers, controlling pricing, services, and working conditions.

• "A woman or a man... decides to open a business to be a sex worker and decides what to charge, how much to keep, how much to invest, and so on."
  —Dr. Harriet Fraad (42:52)

E. Sugar Baby Arrangement

• Individuals (often students) arrange relationships with “sugar daddies,” providing companionship and/or sexual services with negotiated terms—often a way to avoid long-term debt:

• "Young people who don’t have money for tuition... find a sugar daddy... but they negotiate the terms as equals... The main site is called Sugar Baby University."
  —Dr. Harriet Fraad (43:13)

F. Cooperative Model

• Collectively owned and managed brothels (e.g., USHA cooperative in Calcutta) where workers share profits and decision-making, offering banking, healthcare, and social support:

  "They all decide... as a collective... what to charge and how to distribute their income. And because of this, sex work in Calcutta has been transformed."
  —Dr. Harriet Fraad (46:25)

• These forms, especially cooperatives, are held as examples of non-exploitative, dignified work organization.

Exploitation as the Core Moral Issue

• For both speakers, the key moral fault lies not in selling sex, but in the exploitation involved:

  "Exploitation is the immorality that I’m addressing, not one kind of work or another..."
  —Dr. Harriet Fraad (49:39)

• Wolff:

  "...your passion applies equally to the production of any good or service across the board." (49:39)

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |---|---------|------| | 02:15 | Wolff | "They are among the lowest paid jobs in our economy..." | | 08:30 | Wolff | "...in your dealings with a bank, if you have a dispute... the bank wants to be able to require that the dispute go to arbitration... because they win." | | 16:48 | Wolff | “It’s a system in which the distribution of wealth goes to a very small number of people…” | | 27:10 | Wolff | "There already is a third party in every major university. It’s called the board of trustees..." | | 32:14 | Fraad | "It’s classic hypocrisy... the more you repress sexuality, the more people are ashamed... the more they go underground..." | | 41:17 | Fraad | "...profit is made because people are not given what they’re worth..." | | 46:25 | Fraad | "They all decide... as a collective... what to charge and how to distribute their income. And because of this, sex work in Calcutta has been transformed." | | 49:39 | Fraad | "Exploitation is the immorality that I’m addressing, not one kind of work or another..." | | 52:06 | Wolff | "...it’s hypocritical to think morality applies only to whether we buy or sell it and not to how we organize the doing of it." |

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Jobs & Service Economy Discussion — 00:10–06:30
• Banking Regulation Rollback — 06:30–12:00
• Education & Structural Inequality — 12:00–17:30
• UK/US Privilege in Education — 17:30–21:00
• Loneliness & Public Health — 21:00–24:50
• Graduate Student Unionization — 24:50–27:50
• Poverty & Food Inequality (Brazil) — 27:50–29:35
• Pollution’s Global Cost — 29:35–33:50
• Main Interview with Dr. Harriet Fraad (Sex Work) — 28:30–End
  • Defining the Context & Opening Discussion — 28:30–31:21
  • Hypocrisy & Portrayal of Sex Work — 31:21–34:23
  • Models of Sex Work (Slavery, Feudal, Capitalist) — 34:23–41:39
  • Independent/Sugar Baby/Self-Employment — 42:17–45:24
  • Cooperative Model (USHA) — 45:24–48:40
  • Broader Implications: Morality of Organization vs. Sale — 48:40–End

Conclusion

This episode’s core argument is that how work—and thus exploitation—is organized is the real economic and moral crux, whether in sex work or any other sector. Instead of fixating on “sin,” the conversation points to hypocrisy in our culture’s simultaneous condemnation and perpetuation of sex work, suggests that empowerment and dignity emerge from collective or self-directed forms, and draws parallels to exploitation throughout the economy. Wolff and Fraad urge the audience to recognize and struggle against exploitation, in all its forms and guises.