Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff
Episode Title: Late Stage Capitalism and Technical Change
Date: October 21, 2025
Host: Richard D. Wolff
Guest: Prof. Ramesh Srinivasan (UCLA, Host of the Utopias Podcast)
Episode Overview
This episode explores the intersection of late-stage capitalism and technological change, critically examining how recent advancements, particularly in AI and digital technology, have impacted the workforce, democracy, and the global economic order. In the first half, Richard Wolff analyzes the economic decline in the United States, focusing on developments in agriculture and labor. The second half features a probing conversation with Prof. Ramesh Srinivasan, who discusses power, technology, digital capitalism, and the need for renewed hope and collective vision in the face of "techno-feudalism."
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Government Manipulation of Economic Data
[00:20–06:40]
- Food Security Reporting Suppressed: Wolff discusses the Trump administration's firing of the USDA Economic Research Service team, which annually compiled the Household Food Security Report. This move aimed to eliminate reports that may cast the U.S. in a critical light.
- Quote:
"You say something nice or we're going to fire you. We are living in a society that is moving in that direction."
— Richard Wolff [04:30] - Terminology Critique: Notes the term “food insecurity” is sanitized language for "hunger," chosen to minimize alarm.
2. U.S. Agriculture’s Decline
[06:40–10:15]
- Loss of Global Markets: The U.S. is losing export markets for soybeans and other products to countries like Brazil and Russia, exacerbated by U.S. tariffs and deteriorating trade relations.
- Subsidies as Crisis Response: The Trump administration responded with emergency subsidies to farmers facing collapse due to lost markets.
- Production Costs Rise: Tariffs impact fertilizer imports (e.g., potash from Canada), increasing costs for U.S. farmers who face lower income from diminished exports.
Memorable Quote:
“The United States agricultural system, like so much else, is in decline. And it's wrapped up with the decline of our empire and the hostile turning inward, isolation that are the best words to describe Mr. Trump's economic policy.”
— Richard Wolff [09:50]
3. The Irony of Union Success under Capitalism
[10:15–14:10]
- Targeted Workers: White, male, Christian, unionized factory workers—the "aristocracy" of the labor force—are now those suffering most from job losses due to automation and offshoring.
- Historical Lens:
- Detroit's dramatic decline from 2 million residents (1970) to ~700,000 today is emblematic of shifting industrial priorities and the outsourcing of labor.
- Systemic Contradictions:
- Success in labor organization leads capitalists to pursue automation or export jobs.
- Those most affected often become the political base for populist movements that scapegoat others.
Notable Statistic:
“In 1970, the most successful city economically was Detroit. It had 2 million people… [now] around 700,000. A big majority… were hounded out… [as] the employers went elsewhere to get cheap labor.”
— Richard Wolff [12:40]
4. The Promise and Peril of AI and Tech Progress
[14:10–16:45]
- Capitalist Application of Tech: Technological advancements like AI increase productivity, but under capitalism, the fruits benefit profit over people—workers get fired instead of working fewer hours for the same or better pay.
- Contrast with Democratic Alternative:
- Wolff imagines a system where increased productivity benefits workers collectively: “You now work half time because you can produce… what it used to take you eight hours to do.” [13:30]
Memorable Rhetorical Question:
“Why are they allowed to institute a technology that helps them without helping us? That's not democratic. It's the opposite.”
— Richard Wolff [14:10]
INTERVIEW: Prof. Ramesh Srinivasan on Tech, Power, and Hope
5. Technology, Capitalism, and Power
[17:10–21:00]
- What Is Technology?:
- Technology reflects both reason and spirit (“what materializes from our rational mind, but also our heart and spirit”).
- It’s more than hardware: includes practices like meditation or writing.
- Core Issue:
- Who controls and profits from technology?
- Present system extracts resources—material, mental, emotional—for the benefit of concentrated corporate power.
- Digital Capitalism as “Zombie Capitalism”:
- Tech companies create systems not for profit alone but for speculation, e.g., Uber’s sky-high valuation well before profitability.
- Power Extraction:
- Surveillance capitalism extracts not just labor or minerals, but also attention and even "the hormones in our brain." [19:50]
Quote:
"This is a ghoulish, zombified version of a technological economy that is all about extracting as much as possible from people and planet for the accumulation of stock valuation or ultimately deep amounts of profitability."
— Ramesh Srinivasan [20:25]
6. “Techno-Feudalism” and Surveillance Capitalism
[21:00–24:50]
- 'Cloud Capital' & Data Extraction:
- Echoing Yanis Varoufakis’s “techno-feudalism,” Srinivasan describes how tech giants extract value by surveilling all aspects of human behavior.
- Amazon is highlighted as both E-commerce and data/cloud monopoly, charging "rent" and undercutting its own marketplace participants using data from their sales.
- The cost of maintaining these systems (“astronomical” energy and water usage) is contrasted with the profit for a tiny elite.
- Impact:
- This system “benefits these companies at profound cost to the rest of us as consumers, as workers, and more importantly, as citizens and living beings of this planet.” [23:30]
7. Elite Disconnection, Hopelessness, and End-Times Mentality
[24:50–27:46]
- Wealth’s Anti-Social Turn:
- Wealthiest tech/financial elites express little faith in humanity or the planet; invest in doomsday bunkers and space travel rather than addressing Earth’s problems.
- Cultural References:
- Cites artists (Gil Scott Heron, Last Poets, Tribe Called Quest) to underscore how elite escapes are "not for us."
- Highlights Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor’s critique of “end times fascism.”
- Prescriptions for Resilience:
- Hope comes from “doubling down on life…on our communities…recognition that we’re all actually in it together.” [25:40]
- Tech’s Role in Alienation:
- Technology currently exacerbates “hopelessness, isolation, division…and just down on everything.” [27:10]
- Reminds us of Cornel West’s call to remember “what it really means to be alive.”
Quote:
“Right now there are moral and existential questions at play when it comes to big tech because it’s foreclosing our lives, foreclosing our identities, and driving us all insane by placing attention-seeking, often AI-generated content that drives us all crazy and moves us into polarized rabbit holes.”
— Ramesh Srinivasan [27:10]
8. The Utopias Podcast: Building Hope Through Plural Visions
[27:46–29:47]
- Purpose of "Utopias":
- The podcast is “a North Star” for new possibilities; collects diverse voices (scholars, artists, monks, journalists) to inspire hope, resilience, and creative action.
- Need for Vision:
- “With tech inundating our lives, capturing all our attention, and essentially putting, like, blinders over our eyes, we no longer can connect with the future. We don’t even have a sense of history anymore.” [28:20]
- Hopeful Action:
- Encourages listeners to “keep our North Star at a different type of vision for life on our planet.” [29:35]
Notable Quotes & Moments
| Time | Speaker | Quote/Context | |---------|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 04:30 | Wolff | "You say something nice or we're going to fire you. We are living in a society that is moving in that direction." | | 09:50 | Wolff | “The United States agricultural system, like so much else, is in decline." | | 13:30 | Wolff | “You now work half time because you can produce… what it used to take you eight hours to do.” | | 20:25 | Srinivasan| "This is a ghoulish, zombified version of a technological economy..." | | 23:30 | Srinivasan| "...benefit these companies at profound cost to the rest of us as consumers, as workers, and more importantly, as citizens and living beings of this planet." | | 27:10 | Srinivasan| "...big tech...foreclosing our lives, foreclosing our identities and driving us all insane by placing attention-seeking, often AI-generated content..." | | 28:20 | Srinivasan| “With tech inundating our lives...we no longer can connect with the future. We don’t even have a sense of history anymore.” |
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 00:20 – 06:40: Firing of USDA economists and suppression of food insecurity data
- 06:40 – 10:15: U.S. agriculture’s global decline, tariffs, and the rise of Brazil and Russia
- 10:15 – 14:10: White union workers as emblematic of labor’s contradictory experience under capitalism
- 14:10 – 16:45: Capitalist misuse of AI and technology's social potential
- 17:10 – 21:00: What is technology?—philosophical and economic foundations (Prof. Srinivasan)
- 21:00 – 24:50: Techno-feudalism, cloud capital, and digital extraction
- 24:50 – 27:46: Tech elites’ “end times” focus, community resilience, and existential questions
- 27:46 – 29:47: The Utopias Podcast as a beacon for collective, hopeful action
Summary Tone and Style
Reflective, critical, occasionally urgent, yet ultimately aiming for hope and empowerment: the entire conversation maintains a direct, analytical tone combined with accessible metaphors and a call for renewed collective imagination.
Key Takeaways
- Suppression of critical information (like food security data) reflects political attempts to manage public perception.
- U.S. agriculture’s decline and the challenges faced by labor mirror larger global shifts and the erosion of American industrial strength.
- Technological progress under capitalism intensifies inequality; the potential benefits of AI are lost to profit-seeking instead of serving the common good.
- Power and extraction define digital capitalism; technology owned and wielded by a small elite deepens social and economic divides.
- Current trajectory mirrors late-stage feudalism, with staggering wealth concentration and existential detachment from the wider public.
- Restoring hope and agency requires intentionally building community, remembering history, and setting a “North Star” vision for planetary wellbeing.
This summary captures the main arguments, noteworthy insights, and the distinctive language of host Richard Wolff and guest Prof. Ramesh Srinivasan. It is carefully organized for clarity and easy reference—with essential timestamps, quotes, and segment highlights—providing a rich and accessible guide for anyone seeking to understand the episode’s substance and spirit.