The Corporatization of Universities and Trump's Attacks

Summary

Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff: The Corporatization of Universities and Trump's Attacks

Release Date: May 20, 2025

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Introduction

In the May 20, 2025 episode of Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff, host Richard D. Wolff delves into two pressing issues affecting the American socio-economic landscape: the decline of libertarianism in economic policy and the corporatization of American universities, further exacerbated by actions from the Trump administration. The episode also features an insightful conversation with Professor Geert Dont from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, shedding light on the current state of higher education amidst these challenges.

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Decline of Libertarianism and Neoliberalism

Richard Wolff opens the episode by addressing a significant shift in American economic ideology—the decline of libertarianism. He articulates how libertarianism, which has been a dominant economic philosophy in the U.S. for the past 40 to 50 years, champions minimal government intervention in the free enterprise system. This philosophy, rooted in the French concept of laissez-faire, advocates for the economy to operate through individual negotiations without regulatory interference.

Notable Quote:

“Libertarianism has been a way of thinking now quite powerful, quite dominant in the United States for a good bit of the last 40 to 50 years.” [00:00:35]

Wolff emphasizes that for decades, the United States benefited immensely from this approach, leveraging its post-World War II economic dominance to maintain the dollar as the global currency and concentrate wealth domestically. However, he asserts that this era has come to an end.

Key Points:

• Historical Dominance: Post-World War II, the U.S. emerged economically superior, establishing the dollar's global primacy and amassing concentrated wealth.
• Shift in Global Dynamics: The rise of China and the BRIC nations has altered the global economic landscape, diminishing the U.S.'s unparalleled dominance.
• Government Intervention: Contradicting libertarian principles, recent policies under both Republican and Democratic administrations have increased government intervention in the economy.

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Trump's Economic Policies and Economic Nationalism

Wolff argues that the Trump administration has been pivotal in dismantling libertarianism, ushering in an era of economic nationalism. He highlights Trump’s use of tariffs, sanctions, and direct government intervention as antithetical to the previously dominant neoliberal ideology.

Notable Quote:

“Mr. Trump is here to tell us we're going to use the state every which way.” [00:14:30]

Key Points:

• Tariffs and Trade Barriers: Trump imposed tariffs on numerous countries, disrupting free trade and forcing foreign companies to comply with government-imposed taxes to sell in the U.S.
• Corporate Subsidies: Both Trump and Biden administrations have provided selective financial support to industries like microchips and solar panels to compete with China, indicating a departure from non-interventionist policies.
• Sanctions and Asset Freezes: The U.S. has become the leading country in imposing sanctions, exemplified by the freezing of $300 billion from Russia amidst the Ukraine conflict.
• Economic Nationalism: The shift towards prioritizing national interests and security over global free trade marks a significant ideological departure from neoliberalism.

Global Economic Landscape: Wolff provides a comparative analysis of GDP contributions to underscore the changing global economy.

• BRICs Dominance: China and its allies now account for over 35% of global output, surpassing the G7 nations, which contribute about 27%.
• Population vs. Economic Output: BRIC countries house more than half of the world's population, while the U.S. comprises merely 4.5%, highlighting the shift in both demographic and economic power.

Implications:

• Policy Denial: Despite clear evidence of declining U.S. dominance, political leaders often avoid addressing this reality.
• Free Movement Restriction: Increased deportations and the imposition of stringent migration controls reflect a move away from the previously open immigration policies that significantly contributed to American economic growth.

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Corporatization of American Universities

Transitioning to the second major topic, Wolff discusses how elite American universities have evolved into corporate entities, subject to political and economic pressures. He attributes increased government attacks on these institutions to their corporatized nature, which prioritizes financial growth over educational integrity.

Notable Quote:

“They decided to become bigger and richer and to do many things other than educate. So they got into bed with corporations to partner and they got into bed with the government to partner and they took a lot of money to grow rich and be big corporations.” [00:24:55]

Key Points:

• Government Funding Cutbacks: Under Trump, universities, especially elite ones like Harvard, Stanford, and Yale, faced threats of reduced government funding unless they aligned their ideologies with conservative and Republican values.
• Loss of Independence: The corporatization has led universities to rely heavily on corporate and government partnerships, compromising their independence and educational mission.
• Future of Education: If universities do not revert to their foundational purpose of education, they risk increased governmental control and further corporatization.

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Interview with Professor Geert Dont

In the second half of the episode, Richard Wolff engages in a discussion with Professor Geert Dont, Associate Professor and Department Chair of Economics at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York (CUNY).

Economics Department at John Jay

Professor Dont elaborates on the unique nature of the Economics department at John Jay, highlighting its departure from traditional conservative economics programs.

Notable Quote:

“We were able to recreate an economics program from scratch... we really have a focus of really working class students.” [17:43:25]

Key Points:

• Heterodox Approach: The department emphasizes radical economics, focusing on the economics of crime, the justice system, and race.
• Working-Class Focus: Unlike many institutions, John Jay caters predominantly to working-class students, with over 70% being Black and Latino, fostering a diverse and socially conscious academic environment.
• Master's Program: The department offers a highly regarded master's program in radical economics, attracting activists, professionals seeking career changes, and international students. Graduates have successfully entered various sectors, including government, nonprofits, and PhD programs.

Impact of Trump's Policies on Universities

Professor Dont discusses the tangible effects of the Trump administration's policies on higher education, particularly on institutions like John Jay.

Notable Quote:

“We're expecting to lose those funds for institutions like that because... minority or diversity or women are not allowed anymore, you know, are banned words now.” [24:11:10]

Key Points:

• Grant Funding Restrictions: New regulations prohibit the use of terms like "minority," "diversity," or "women" in grant applications, jeopardizing funding for institutions serving predominantly minority populations.
• Administrative Caution: University leadership, exemplified by John Jay’s President Carol Mason, strives to avoid controversial topics to remain under the radar and secure necessary funding.
• Broader Repression: These funding challenges are part of a broader pattern of repression targeting diverse and inclusive educational practices.

Student Loan Issues

The discussion shifts to the escalating student loan crisis and government measures to enforce loan repayments.

Notable Quote:

“We should just be able to go to, you know, continue their higher education for free.” [28:36:20]

Key Points:

• Government Enforcement: The Trump administration's aggressive stance on student loan repayments is creating widespread anxiety among students and graduates alike.
• Impact on the Economy: Professor Dont argues that forcing extensive loan repayments will have detrimental effects on the U.S. economy by reducing disposable income and consumer spending.
• Decommodification of Education: The current crisis underscores the need to eliminate tuition fees and student loans, advocating for free higher education as seen in many European countries. This approach would alleviate financial burdens and make education more accessible to all.

Differences in Student Demographics: At John Jay, the predominance of Pell Grants and tuition assistance from New York State means that most students do not incur student loan debt. This contrasts with other institutions where student loans are a significant barrier to education, highlighting different experiences based on socio-economic backgrounds.

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Conclusion

Richard Wolff concludes the episode by emphasizing the urgent need to understand the ramifications of economic nationalism and the corporatization of higher education. He underscores the importance of advocating for policies that prioritize educational accessibility and economic equity over corporate and political interests.

Final Remarks:

“I hope you found this report from the ground of higher education as important as I did. And I look forward, as always, to speaking with you again next week.” [31:34:00]

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Episode Highlights:

• 00:00:35 — Introduction to the decline of libertarianism and neoliberalism.
• 00:14:30 — Discussion on Trump's role in dismantling economic libertarianism.
• 00:24:55 — Examination of the corporatization of universities.
• 17:43:25 — Introduction of Professor Geert Dont and the Economics department at John Jay College.
• 24:11:10 — Impact of Trump's policies on university funding and diversity initiatives.
• 28:36:20 — Analysis of the student loan crisis and its broader economic implications.
• 31:34:00 — Conclusion and final thoughts on the state of higher education.

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This episode provides a comprehensive analysis of the shifting economic ideologies in the United States and their profound impact on higher education. Through poignant commentary and expert insights, Wolff offers listeners a deep understanding of the challenges facing both the economy and educational institutions today.

Transcript

[Richard Wolff]

Welcome, friends, to another edition of Economic Update, a weekly program devoted to the economic dimensions of our lives and those of our children. I'm your host, Richard Wolff. Today's program will begin, of course, as we usually do, by reminding you that Charlie is waiting your communications. If you have suggestions or comments for the program, you can reach him at charlie.info438gmail.com and also to remind you of the book Understanding Capitalism, available at our website, which is a companion to these programs in terms of going much more deeply into all of the kinds of topics we deal with here and giving you, as I say, more depth to understanding them. And I think it's a worthwhile companion to the program. In the second half of today, we're going to be talking with Professor Geert Dont, an economics professor at an unusual economics program here in the United States and who will talk to us about the profession, the teaching and the special program that they operate. All right, let's jump right in. I want to begin by talking about something I've occasionally brushed up against in these programs, but many of you have asked me to go into in some more detail, and it's nothing short of the death of libertarianism. Libertarianism has been a way of thinking now quite powerful, quite dominant in the United States for a good bit of the last 40 to 50 years. In other words, most of the lifetime of most of you. And here's basically what this idea that an economy like ours, a capitalist free enterprise economy, works best if the government stays out of it. Once upon a time this was called, when the French embraced it, laissez faire. That means in French, let it be. The government should let the economy be. Don't interfere, don't make rules and regulations. Stay out of it. That the economy works best if individuals negotiate with one another buying and selling, including selling their ability to work to an employer who buys it by paying them a wage, etc. Etc. The economy will work best that that way, don't interfere. Don't interfere inside each country and don't interfere internationally. Internationally, it had a kind of a sister name, if you like, called neoliberalism or sometimes just globalization, but it was the same libertarian idea that capitalism is a wonderful system that that works best if the government doesn't interfere in it. Now, for most of the last half century or longer, the chief beneficiary of all of this was the United States. And for no mystery reason, because the United States came out of World War II much richer, much more powerful than anybody else that's why the dollar became the global currency. The United States produced a share of global output far larger than its share of global population. Wealth was concentrated here. The gold of the world was stored in Fort Knox here, not somewhere else, etc. Etc. The United States was dominant. Nobody could compete with it. And so a free world, free for economic power to do its thing, was very advantageous to the United States because they had more dollars to play with than anybody else could even imagine. All of that is over. All of that is dead. The United States is no longer the dominant player. This hasn't been told to the American people because no politician wants to have the task of bringing that message. So the politicians evade it, avoid it, deny it. But I'm not a politician. I don't have to. And you would like to know what's really going on, or at least I'm going to assume that you would. So we're not in that position. And how do you know it? Because libertarianism, this whole idea of the government unnecessary, keep the government out, that is completely dead. And no one has played the role of burial assistant more than Mr. Trump. Let's take a look. Mr. Trump got up a few weeks ago and said, I am hitting every country on earth with a tariff. I am intervening. I'm shaping the market. I'm saying, you can't just come here and sell your goods to an American the way you used to negotiating with the American company or the American consumer. How much you pay for, how much you get. No, no, no, no, no. That's over. I'm telling you. You want to sell here, you got to give a tax to me. Uncle Sam right here in Washington. I don't care where you come from, I don't care what you produce. I don't care what the Americans do who buy your stuff. You want to sell here, you got to deal with the government. That's the opposite of libertarianism. Then he started giving money, actually following Mr. Biden, who did it, also giving money to selected corporations in the microtub chip business or in the solar panel business in order to shape their ability to compete with the Chinese. Oh, my goodness. You're intervening directly. Then we started sanctions. Mr. Biden was good at that, too. So this is kind of a bipartisan burial party for. For libertarianism. We need the government, it turns out. How do I know? Because the President tells us that national security requires that. I'm going to take what, the Panama Canal away from the people who own it. Now, I'm not going to buy it. I'm not going to discuss it. I won't take it. The government's going to come in there and. And then I'm going to take Greenland and I might make Canada the 51st state. This is massive government intervention, often justified by we need it. The economy is in trouble and will be fixed by doing this or national security. I'm not so interested in the reasons. We had national security problems before when we celebrated neoliberalism. We had economic problems before when we celebrated neoliberalism. The problems aren't new or different. It's the answer that is. And why. I'm afraid that answer is pretty obvious, too. For the first time in a century, the United States has a major economic competitor, the People's Republic of China. This is not an endorsement of the Chinese. This is not a statement that they don't have economic problems. They do. Everybody does. I'm talking about the fact that if you add up the output of goods and services per year, which is called the gdp, gross Domestic product, and it's a statistic we keep for every country on earth. It's a rough measure of their economic footprint, how big, how important they are. At the end of World War II, the United States dominated everybody. The GDP here outranked that of all the other major countries, all of whom had been destroyed by the war. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan, all of them China too. But today is a completely different landscape. China and its allies, known as the BRICs, together account for more than 35% of the total output of the world. The United States and its allies, called the G7, they account for about 27%. Not even close. China is the bigger, richer economic power. That's the reality. And when you add to that that China and the brics have more than half the people on earth population in their countries, whereas the United States, 330 million comes out to 4.5% of the world's people. 50 to 60% over there, 4.5% here. Stop. We're not the powerhouse we were. And Mr. Trump is here to tell us we're going to use the state every which away. Are we going to allow freedom of people to move around the earth as best they can looking for jobs? No. We may have become a powerful country by letting tens of millions come here, urging them to come here. That may be our history, but the world has changed and Mr. Trump recognizes it. You don't have to behave the way he does to do that, but he has recognized it. So. So there's no more free movement of human beings. We are deporting people. People who've worked here for 20 years, who've paid their taxes dutifully, who've never had a crime attached to them, are being deported. We didn't used to do that, or at least most of the time we didn't. We do now. We're tariffing everybody. We're sanctioning. The number one sanctioning country in, in the world is the United States. We go after people's property, we take it from them. We took 300 billion from Russia and froze it and won't let them get at it as part of the Ukraine war dealings. These are remarkable things. It's the end of neoliberalism. We are now in a world of economic nationalism. And it better be understood, because it is the justification for everything Mr. Trump is doing and increasingly for what the Democrats say. And if we're going to be critical of their policies and where they lead, one of the things we have to take into account is the neoliberal libertarian ideology that that is no longer the justification. The only place you see it is in Mr. Musk when he fires large numbers of federal employees. He restates the old libertarian mantra. We don't want government words more efficient if the private sector. Nobody believes that anymore, Mr. Musk. And that, like everything else you do, is turning around to undercut your wealth, your Tesla corporation and your reputation. It was in the cards all along. The only other update in our first half that I have time for has to do with the corporatization of American universities Mr. Trump is going after, particularly the elite ones, and he's saying, I'm not going to give you money the way the government has been giving you money, because I don't like the ideology you put out. You make liberals, you make Democrats. We aren't liberals, we aren't Democrats. We want Republicans and conservatives. And if you don't adjust your courses, your faculty, your programs, we're not giving you government money. Well, you know, in a way, the corporations who are screaming bloody murder and the universities, rather, who are they really have themselves to blame. Once upon a time, those placesand I'm, let me admit, I'm a graduate of Harvard and Stanford and Yale. Those are the schools I went to. Those are the schools in the crosshairs of Mr. Trump's cutbacks. They could have been universities. They were the way they mostly were when I went to school there. But they decided to become bigger and richer and to do many things other than educate. So they got into bed with corporations to partner and they got into bed with the government to partner and they took a lot of money to grow rich and be big corporations. And now they're paying the price. They should have stayed independent, committed to the education which was their beginning. And if they don't learn that lesson, we're going to see much more government control of universities than we're already seeing attempted. Now, thank you for your attention. Stay with us. We'll be right back with Professor Geert Dante. Before we jump into the second half of today's show, I wanted to thank you for your very generous response to our fundraising efforts this year and in particular in the last couple of months. And in part responding to that, we are extending the availability of our limited edition, linen, covered hardcover version of Understanding Capitalism, the book I wrote and that we have been making available now for quite a while. If you are interested, I will be signing copies of that hardcover and they will be available to you as they have been over the last few weeks. Just simply send an email to us@info democracyatwork.info and put in the subject line limited edition. We will send you all the information you need to order and receive your copy signed copy of Understanding Capitalism in its hardback. And thank you again for your kind attention to the fundraising dimension of what we do. Welcome back, friends, to the second half of today's economic update. I am very glad to bring to our microphone and to our cameras Professor Geert Daunt. I have known him for many years. He has quite a record of winning teaching awards. He is an associate professor and department chair of economics at the John Jay College of the City University of New York. His teaching and research focuses on the economics of crime, the justice system, if that's the right name for it, and race, and that's an area that he is a specialist in. I have asked him to come and speak with us because I want to hear from someone directly involved in university life, especially in a position such as Geertz, who is a chair of a department and therefore has administrative responsibilities alongside of his teaching. So first of all, Geert, since we've known each other, I'm going to take the liberty of calling you by your first name. Thank you very much for your time. Okay.

[Geert Dont]

Thank you very much, Rick. It's a pleasure to be here.

[Richard Wolff]

Good. Let's begin. Tell us a little bit about the Economics department at John Jay, what you do, what your goals are, and about the special master's program that I've heard about and that I think will interest our audience.

[Geert Dont]

Yes, I think the first thing, economics departments are usually seen as very conservative programs in a conservative discipline. We are not like that. We were able to recreate an economics program from scratch. There was a unique history to the John Jay College of Criminal justice. And in 2009, the college restarted the Economics department. And it made the good fortune of hiring a few former students of rickwolf to help develop this new department. And, and so what we have done is created a really great focus, a really great teaching program at the undergraduate level. And also. And we have done this out of. We have done this from scratch in the sense that we didn't really have to worry about other kind of previous kind of parts of the economics Economics program that was here before. And so we were able to. And the other part of that's really unique about John J. John J. Inc. In the City University New York, is that we really have a focus of really working class students. So there are no people here from the 1%. Almost everybody has jobs. And it's a real working class institution which is really useful for teaching economics from a critical perspective. And what we have always had is a master's. What we always have is a master's program, which is a real treat. I think it's one of the most. Is one of the best radical economics programs in the country. We have a master's program here. It's relatively cheap to attend. And so, for example, you know, if your students would be enrolling into this program the next semester, in the fall semester, they would be taking classes with multiple students of Rick Wolf, you know, in political economy and in mathematics and in history or History of Thought in political China and so on. We have many very fascinating courses that you can find out about us.

[Richard Wolff]

Geert, tell me who takes courses in economics. Tell us a little bit about. Do students have a choice? Do they have to take the courses? What is it that students are interested in these days? It would be important to have a sense of how economic literacy in this country is evolving, at least from the perspective of your particular school.

[Geert Dont]

So at the undergraduate level, what we have is people that often fall into our program by taking some introductory class and being really interested in it. We really try to have really excellent teachers into our economics, introductory economics courses that help recruit students economics and show them the interest in what economics can be. We also have these programs that are set up with other kind of CUNY schools like the bmcc, the Borough of Manhattan Community College, which is one of the largest community colleges in the country, where we have an agreement and a relationship with the economics department there, which is also very radical. And when people go classes there, they can easily transfer to John Jay and then they're exposed that way. The other aspect for the master's program is it's two kind of people we usually get mainly, and one is our own students want to continue into a master students. And also we get lots of people that are very variety of people, but it's like mostly people that are interested in studying radical economics at the master's level. So we have activists from various trends across the political left spectrum and we have people from other universities or countries that come here to study with us and to get a master's in economics degree. And then we also have people that want to have like that looking for a job, but they have a job, but they're not happy with their job and looking for a change in direction and so they go there. And we've been very successful in placing lots of our master students both in government, city and state governments and federal government institutions, as well as nonprofits. And we have sent lots of people to PhD programs. So we currently have former master students in most of the heterodox economics PhD programs in the country.

[Richard Wolff]

All right, I want to explore a different angle. There is evidence around the United States these days that between the rising cost of higher education and the apparent hostility of the government in terms of giving grants and other supports, the attempt to do away with the Department of Education, which I believe still is an objective of this government. What is the report on the ground? In other words, are you finding students unable to continue their education, being forced by financial limits to cut, to not apply, to not stay, to not finish? Or is that at least not yet a reality?

[Geert Dont]

Well, I think the, the reality is a little bit longer than just so it's like the impact of the Trump administration's kind of very aggressive policies towards universities. Mostly they've been focused on Ivy League schools, but you can see the effects everywhere. So for example, one of the impact that I want to talk about, a few different impacts. So one impact is that lots of professors university gets grants and are grant funded, including programs like John Jay at a college, John Jay, various kind of student success programs. So John Jay is a Hispanic serving institution and a minority serving institution where more than 70% of the, of the people, the students that go to John Jay are black and Latino. And what you, what, what that, what that means is that we're expecting to get to lose those funds for, for, for institutions like that because it's, if you apply for federal grants. Words like minority, minority or Hispanic minority or diversity or women are not allowed anymore, you know, are banned words now. And so what you have is that you have a loss of grants already. Not as much, you know, we don't have a medical school here. So we don't have get, you know, or don't get as many funds as, you know, as Ivy League schools or some Ivy League schools. But it's, or we're not a target that way. But you can see those things happening everywhere. The, the, also the president of our college, Carol Mason, she has really emphasized that she wants to fly underneath the radar of all of this. And she tries to be, not say anything, not be controversial about any aspects. So she's trying to create this atmosphere. We don't want to be a target from them. So we'll try to avoid doing anything that would attract attention, which is really not the purpose of university, which shows the kind of tremendous fear that exists among the administration, among faculty and among students that been created by a variety of these kind of various policies. But this goes back a little further. So, for example, this administration here is very kind of connected to New York City and New York State, which is very much involved with the Democratic Party. And this kind of repression of the, the reason why Trump is going somewhere after this, after the, after these Ivy League institutions has to do with perceived anti Semitism and on of students, which means that if you say anything bad about the state of Israel, that's obviously anti Semitic and you can't criticize the state of Israel or otherwise, he'll be punished for whatever actions they might be doing. And so some of those aspects are related to that. But this goes much further back, further than the Trump administration. This was happening under here in New York from the governor, from Chuck Schumer directly intervening into these aspects. And so that goes back further. What Trump has done is really increased the level of hostility towards those aspects and made it more overt, but not particularly, you know, it's not particularly new, some of these aspects of it.

[Richard Wolff]

What about the student loan issue? The government has announced that it's going to be actively persecuting, I don't know what of a polite word to use, people who have, have defaulted on their student loans or are delinquent in the sense that they are behind their payment program. Are you picking up from students anxiety about this or how they're responding or what they plan to do?

[Geert Dont]

Yeah, this is a very good question. This is a very important question because it talks about kind of what the purpose of university is right. And so I think that in the larger aspect, these kind of draconian measures towards student loan debt by the Trump administration has really shown that it's going to really have negative impacts on the whole US Economy by making so many people forced to pay their money back. But it also shows about what's the role of student loans in having university. For example, it's like if you get, you know, the Biden administration had different aspects of trying to reduce a student loan and having people not pay the stuff back because of the pandemic. But also they, they're trying to get different kind of reducing people's loan debt in order to. One of the reasons is to encourage economic, economic activity. But what you also have, it's about right. It's like going people going to university, what is important for them is that this is not good for just for themselves, for their future income. But it's an important part of, you know, it's good for everybody, it's good for society, it's good for the economy in general. And so what's interesting in that, particularly at John Jay when I first came here in 2009, what, what we had happened is that was surprised about that. When I was coming from UMass Amherst before a student loan, that was a very important topic amongst students there. It was not so much an important part here. And the reason because of that is that the student, it's a working class school and so over half of all students have Pelt grants. Many students have tuition assistance programs from New York State. So the vast majority of all students do not take student loan debts and do not take student loans. So in that sense you don't have the same aspect, but it really shows towards a different aspect of where we should be going and I should really should be going to decommodify higher education and you know that we don't need Pell grants and student loans and all the kind of bureaucracy around it because people should just be able to go to, you know, continue their higher education for free. Like that used to be at the City University of New York and like.

[Richard Wolff]

It is in most European countries which have none of these tuitions or fees. I wish we had more time geared to go into this. But thank you very, very much for your comments. I wish you and your program every success and maybe we'll have you back in a few months and see how it looks from that perspective.

[Geert Dont]

Again, thank you very much, Rick. Thank you for having us.

[Richard Wolff]

Take care. Bye bye. And to all of you I hope you found this report from the ground of higher education as important as I did. And I look forward, as always, to speaking with you again next week.