Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: The Jeffrey Epstein Class (February 24, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Richard D. Wolff explores the economic and social underpinnings of current labor actions and the ramifications of oligarchic power, culminating in a deep discussion about the “Epstein class”—the elite implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The second half features Tess Fraad-Wolff, a psychotherapist, offering psychological and cultural insights into how unchecked elite power, toxic masculinity, and economic predation are entangled in such scandals.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Waves of Major Strikes Across the U.S.

[01:55–11:00]

• Strikes Highlighted

  • New York City Nurses Strike: 15,000 nurses at three major hospitals; two strikes settled, one ongoing (00:52).
  • San Francisco Teachers Strike: Impacts 50,000 students at 120 schools.
  • Kaiser Permanente Strike (California): 31,000 employees involved.

• Underlying Causes

  • Erosion of purchasing power due to inflation.
  • Decline of American capitalism and empire.
  • Leadership and wealthy elite offloading costs of decline onto middle and lower classes.
  • Unwillingness of elite decision-makers (hospital and school boards) to concede to wage and benefit demands, mirrored in other sectors.

• Wolff’s Analysis

  “The people at the top are becoming hard nosed and bitter and they want everyone else to suffer, just not them... That’s why unions are fighting back.” (07:10, Richard Wolff)

  • Social problems require social solutions—not individual ones. Calls for collective action/movements.

2. The Munich Security Conference: Fracturing of the Western Alliance

[11:35–16:15]

• Annual conference historically celebrated U.S.-Europe security unity.

• This year’s theme: The Deconstruction of Mutual Security—reflecting the unraveling U.S.–European alliance.

• The U.S. now encourages Europe to provide for its own security, signaling the end of post-WWII arrangements.

• Wolff traces this shift to changing global power balances, rise of China/BRICS, and internal European and American class pressures.

• Memorable Assessment:

  “The thieves have fallen out. The United States and Europe are now headed in different directions. Their alliance is over, and much is going to change in the months and years ahead because of it.” (16:04, Richard Wolff)

3. Interview: The “Epstein Class,” Power, and Predation

[17:41–32:04]
Guest: Tess Fraad-Wolff, Psychotherapist

a. The “Epstein Class” and Unchecked Power

• Defining ‘Epstein Class’:
  Tess references a politician’s term for the elite class enmeshed in predatory, lawless behavior. The scandal reveals deep, institutional moral corruption.

  “We’re in the moment of this great reveal… the heart of a high addiction by an elite class, by what… an important coining, the Epstein class, which is really about a ruling class and the pollution of such a class, the pollution of such permission. But without boundaries, without regulations and rules, without limits, people become monstrous.” (17:41, Tess Fraad-Wolff)

• Societal Consequences:
  Watching these excesses is “spiritually assaultive”; the hypocrisy is overwhelming.

b. Toxic Masculinity and Gendered Violence

• Cultural Failures:
  Tess discusses the lack of healthy models for masculinity and how our society’s way of raising boys often strips them of affection, leading to alienation and, in some, a drive for predatory, disconnected forms of sexuality.

  “We have such a desperate shortage of healthy, laudable emblems of masculinity… a tawdry, low hanging notion of masculinity that involves predation, that involves bullying, that involves some kind of power search that's actually in itself a compensation for feelings of fragility and internal frailty.” (20:15, Tess Fraad-Wolff)

  • She highlights that women, regardless of sexual orientation, are not comparably represented among child predators, prompting questions about how gender socialization contributes to sexual violence.

c. The Intertwining of Economic Power and Gendered Exploitation

• Economic Predation:
  The guest underlines the economic dynamics: wealthy (often male) perpetrators exploit poor, vulnerable young women and girls. The scandal symbolizes deep intersectionality between class supremacy and sexual predation.

  “There’s rich on poor horror interwoven with toxic masculinity and gender relation horror… It would be the worst tragedy if all of this ends up being a discussion of how bad Mr. Epstein was… and not to see the enormous social reality that produced these examples.” (25:08, Richard Wolff)

  • Tess: “Supremacy is a hell of a drug… our culture is a predatory culture. Our economic system is a predatory system…” (26:10, Tess Fraad-Wolff)
  • Denounces the complicity of banks and institutions that “looked away” from systemic abuse due to profit motives.

d. The Culture of Denial and “Hoax” Narratives

• Dismissal as a Defense Tactic:
  Wolff and Tess discuss Trump’s attempt to call the Epstein case a “democratic hoax,” observing a broader strategy of distorting reality and denying inconvenient facts.

  “This is not an administration that deals in reality. This is an administration that subsists on and deals in non reality, surreality and denial of reality… Everything is here to wither away lines between reality and non reality so that a public is deadened into just giving up on reality truth altogether.” (29:01, Tess Fraad-Wolff)

4. Solutions and Reflections

[30:43–32:04]

• Cultural Reckoning Needed:
  Tess calls for “naming these things”—the dangers of pedestalizing greed and denying men’s emotional needs—and a commitment to curiosity and interrogation rather than reflexive disbelief, especially of female survivors.

  “Pedestalizing greed creates monstrosity. And refusing to allow men to be full creatures with emotional needs also creates toxicity…. We have to commit to curiosity and being willing to sort of swallow hard and look at the ugliness behind class supremacy.” (31:05, Tess Fraad-Wolff)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Social Solutions to Social Problems:

  “You don’t solve social problems with individual actions. To solve a social problem, you need a social movement.” (10:03, Richard Wolff)

• On Economic Decline:

  “The capitalists who built the empire have lost it … the people at the top, facing a decline, whether they admit it or not, offload the costs of decline onto the middle and lower classes below them.” (05:15, Richard Wolff)

• On Institutional Complicity:

  “Why did these banks look away? Because there was child blood…spattered all over their stacks of cash. They did look away. They will look away.” (26:41, Tess Fraad-Wolff)

• On the Need for Cultural Self-Examination:

  “There is incredible power in naming these things. And also looking at why this culture… make[s] a kind of quiet practice out of doubting women, doubting women’s accounts.” (31:25, Tess Fraad-Wolff)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Start | End | Description | |------------------------------------------|---------|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Major Strikes in U.S. | 00:52 | 11:00 | Overview and analysis of recent major strikes | | Munich Security Conference | 11:35 | 16:15 | Breakdown in U.S.–Europe alliance and its historical context | | Introduction to Epstein Scandal | 17:41 | 19:20 | Tess Fraad-Wolff sets the stage: “Epstein class” and corruption | | Toxic Masculinity & Gender Socialization | 20:09 | 23:58 | Cultural failures in raising boys, links to predatory behavior | | Economic Predation | 24:00 | 26:08 | Interplay of class, gender, and abuse | | Complicity & Denial | 27:53 | 29:00 | Hoax narrative, denial and reality distortion | | Solutions & Reflection | 30:43 | 32:04 | Calls for naming systemic issues, believing survivors |

Tone & Language Notes

• The conversation strikes a balance between analytic and impassioned; Wolff’s voice is incisive, didactic, and sometimes personal, while Tess brings a clinical yet empathic perspective.
• The episode brims with urgency about the dangers of unchecked power, cultural complicity, and the need for systemic change.
• Both speakers employ vivid imagery (“blood-spattered cash,” “spiritually assaultive,” "supremacy is a hell of a drug").

Conclusion

This episode delves deeply into the intersection of class, gender, and moral decay within the context of current events, most acutely embodied by the “Epstein class.” It connects major labor actions to broader patterns of elite selfishness and societal decline, then turns to the psychological and sociological dimensions of elite predation. Practical and cultural steps are urged, with an emphasis on social movements, cultural honesty, and refusing to let systemic issues be reduced to a few “bad apples.”

Useful for those seeking both an analytical and human understanding of contemporary American crises—whether in labor, geopolitics, or the dark heart of power.