Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: The Pandemic's Lesson about Capitalism

Date: June 25, 2020
Host: Richard D. Wolff

Overview

In this episode, Richard D. Wolff explores the critical economic lessons taught by the coronavirus pandemic, focusing primarily on capitalism’s inability to adequately prepare for and manage public health crises. Wolff uses the pandemic as a lens to examine systemic shortcomings—arguing that prioritizing profit over basic social needs has dire consequences. He extends his critique to other essential sectors, highlighting the need for collective organization and proposing alternatives like worker cooperatives to address public welfare more effectively.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Pandemic as a Systemic Stress Test

00:15 – 04:30

• Inadequate Preparation & Coping:
  Wolff emphasizes the lack of readiness—insufficient tests, masks, ventilators, and infrastructure—highlighting a systemic failure rather than simply political or managerial missteps.
  • “Wasn’t profitable to make tests and store them in a warehouse… It wasn’t profitable for private enterprises to do the things that would have been an adequate preparation for this crisis.” (01:40)
• Profit Motive vs. Public Health:
  The private sector’s drive for profit meant vital goods weren’t produced or stockpiled. Government inaction reflected alignment with capitalist priorities rather than public need.
  • “It would have cost the government lots of money. And so the question would have been raised, ‘Where’s the money going to come from? Tax the people… Tax the corporations and the rich. They will make your next election very unpleasant.’” (03:16)
• Economic Inefficiency in Capitalism:
  Wolff argues that the economic losses from the pandemic vastly outweigh what preventative investment would have cost.

2. The Broader Lesson: Redefining Basic Social Needs

04:30 – 17:00

• Public Health as a Priority:
  He asserts that public health should always supersede private profit, calling the current prioritization “unacceptable.”
  • “What we needed for public health wasn’t profitable to produce and to stockpile, so we didn’t.” (06:00)
• Food Systems:
  The disparity between “natural/organic” and mass-produced, chemically-laden food is driven by profitability, not collective well-being.
  • “If it’s healthy to have organic food, that’s the system we ought to have for everybody.” (08:00)
  • “Are we going to let profit determine that the mass of people eat food that is not good for you? Come on, you know the answer.” (09:10)
• Housing Crisis:
  Housing construction, left to profit-driven developers, creates conditions of scarcity and homelessness even while capability exists to house everyone.
  • “They only build the houses if it’s profitable… Is it acceptable that we have houses not built because it isn’t profitable while… many homeless people have no place to call home?” (11:30)
• Education:
  The growing role of for-profit institutions undermines the fundamental mission of education as a universal service.
  • “A public sector squeezed and contracted, and a private profit sector. That’s not the basis if you’re committed to education.” (14:45)

3. Extending the Analysis to Other Sectors

17:00 – 27:00

• Mass Transit & Automobiles:
  America’s heavy reliance on private vehicles is a result of the automobile industry’s dominance and profit motive, causing pollution and accidents.
  • “We do kill large numbers of our fellow citizens in our automobiles because we don’t have a public mass transit system. Imagine one.” (20:20)
  • Recalls President Trump’s “trade-off” logic: “We don’t stop automobile traffic… because a lot of people get killed in accidents.” (20:00)
• Elder Care:
  Profit-driven eldercare facilities are, in Wolff’s words, “insufferable,” with care quality sacrificed for revenue.
  • “We really do know… You want elderly people, after a lifetime of work and raising a family, to be treated decently… then you cannot leave it in the hands of private profiteers.” (23:15)
• Energy:
  Fossil fuel companies prioritize profit over sustainability, impeding the transition to cleaner alternatives.
  • “If we don’t want energy to be a threat to our survival, it has to be handled in a collective, direct way, not held hostage to private profiteering.” (25:00)
• Public Safety (Military & Police):
  Contrast with how society already organizes military and police as public service, not for competitively-driven, for-profit models.
  • “We don’t have different police profiteers competing for us to pay them to protect us.” (26:20)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On pandemic loss:
  “The wealth lost by the coronavirus pandemic is many, many, many times larger than what it would have cost to produce and, or stockpile all of the equipment that might have made us ready.” (03:45)
• Fundamental criticism:
  “Profit had a higher priority in our society than public health and that’s unacceptable… Capitalism wasn’t efficient in securing public health. It was monumentally insufficient.” (05:10)
• On energy and capitalism:
  “Oil, gas, sun, all of [these] should be organized to meet our needs for energy without destroying our planet. That task can’t be left in the hands of private profiteers who have done everything to cut corners.” (25:16)
• Summing up the lesson:
  “We have to take the things that are more important to us than private profit, like our public health, like our housing, like our schools, like our transport system and so on, and free them from being hostage to private profit. That’s the lesson.” (28:30)

Proposals & Vision for Systemic Alternatives

1. Worker Cooperatives as a Solution

29:00 – 32:00

• Democratic Management:
  Proposes worker co-ops to manage essential services—schools, transport, housing—with input from workers, consumers, and communities.
  • “Worker co-ops should produce all of these… Three partners make the decision: those who do the work, those who consume the output, and those who live in and around where the production takes place.” (29:40)
• Economic Pluralism & Informed Choice:
  Suggests keeping private enterprise in sectors where basics aren’t at stake (ie. restaurants, luxury services) to create an informed choice between systems.
  • “This would give us… the freedom of choice we don’t have now. We would see how worker co-ops work in the basic industries of our society, and we would watch how capitalist enterprises work in the other less basic areas.” (31:25)

2. A Society that Prioritizes Community

32:00 – End

• Changing Priorities:
  Drawing on the analogy of public parks, Wolff suggests reclaiming essential goods and services for the collective good, not private profit.
  • “Let’s make a whole bunch of things priorities that we as a community are going to produce and make available to us as a community.” (32:20)
• Concluding Reflection:
  Calls for an economy that organizes basic needs outside capitalist enterprise, enabling an informed, democratic choice for the future.
  • “That would be a society that could choose knowledgeably, informed choice about the different economic systems we want to make use of…” (33:45)

Key Segment Timestamps

• Pandemic as a Wakeup Call: 00:10 – 06:15
• Profit vs. Public Health: 04:00 – 07:30
• Food System Critique: 07:30 – 10:30
• Housing as a Right: 10:45 – 12:45
• Education Debate: 12:50 – 14:45
• Mass Transit & Automobiles: 17:00 – 22:00
• Elder Care: 23:00 – 24:00
• Energy: 25:00 – 26:00
• Comparison: Military & Police: 26:20 – 27:30
• Worker Co-op Model: 29:00 – 32:00
• Vision for a New Society: 32:00 – End

Summary & Concluding Message

Richard Wolff’s episode is a passionate critique of capitalism’s failure to serve basic human needs, as exposed by the pandemic. He methodically highlights how essentials—health, food, housing, education, transit, eldercare, and energy—are poorly served by a system that subordinates them to private profit. Wolff calls for a societal shift towards worker-run cooperatives and collective management of key sectors, departing from “economic fundamentalism.” He envisions a pluralistic economy where essential services are democratized, ensuring future generations inherit a society capable of meeting their most pressing needs.