Twin Crises of Housing and Homelessness

Summary

Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff: Twin Crises of Housing and Homelessness
Release Date: May 6, 2025

Introduction

In the May 6, 2025 episode of Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff, host Richard Wolff delves into pressing economic issues affecting society, particularly focusing on the intertwined crises of housing and homelessness. The episode navigates through the contentious relationship between President Trump and elite universities, the depreciation of the U.S. dollar, and an in-depth interview with Rob Robinson, a renowned activist combating homelessness.

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1. The Conflict Between President Trump and Elite Universities

Richard Wolff opens the discussion by highlighting the recent tensions between President Trump and prestigious institutions like Harvard University. Wolff commends Harvard for its resistance against the President's attempts to impose government control over academic affairs.

“Harvard broke the pattern, and since it did so, quite a few other universities have followed suit.”
[00:20]

Wolff criticizes Trump's strategy, asserting that the administration's actions are a coordinated attack on higher education under the guise of combating antisemitism. He argues that targeting universities for such initiatives is disingenuous, as these institutions are not the epicenters of antisemitism. Instead, he posits that the underlying motive is the Republican Party's discomfort with the predominantly Democratic leanings of university communities.

“Republicans don't like colleges and universities because the statistics show that people who go to colleges and universities tilt towards the Democratic Party, not the Republican.”
[00:20]

Wolff reminisces about Harvard's historical complicity during the McCarthy era, mentioning the dismissal of Paul Sweezey, a Marxist economist, to placate governmental pressures. This historical context underscores Harvard's current defiance against governmental overreach.

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2. Antisemitism and Political Agendas

Wolff addresses the broader issue of antisemitism in American society, acknowledging its persistent presence but contending that universities are not the primary battlegrounds for this prejudice.

“Is antisemitism something that ought to be combated? Absolutely. ... But universities in this country have become big business.”
[00:20]

He critiques the administration's justification for targeting universities, suggesting that it serves as a façade for political motivations, particularly the Republican desire to diminish the influence of liberal-leaning academic institutions.

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3. Economic Implications: Depreciation of the U.S. Dollar and Tariffs

Shifting focus, Wolff discusses the significant depreciation of the U.S. dollar since Trump's presidency began on January 20th.

“Since Mr. Trump became president on 20 January and up until 14 April, the US dollar has depreciated by about 10% against the euro and many other currencies.”
[00:20]

He explains the dual economic pressures this places on the country: Imported goods become more expensive due to the weaker dollar, and the imposition of tariffs exacerbates this cost increase. Wolff warns that this "double whammy" will lead to rising prices, disproportionately affecting the working class whose wages cannot keep pace with inflation.

“A tariff of 10% means it's on top of the extra 10%. ... Mr. Trump heaves his tariffs at us.”
[00:20]

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4. Interview with Rob Robinson: Homelessness and Housing Crisis

In the second half of the program, Wolff introduces Rob Robinson, an esteemed activist and former homeless individual who has dedicated his life to fighting for housing rights. Robinson's insights provide a stark view of how Trump's policies are exacerbating homelessness.

a. Impact of Trump Administration on Homelessness

Robinson outlines the administration's detrimental policies, particularly a Supreme Court decision in April 2024 that criminalizes homelessness without providing alternatives.

“They made the decision that if you are sleeping on the street and there's no alternative for you, you can be criminalized.”
[20:06]

He criticizes the dismantling of crucial government agencies like Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which undermines support systems for the economically disadvantaged.

“HUD Section 8 vouchers are in jeopardy. Project-based Section 8 is in jeopardy... these are housing programs that work for poor people.”
[20:06]

b. Economic System Failure

Wolff interjects with a critical economic perspective, emphasizing that an economic system fails when it cannot provide adequate jobs or income for its populace.

“If you do not do that, your economic system has failed. That the government comes in and backstops is a measure of your failure.”
[22:57]

Robinson agrees, highlighting the chaos created by Trump's policies and the broader erosion of trust in governmental institutions both domestically and internationally.

c. Community Response and Activism

Robinson discusses the burgeoning movement against these oppressive policies, citing synchronized protests and the importance of political education.

“There's a lot of pushing back... there's a bubbling up from the community to push back. It's organizing.”
[26:17]

He underscores the necessity of community collaboration to address homelessness, advocating for a collective approach where various societal sectors work together to find sustainable solutions.

“This takes the community coming together to come up with a solution. It was created by the community. It has to be solved by the community.”
[28:21]

d. Changing Perceptions and Selfishness

When prompted about societal attitudes towards homelessness, Robinson acknowledges inherent selfishness but remains optimistic about shifting narratives through activism and public discourse.

“There is a selfishness that exists in this country... But the more we talk about this publicly, the more we talk about that Supreme Court decision... I think there's a shift now where people are starting to think outside of the box.”
[28:21]

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5. Conclusion

Wolff wraps up the episode by reiterating the significance of the issues discussed and applauding Rob Robinson's contributions to the fight against homelessness. He encourages listeners to engage with the movement and remain informed about the economic challenges facing the nation.

“It's a part of what a democratic, collective community does for itself to make sure all the members are in a decent condition to be good neighbors and good friends and good citizens. It ought to be basic.”
[30:56]

Wolff also highlights upcoming events, such as Robinson's honorary doctorate, recognizing the importance of acknowledging and supporting activists striving for social justice.

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Notable Quotes

• Richard Wolff on Harvard's Defiance:
  “Harvard broke the pattern, and since it did so, quite a few other universities have followed suit.”
  [00:20]

• Rob Robinson on Supreme Court Decision:
  “They made the decision that if you are sleeping on the street and there's no alternative for you, you can be criminalized.”
  [20:06]

• Wolff on Economic System Failure:
  “If you do not do that, your economic system has failed. That the government comes in and backstops is a measure of your failure.”
  [22:57]

• Robinson on Community Solutions:
  “This takes the community coming together to come up with a solution. It was created by the community. It has to be solved by the community.”
  [28:21]

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Key Takeaways

1. Academic Freedom vs. Political Agendas: The episode underscores the tension between elite universities and political authorities, particularly in the context of alleged antisemitism, revealing deeper partisan conflicts.

2. Economic Policies Under Scrutiny: Wolff critiques the Trump administration's economic strategies, highlighting the adverse effects of dollar depreciation and tariffs on everyday Americans.

3. Homelessness as a Societal Failure: Through Rob Robinson's insights, the podcast portrays homelessness not merely as an individual plight but as a systemic economic and governmental failure exacerbated by recent policies.

4. Rise of Activism and Community Engagement: The episode emphasizes the growing grassroots movements fighting against oppressive policies, advocating for collective action and political education as pathways to meaningful change.

5. Interconnectedness of Economic and Social Issues: By linking housing crises with broader economic policies, Wolff and Robinson illustrate how systemic economic decisions directly impact social welfare and community stability.

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Conclusion

The May 6, 2025 episode of Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff provides a comprehensive analysis of the current economic and social challenges related to housing and homelessness. Through insightful discussions and expert interviews, the podcast sheds light on the detrimental impacts of political decisions on vulnerable populations and underscores the necessity for collective action and systemic reform. For listeners seeking to understand the complexities of these twin crises, this episode offers invaluable perspectives and calls to action.

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. I want to begin today by reminding you that Charlie Fabian is awaiting word from you. If you have suggestions or proposals for our programs, we welcome them. You simply send them to charlie.info438mail.com and likewise, a reminder that our book, Understanding Capitalism, is a companion volume to this program. If you're interested in the analysis of how the capitalist system works, which in shorthand is what we do here, then you can get much more depth to all of that by looking at that book and reading it along with watching the program. And and many have found that useful, and that's partly why we wrote the book. And you can find out about it by going to our website, democracyatwork.infobooks, where information about it will be available to you. In today's program, we're going to do several things. We're going to take a look at the economics of the university around the struggle between President Trump, on the one hand, and Harvard University on the other. We're then going to look at what has happened to the value of the dollar in exchange between dollars and other currencies, because it tells you a lot about the economic stresses that are coming down on the United States more than ever. And in the second half of our program, we'll be interviewing once again. We've had him on the show before, Rob Robinson, an activist around homelessness who is in a position to talk about that issue with us in the second half. And I think you'll find the program today particularly interesting. So let's dive right in. A note of transparency. I will be talking about Harvard University. I am myself a graduate of that place, and that gives me perhaps a little bit more of an insight into what's going on there. Harvard became famous again in recent weeks because it responded to President Trump in a way that other universities, particularly Columbia University, Princeton University and some others, had not or failed to do. Harvard broke the pattern, and since it did so, quite a few other universities have followed suit. And so I want to take my hat off to Harvard for having pushed back against the president. Here is what President Trump has been doing to many universities. There is nothing less than a coordinated attack on colleges and universities. It is done in the name of antisemitism, or more precisely, fighting antisemitism in the name of antisemitism being a bad thing. And in the name or the idea that it is Particularly rampant on colleges and universities. The president is coming to fight this bad thing, antisemitism, by doing what? By demanding that the government be able to control, shape, veto, faculty, change, whole departments. Basically, the government is intruding onto the space of a private university. Harvard is, Princeton is. Columbia is a private university in a way that really the government has rarely done before. That's not to say that the universities have a spotless record. Here, they don't. When I went to Harvard, it was fresh off of caving in to McCarthyism. It had fired, for example, the most important Marxist economist of that time in America, a man named Paul Sweezey, himself a graduate of Harvard, a leading economist who went on to do wonderful work for the rest of his life here in the United States. But Harvard fired him summarily, without any reason other than to placate the government. So it's doubly interesting that Harvard would break that pattern this time. Now, what does that mean? Well, is it that Harvard doesn't care about antisemitism? Not at all. If you read the statement by Harvard professor and president Alan Garber, you would have noticed that he lists there the steps Harvard has taken to combat antisemitism, which I'll come to in a moment. So there's half a cave in, but the other half, that's it. We've taken those steps. You cannot tell us what to do in the field of education. You're not going to have the supervision. We're going to fight you in court every step of the way. And Mr. Trump immediately backtracked, realizing he overreached and said some underling. He threw some underling under the bus and said it wasn't done appropriately. Mumble, bumble, backed off of it. We'll see where that goes. I want to turn then to what the real issue is. Number one, Republicans don't like colleges and universities because the statistics show that people who go to colleges and universities tilt towards the Democratic Party, not the Republican. That's half the reason of what's going on here. They want to change universities so they don't tilt, end up doing that. They want to blame the university rather than honoring the brains of the people who go through. It's an insult to the students. It's an insult to the faculty. It means that they look upon the university simply as an enemy whose output they don't like, and therefore they're going to redo it. I mean, it's extraordinary. Columbia went so far as to hire Mike Pompeo, an obscure congressman who, for A while got a bigger job because he sucked up to Trump. These are behaviors that you shouldn't see, but you can't unsee them once they're there. So that's part of the story. Now here's another part I'm going to deal with. Anti Semitism. Is there a problem of antisemitism in American society? Of course there is. There always has been. Right back from the beginning of our colonial days. This country is overwhelmingly Christian. Jews are a relatively small minority. That's really all you have to say in most societies. When you have that kind of an imbalance, a certain number of the people in the majority are going to find it convenient to scapegoat the minority. Jews are not the only ones. Muslims these days are in that position in the United States. There are parts of the country in which Roman Catholics occupy a position like that. And we could go on. Is antisemitism something that ought to be combated? Absolutely. It's unfair, it's unjust, it's damaging. It's not good for the larger society either. It puts people against each other. It's got a lot of bad things, which we all know, and that's why it's appropriate to be against it. But that's not what's going on here. This is an excuse. Now, if you had to list the places where antisemitism is a problem, universities and colleges would not be at the top of the list. They wouldn't even be in the middle of the list. They'd be kind of low, because that's an area where we don't have that problem all that terribly. But there are other places where we do. For example, in certain fundamentalist Christian communities, hostility to Jews is part of the interpretation of the Bible. And there's a problem there, and that could be addressed, and there are ways of doing that. There are regions of the country, there are neighborhoods in the country, there are ethnic communities where antisemitism is strong, just as there are those where it's weak. You would presumably go after it where it's strong, not where it's weak. Going after colleges and universities is choosing a place where it's weak and therefore it's a fraud. It's just an excuse. What's the real reason? Well, I already gave you one. Republicans don't like colleges and universities because of where educated people tend to vote. Here's another. The United States is in political bed with Israel. Israel is fighting a very tough war in Gaza in which the Israelis are behaving in a way most people in the world find abhorrent, and that includes Americans and young people with the brains to learn about it and to see it, have been demonstrating at Colombia and other places, saying that they want to express their opinion that what Israel is doing in Gaza is inappropriate. These are not anti Semites. Many of them are Jewish. Many of them make crystal clear they have no problem with the Jewish religion, no problem with Jewish people. They are against the particular policy of a particular government in power in Israel because of what it is doing. They have every right to do that. The government doesn't want demonstrations because they're with the Israelis. We, after all, are the country that's funding all of that and providing Israel with many of the weapons being used to kill large numbers of unarmed Palestinians. That's the reality. You don't have to be for or against it to recognize it's the reality. And this is an attempt to shut down those protests by hounding the people who ought to be enjoying free speech and liberty, but are being denied it, both of them. And that's what this is about. Antisemitism is the COVID There's a bigger problem here, of course, which is that universities in this country have become big business. Harvard has tens of billions of dollars of wealth in its endowment. Like all the other elite schools, it gets lots of money from corporations, lots of money from the government, and so it's very sensitive to do what the corporations want and to do what the government wants. That's why Columbia caved, no doubt. We shouldn't have our education system held hostage, neither to big business nor to the government. If they were properly funded in a social way, which is how most countries handle their universities, they wouldn't have to go cap in hand to corporations and the government and do what they're told. They actually would be what colleges and universities were supposed to be, areas of free inquiry, free debate, free research and free speech. Shame on those in the corporate elite and the government who are making that more impossible than it already was. The last economic update I can have time for is to point out to everyone that since Mr. Trump became president on 20 January and up until 14 April, the US dollar has depreciated by about 10% against the euro and many other currencies. That means everything we bring into the country is already 10% more expensive because we have to give 10% more dollars, the currency with which we buy everything that comes into the country. To have a tariff of 10% means it's on top of the extra 10%. Everything brought in from the rest of the world costs us because the dollar is down. Therefore, we are doubly under attack. And as the prices go up in the weeks and months from now, please understand the double whammy of a tariff on top of a depreciated dollar means we are going to be paying more. And therefore, once again, governmental policy whacks the working class whose wages and salaries cannot go up as fast as the dollar depreciates. And Mr. Trump heaves his tariffs at us. Before we take our mid program break, I want to remind you or tell you that we've expanded the offerings in our store. It's another way for us to raise money. I think you'll find an extraordinary array of goods there. More are coming and I urge you to please take a look and see if you find something to your interest. You just go to our website, democracyatwork.infostore to see what our offerings are. Stay with us. We'll be right back with Mr. Rob Robinson. 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 [e-mail] 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 proud, a little extra proud, as I'll explain this time, for bringing back Rob Robinson, who's been on this program several times. As many of you know, Rob is a formerly homeless community organizer and an activist based in New York City. He's focused on changing people's fundamental rights to land and housing. Rob works with social movements globally, especially in Brazil, South Africa, Spain and around zero evictions platforms. Beyond his activism, Rob is a university teacher lecturing at the City University of New York Graduate center, the University of Miami, Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts, University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard. He is now an adjunct professor in the Design and Urban Ecology Program at Parsons New School University in New York City. One more item that is especially important to me. Rob Robinson is a member of the board of Democracy at Work and will be receiving on June 10, an honorary doctorate from the City University of New York at its annual commencement exercises. He will become a Doctor of Humane Letters. I don't know exactly what that means, but I know that it looks and sounds really good. But seriously, I want to congratulate Rob for what he's getting there. Because it's not so much the award, it's the recognition that a person who has devoted so much of his life to fighting hard on a fundamental social right and problem, namely homelessness and the right of people to a decent shelter in their lives, is now being recognized for the contribution that it has made. I congratulate the City University of New York for seeing the appropriateness of that and giving Rob the award. He's much too modest to say a word about it, so I'll leave it at that. But for all of us at Democracy at Work, it's been a really wonderful moment of recognition. Having said that, Rob, I hope I haven't embarrassed you here too much. I want to start by picking your brain. Tell us what you think the impact of the whole Trump government that we've now had it for several months. We have a sense of what he's trying to do or what he is doing. We recently spoke to Kali Akuno, who gave us his perspective on all of this as a great restoration of a mythical past. I want you to tell us how you see the impact on homelessness and housing. And then I want to explore with you what the reactions are that are happening and that you see as potential in the months and years ahead. So let's start. What do you think the impact of Trump is on the whole homeless housing crisis of this country?

[Rob Robinson]

First, I want to thank you for the great introduction. I really appreciate it. I think In April of 2024, we saw the Supreme Court make a decision around homeless issues. And I think that was. That was a clear window into how this administration was going to operate. They made the decision that if you are sleeping on the street and there's no alternative for you, you can be criminalized. So the fact that you're too poor to afford a home, the fact that the government isn't providing any alternatives to you, the alternative is going to be to put in jail. So now we have the president getting elected, right? His mandate is being carried out by the Supreme Court because he pushed in his first term to load the Supreme Court with people that would carry out his views. Right. So what we're seeing now is the President putting into action a plan to disrupt society, disrupt housing and homelessness in a way that's going to have a huge impact in a negative way. So what do I mean by that? Well, you had the supreme court decision in 2020, right. Which says it's okay to criminalize people. Now the government which normally supported poor people with respect to housing, that housing is in jeopardy because he's dismantling Housing and Urban Development, also known as hud. Right. We tend in this country we have subsidized wealthy homeowners more than we have poor people, which is problematic in itself. What do I mean by that? We tend to see, we tend to give a mortgage tax deduction for people with incomes of $250,000 or more that is equal to the amount that was taken back from public housing, the true social safety net for poor people. So we see this dismantling of HUD Section 8 vouchers are in jeopardy. Project based Section 8 is in jeopardy. These are all housing programs that work for poor people to get people who need a helping hand to have a stable place to live. So around that is all this dismantling of these other government agencies that we support, Medicare and Medicaid are at risk. Right. Where people would be subsidized for their health care. So it puts it all in jeopardy. And even if he's not allowed to get rid of some of these agencies, he's created enough chaos that it's going to take the courts a while to unpack this and make decisions on it.

[Richard Wolff]

Yeah, it's for me, always amazing. As an economist, you judge an economy historically and today. Among other things, do you provide jobs for human beings and do you provide enough income as payment for the job in order for them to live properly, to feed themselves, to clothe themselves, to shelter? If you do not do that, your economic system has failed. That the government comes in and backstops is a measure of your failure. And when the government doesn't even do that, the failure is magnified and that's what we're doing. And the whole society will pay for what is not done. For that portion of people who are denied either the job or the income or both, it really, it's a sign of retrogression to earlier stages where we thought we had grown to, to, to be beyond anyway.

[Rob Robinson]

That's right.

[Richard Wolff]

I don't want to rant here. This is.

[Rob Robinson]

He uses your acronym maga, Make America great again, but you're making America regressive again. Right? That's the reality of what's happening. You're taking us backwards. You're taking us to times that we thought we got away from. When you start to dismantle government in the way that he's doing, people took these civil service jobs looking for a stable life and a stable future. Now you're. You're putting all these lives in jeopardy. You're just randomly allowing an outsider on top of that to come in and dismantle your government. Somebody who has no clue about government, but just has an idea of how a business should run. Government is not a business. Government is there to support the people. Right. So I think he's created enough chaos. He's gotten the sidekick to do all the dirty work so that he doesn't hold on to it. But he also has some people that he's put in power that are suspect. Right. So you, the cdc, the center for Disease Control, all of a sudden, which got us through the code of the pandemic, now we have a measles outbreak that's breaking out across the country, and you have guys running the CDC that says this is all mythical. There's no such thing as an outbreak of measles. So you're putting all these people in the wrong place. But I think the other part about this, where we were respected as a government around the world, this. The other countries around the world are starting to say, I want to back away from you, I don't trust you. And I think it's going to have repercussions down the road.

[Richard Wolff]

Yes. I think the whole tariff is making that very urgent and very, very serious. Okay, tell me, because I know you're in touch with it, what kind of reaction is building? Where do you see both the actual and the potential for movement against what's happening, which is, in the end, our only hope that it will be that limited in that way.

[Rob Robinson]

So one thing I've always questioned, Rick, in this country, with respect to people doing social activism, do we do the right popular and political education so that people understand what's going on? And I've always criticized them, saying they only come in the moment, but this time, I think it's important to raise up and do this political education in a moment. So you have these protests breaking out across the country, and people are synchronizing those protests. All right? On Saturday the 14th, whatever the date is, we're going to protest from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, California. They're organizing, they're talking to one another. And I think they're also organizing along electoral politics. They're sending strong messages with these rallies that, to different Congress people that your job is in jeopardy. You support this guy, then your job is in jeopardy. Which I, I think is, is the right approach. You have to threaten the people who are holding political office and who will be reelected, or they would run for reelection midterm, as they call the midterm elections. These are Congress people who may have the 20 Trump ideology in the background, but they're carrying his message across the country. So there's a lot of pushing back. There were rallies. There was a great story about a Republican congresswoman being confronted in a retail store in South Carolina this weekend where a constituent said, you're aligned with this. You know what? I'm sorry, you know, we're going to push back on. So I do think there is a, there's a bubbling up from the community to push back. It's organizing. I think it's the same thing around immigrant rights, and I think it'll happen around health care also. If you start to mess with Medicaid and Medicare, you're going to have problems, Mr. President. People are going to rise up. People need these things, and they realize their lives were stable because they had access to these things.

[Richard Wolff]

You know, I want your opinion about something. I used to think, and I know many others did, that one of the many reasons why you ought to provide healthcare or housing to people is a selfish one. Even if you don't have empathy, even if you don't understand the morality of it all, that you understand that you, even if you have a job and you have secure income, you don't want to live in a society where you step over the people lying on the street or in the doorway to get to and from a store, to get to and from, you don't want that. You don't want homeless people living in tents under the overpass because it damages the community as a whole. Do you see anything emerging in the way of people saying no to, to Trump on that basis if they can't see their fellow human being the way we wish they did?

[Rob Robinson]

There is a shift. But I have to be honest, professor, there is a selfishness that exists in this country, right, that it's hard to change, it's hard to change people's opinions, but it's a constant struggle. This is why I do the activism that I do, because people have a perception of who a homeless person is. And I love to put myself out there and Say, okay, you had this vision. Do I look like that vision? Do I sound like that vision? Do I act like that vision? So we have to change those narratives. That is not an easy process, but I do think it's a work in progress. The more we talk about this publicly, the more we talk about that Supreme Court decision that is part of popular and political education ongoing. And I think there's a shift now where people are starting to think outside of the box, Right? But it was hard. We screened a film the other night in New York called Beyond the Bridge, a Solution to Homelessness. And it talked about several members of society coming together. The judicial, the police, the care providers, people with lived experience having a conversation and saying, we're going to work together to end this problem. And that's what has to happen. There's resistance in many cities, but people need to come together and say, this is not a solution that one entity can solve. This takes the community coming together to come up with a solution. It was created by the community. It has to be solved by the community.

[Richard Wolff]

And it's a part of what a democratic, collective community does for itself to make sure all the members are in a decent condition to be good neighbors and good friends and good citizens. It ought to be basic. Rob, we've come to the end of our time. I want to thank you again. I want to congratulate you again and go out there and give them a good little speech there on June 10th to make them understand that the recognition they've shown you is something that the whole country ought to pay some attention to. And to all of the rest of you, thank you for being part of our program, and I look forward to speaking with you again next week.