Democracy At Work

Economic Update: The US Housing Crisis Today Enjoying this ad-free episode of Economic Update? Please consider supporting our work by signing up as a monthly subscriber on our website at https://www.democracyatwork.info/donate, our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/democracyatwork, or as a paid subscriber to our Substack at https://democracyatwork.substack.com. On this week’s episode of Economic Update, Professor Wolff discusses the history of highly successful government-built and-operated housing launched in 1918, the gains won by UAW workers in the first contract at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, TN, and the story of the three-year strike by the Newspaper Guild against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which was finally won—only for the paper's owners to shut it down. The second half features an interview with Rob Robinson about housing, affordability, and homelessness in the U.S. today. We hope you enjoy this discussion and look forward to joining you next week for another all-new episode of Economic Update. Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff is a production of Democracy at Work, Inc., and any reproduction in whole or part is strictly prohibited without written permission. We make it a point to keep the show ad-free and rely solely on viewer support to continue doing so. Every donation counts and helps us reach a larger audience with the information they need to better understand the events around the world that they won't find anywhere else. We want to thank our devoted community of supporters who help make this show and the others we produce possible each week. We kindly ask you to also support the work we do by encouraging others to subscribe to our YouTube channel and website: www.democracyatwork.info Professor Wolff's latest book, "Understanding Capitalism," is available now for purchase: https://linktr.ee/understandingcapitalism © 2026 Democracy at Work, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Available now! New #EconomicUpdate with @profwolff.bsky.social on the US #Housing #Crisis! Watch it now here: tinyurl.com/4bjnaxbp #democracyatwork @democracyatwork.bsky.social

#WolffBites: Goldman Sachs says China's 2026 growth will be 4.8% as compared to UK (1.4%), Germany (1.1%) and USA (2.5%). Hard fact: Western capitalist economies keep growing much more slowly than China's rate of growth.
www.goldmansachs.com/insights/art...

U.S. Gas Prices, Up 11% in a Week, Pile Pressure on Trump

#WolffBites: Gasoline prices in US rise 11% over last week as Trump's war on Iran forces and enables oil companies to raise prices. Rising gasoline prices then do same for all other prices of products needing oil or gas as inputs to their production.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/b...

The US economy lost 92,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% | CNN Business Hiring at US businesses unexpectedly plunged last month as employers shed an estimated 92,000 jobs, according to new data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

#WolffBites: US LOST 72,000 jobs in February, 2026, Second worst employment report in the last year (which had many bad reports). Hardly the "great" economy Trump claims.

www.cnn.com/2026/03/06/e...

Wolff Responds: "Iran!: Another War Likely Lost" Dated March 4, 2026 Today’s Wolff Responds: Professor Wolff responds to the United States entering another war in the middle east, this time with Iran.d@w's Substack is a reader-supported publication.

Wolff Responds: "Iran!: Another War Likely Lost"
democracyatwork.substack.com/p/wolff-resp...

Sudan’s war is being framed as “tribal conflict,” while a profit system extracts gold and moves US weapons through regional pipelines.

We sat down with human rights lawyer Suad Abdel Aziz of decolonizesudan.org

▶ Watch the full conversation:
youtu.be/_1i3LTY7muw

Home

Great article by Michael Hudson - US/Israeli Attack Was to Prevent Peace Not Advance It - CounterPunch.org www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/02/t...

Global economy must stop pandering to ‘frivolous desires of ultra-rich’, says UN expert Olivier De Schutter says new economic agenda needed to tackle crises of rising inequality and ecological collapse

#WolffBites: UN expert warns that global economy needs a reset to stop pandering to the "frivolous appetites" of the super rich rather than serving ordinary people. Now watch how little attention US mainstream media devote to this story.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#WolffBites: Latest Gallup poll shows for FIRST time more Americans sympathize with Palestine than with Israel. Result when US colleges/universities punish/repress pro-Palestinian students and faculty.

To Be Or Not To Be?: Austerity vs. Socialism Mamdani & Hochul's Budget Standoff

To Be Or Not To Be?: Austerity vs. Socialism
open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

Available Now! @profwolff.bsky.social @democracyatwork.bsky.social @redneckgonegreen.bsky.social

Your tax dollars just killed children… The United States and Israel have launched attacks on Iran, with reports of dozens of innocent civilians killed — including children at an elementary school

Your tax dollars just killed children…
open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

From the Teachers community on Reddit Explore this post and more from the Teachers community

#WolffBites: Half of US teachers quit within first 5 years. Reasons given: low pay, overwork, no respect. Very bad for economy now and for the future. US gov't ignores this problem 100%. Pretends it is not there.

www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/c...

New #EconomicUpdate today at 4:30 PM ET with @profwolff.bsky.social #Militarism and Decline in Europe and the U.S. Watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV4k... @democracyatwork.bsky.social ##war #antiwar #imperialism #capitalism

Hundreds of billions circulate into U.S. weapons contracts, budgets for public needs are slashed, and the link between militarism, capitalism, and austerity is treated like a taboo.

Watch the full video: Clara Mattei on the war economy

youtu.be/oKP2WZN1lac

Wolff Responds: "No Level Playing Field for the U.S. Taxpayer" Dated February 25, 2026. Today’s Wolff Responds: Professor Wolff discusses the inherent unfairness of the United States' tax system.

Wolff Responds: "No Level Playing Field for the U.S. Taxpayer" Dated February 25, 2026.
democracyatwork.substack.com/p/wolff-resp...

Treasury Department terminates union contracts for IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service workers The Treasury Department says it has ended its collective bargaining agreement with unionized workers employed at the Internal Revenue Service.

#WolffBites: War on Iran for "regime change" violates UN charter and international law. On the same day, Trump "terminates" collective bargaining contracts US gov't signed with thousands of federal workers. Declining empire's desperate moves.

apnews.com/article/trea...

Your tax dollars just killed children… The United States and Israel have launched attacks on Iran, with reports of dozens of innocent civilians killed — including children at an elementary school

Your tax dollars just killed children…
open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

UK's Starmer vows to fight political 'extremes' after suffering vote defeat British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to fight political "extremes" on the right and left on Friday after his Labour Party suffered a humiliating election defeat to the left-wing Green Party in ...

#WolffBites: UK's Starmer promises (like France's Macron and Germany's Merz) to "fight politically against the extremes of left and right." Such empty babble covers the hard reality they all face: they are increasingly losing to those extremes.

www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks...

“Marxian Class Analysis”, an Online Course from the Left Education Project Learn to develop and apply critical analyses to all aspects of modern life to better understand our world with this 4-week online course!

Good Morning friends There is still time to register "Marxian Class Analysis" with myself and @shahramazhar.bsky.social organized by @democracyatwork.bsky.social #LeftForum
www.eventbrite.com/e/marxian-cl...

Disillusioned by the Neoliberal Establishment On Gen-Z’s shift to the Left and Far-Right

#LosLobosJóvenes: Disillusioned by the Neoliberal Establishment
democracyatwork.substack.com/p/disillusio...

If the system needs constant force to keep people dependent, what does that say about the system?

There is more space for alternatives than we’re told.

Clara Mattei on why austerity reveals weakness, not strength.

▶ Watch the full talk: Why Austerity Works for Capitalism

youtu.be/8RhMZtaoPEQ

Trump Guts EPA: ‘Make America More Polluted Again’? Richard Wolff on The Socialist Program

Trump Guts EPA: ‘Make America More Polluted Again’? open.substack.com/pub/democrac... @profwolff.bsky.social

How Wall Street’s Apollo got tangled up again in the Epstein files | CNN Business Jeffrey Epstein is once again haunting one of the most powerful firms on Wall Street: Apollo Global Management.

#WolffBites: Two US teachers' unions with over $27 billion in pension funds invested with Apollo Management are concerned about Apollo's work with Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction for soliciting prostitution. Investigations called for.

www.cnn.com/2026/02/21/b...

US births dropped last year, suggesting the 2024 uptick was short-lived U.S. births slightly decreased in 2025. That's according to new provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

#WolffBites: In 2025, Trump gov't tried to incentivize US couples into having more children while deporting immigrants who have more children. So fewer births than 2024. Incoherent policies.

apnews.com/article/how-...

YouTube video by BreakThrough News Marco Rubio calls for revival of Western colonialism

#WolffBites: Rubio expands MAGA to advocate for MSGA - make colonialism great again - instead of "managing the orderly decline of the west." Like Don Quixote tilting against windmills, Rubio and Trump aim to reverse world history. Result is disorderly decline.

www.youtube.com/shorts/F5cDf...

Feb. 23, 1868: W. E. B. Du Bois Born W. E. B. Du Bois, sociologist, historian, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor, was one of the most important scholars of the 20th century.

Born #tdih 1868: William Edward Burghardt (W. E. B.) Du Bois, one of most important scholars of 20th century.

Sociologist, historian, Pan-Africanist, author, editor; co-founder of NAACP, leader of Niagara Movement, & editor of NAACP’s The Crisis Magazine. 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/we...

Available now! @democracyatwork.bsky.social @profwolff.bsky.social

When the “good intentions” story fails, they panic because the whole system depends on the public believing it’s never about profit.

▶ Watch the full conversation - Vulture Capitalism: Empire, Bailouts, Monopoly Power #GraceBlakeley - youtu.be/joKEWXqzFoE

#Imperialism #VultureCapitalism

Loved this interview and all the new stuff from @freefreeforum.bsky.social. Super clarifying and made me want to read Clara Mattei’s new book, Escape from Capitalism