Robert Reich, Globaloney: The Dangerous Myths of Globalization

Robert Reich, Globaloney: The Dangerous Myths of Globalization, a lecture delivered at the International House on the U.C. Berkeley campus, September 1, 2011.

[@Raidersfan-gn7zo]

My father was an electrician and fixed and sold GE electric tractor mowers. He had one from 1967-2017. It was still in mint condition when he sold it and is still in mint condition today.

[@cattycorner8]

@Raidersfan 1 I remember well and long for solid built everything from tools to the cheapest toy that was Made in America. Through no fault of our own, those days are gone.

[@marcellalambert1100]

Robert Reich really gets it!!! I wish everyone in the world would listen to this speech, we could change the world!

[@user-hs4dm9xq5e]

meh, Keynesian economy... Hayek is better. Market is complex and just trowing money into doesnt't help-or help, but at huge cost and not a lot.

[@AndreasDelleske]

Im listening. Germany. He’s the best political thinker I ever heard from, ever.

[@sa-iw4dr]

Spread the Word everywhere you go about his you tube channel!

[@sharann3482]

Andreas Delleske check Heiner Flassbeck good Keynesian too

[@sharann3482]

Ізраїль Кілимник Keynesian Economy is the only one that works coherently. It can explain everything even MMT fits perfectly into Keynesianism While the Neoclassical theory and the Austrian School struggle with their Models in the real world especially their money theory

[@randy95023]

There was a funny little Texan that warned us all about the coming Globablization 20 years ago. We shouldn't have laughed at Ross Perot because he hit the nail on the head and is more of a prophet than a failed Presidential Candidate...

[@randy109]

The current American Economy is a house of cards. How we keep our standard of living as high as it is amazes me. I got my degree in Economics almost 40 years ago and still read (devour!) all things "Economic" as sort of a hobby. Watching the changes from my childhood in the 1960's to the present is more than most young people could even comprehend. Like the Roman Empire I've watched the USA keep its morale and its middle class with "Bread and Circuses" (NASCAR, NFL, College Basketball for the 'circuses' and 46 Million Americans on Food Stamps for the 'Bread'). We seem to still be living off the Fat of World War Two and the Space Race but that is wearing thin. I fear that when reality strikes the current American Empire we will be like Great Britain in the late 1940's when they had to kiss their Empire good bye. Global Corporatism may give meager jobs to a Billion of the World's poorest people, but for the typical American that doesn't even have a College degree the collapse of our Empire will be a hard fall indeed. Even though my kids are doing great (an Engineer and a Teacher) I really worry for my Grandkids. Even with College Degrees it is going to be a rough road for the dwindling American middle class.

[@SunRabbit]

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you and I see the same things. HOWEVER, the one thing that distinguishes the US empire from that of GB and SPQR is the fact that both GB and SPQR extracted taxes (or tributes or whatever they called em) from all the lands they conquered, but the US empire is PAYING to house its 1,070 military bases across 138 out of 197 countries! The Marshall Plan was where the USA really scored because they were able to incentivise the use of the USD as a global currency, whereas the Romans simply sis away with local currencies. Reason's very simple: in those days money was specie. British Pound was an ACTUAL pound of ACTUAL Sterling Silver (454g of 0.925 Ag) whereas the USD is backed up by nothing but debt? Remember the last time a great country backed up its currency with DEBT? That was an invention of Hjalmar Schacht who cured Germany's Weimar hyperinflation in 1923 and thus facilitated the creation of the Third Reich. We have a similar situation now with the EU which usues exactly the same mechanism of currency creation including its 10% Gold backing as Schacht's plan, so no wonder EU is known as 3rd Reich 2.0. Right before Rome collapsed, you had huge quantities of people moving to the cities, especially Rome itself. That trend is apparent in the USA and globally, and Agenda 21 wants to accelerate this. Today, Rome is a total wasteland, save for a few elite districts here and there. It's the people who stayed in the countryside that were able to preserve their generational wealth through the ages.

[@thenucas]

don't worry buddy, your grandkids don't have a future at all. we're on track for +5c by 2080 at the latest - that's total food chain collapse ie. a death sentence.

[@user-nf9xc7ww7m]

14:00 "Not suggesting we have a war..." No, no. Of course not. 😉😉😋

[@cattycorner8]

@randy 109 Wherever you are, great comment. I would love to hear your observations today, in 2022.

[@juanitaross5492]

Fast forward 10 year's my grandchildren are making more money right out of college then we ever dreamed of.

[@waswestkan]

When all the world becomes industrialized every country will be looking for foreign markets. But when every country becomes industrialized you will not have foreign markets. ~Peter Marin

[@sa-iw4dr]

That will indeed make sense except for natural resources

[@TheArtemis07]

In Germany, even the Wal-Mart workers are unionized. The company has to agree to unionization in order to do business there. Unions are not protected in US, and that is a major reason they have weakened. That, and because union leadership does not fight for the rank and file, but that is another issue. We have lost our way in the US.

[@haleybrown2836]

Although I do agree with Dr. Reich on nearly every subject, I do disagree with him in regards to demonstrations. Having worked extensively overseas I used to wonder why, given the current discontent, we have so few demonstrations in this country. But one day I overheard a conversation between a married couple, the wife wanted to demonstrate but the husband's reply was "are you kidding, if they found out that I was part of this demonstration, they would get rid of me". He was right of course. Here is the big difference, no at will employment. In nearly every other industrialized country you can only be terminated for work related misconduct whereas in the USA you can be terminated for or without cause.

[@slowpainful]

Although I'm Canadian, of course I follow American events with great interest because we often, not always, but often are a kind of small-scale version. It seems incredible to me that workers can be fired without cause, or for political views. It is all part of the subtle and increasing demonization of protest; of viewing it as quasi-criminal. With that attitude, people are afraid to voice their concerns and to exercise their democratic right of assembly. When everyone around you is casting protesters as weirdos, criminals and "antifa" (find a name, demonize that label then apply it liberally, pardon the pun) it is a strong deterrent. I often wonder, where is the anger of ordinary Americans (and Canadians, for that matter, but we have a bit less to be angry about and generally believe more in a strong social contract).

[@josephbass1914]

This man is accurate. I have never understood why people think our economy is organic and without bias. Meritocracy is a myth.

[@73elephants]

Meritocracy is not a myth, though it might be in some places some of the time. Meritocracy has a very clear and specific definition: it is the selection of candidates with the highest scores (on tests designed for that purpose) into the highest positions. (Any other use of the term is a barbarism.) This practice was invented in China about 900 years ago, and was copied by the British East India company in the 1700s. Meritocracy is still very widely used, especially in college admissions and admission into professions.

[@MrMyrkridian]

Meanwhile here in the real world, taxation is the lowest it's been since the 50's, austerity has largely correlated to economic stagnation, and the most successful countries in the 21st century have had large, forward-thinking government-led spending policies.

[@73elephants]

The reason why we call "economics" was previously called political economy is not because economics at the level of the state is "political" in the modern sense of that word, but because the "economy" means "household management" (oikos = household in greek) , and "political economy" represents "household management of the state" ("polis" = "state" in Greek). I'm sure the professor knows this, but some people might be led astray.

[@skibumwilly1895]

In “Occupying Chairlifts” a simple rule tweak on inheritance ends up changing the direction and purpose of modern human life! Here’s a fair way to transition forward to where we’re rewarded for cooperating and creating instead of competing and conquering. It's something specific we can demand. If this isnt the best answer, at least we’re thinking about what might be. Are we really just this close to having it work right? Oh yeah, it's a Ski movie! “Occupying Chairlifts” on KZbin!

[@faunwillow]

4/19/2022 this still rings true.

[@veramann]

Good info. Thank you for the upload.

[@bill8985]

what a smart dude. Thanks for your service.

[@richardbambenek2601]

Technology is a double edged sword. It lowers the cost of manufacturing but at the cost of jobs once held by humans. Technology is increasing but so are the number of people in the world that all need jobs to survive. The model for surviving will eventually need to change to correct this reality

[@sharann3482]

Richard Bambenek thats why you need to increase Real wages in line with Productivity. New Technologies in Production increases Productivity and lay off workers, but the Real wage increase that comes with it for the whole economy, increases Demand wich creates more Jobs. If everything is automized than our Productivity will pay us a UBI easily.

[@growthandunderstanding]

Brilliant! Wish he would have given this speech in 2001 so I could have been there in person as a resident. Otherwise, Reich for president!

[@iammatty777169]

Very informative talk that covers many of our economic problems. He's grasping at straws of common sense in a world where "Becktell" runs the global economy and financial markets, completely unregulated.

[@malcolmX213]

Government spending seems like a bad word these days, when it's such an obvious solution. Spend baby, spend!

[@cordelmar]

NO, NO, more spending equals more taxes more taxes more taxes.

[@sa-iw4dr]

The Audio keeps cutting out.

[@philfortner1805]

I guarantee his car was 62% assembly in the USA with foreign parts. All the stock resins, aluminum, and steel come from overseas.

[@jontobin5942]

(35:00) When I witness anger and yelling and the devolution of rational discussion in media I get discouraged and disgusted and I want to turn it off. Conversely when I see a calm, reasonable attempt to decipher the plethora of misinformation that abounds from both corrupt and well meaning sources; and try to correctly identify the problem ... I stay tuned. I listen. I try to see the big picture but who can do that when your public figures are engaged in a shouting match.

[@Olivia-W]

Jon Tobin Yes! I'm like: ooh, interesting argument. Hmm, very interesting. Awesome. I'll listen to this guy/lady, because they know what they're talking about instead of shouting. See Hillary's vs Trump's performances. Facts and clear policies vs *ALL CAPS BECAUSE I'M A NARCISSISTIC MORON.* Edit: Type type typos.

[@sa-iw4dr]

The reason why you hear the anger in the news media want you to, they want to mislead you, confuse you from the real issues. Robert Reich wants you to learn.

[@dalemartinez1086]

Current and relevant to today.

[@tobyw9573]

Globalization could be interpreted as taking a cube and making it into a globe.

[@se7ensnakes]

THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR MONEY This is a lecture from economist Richard Werner about banking: "I will tell you key points about banks. In case you thought banks lend money, they take deposits and lend money. You are wrong . Banking was developed, modern banking was developed, in the United Kingdom in the 17th century and the legal facts are very clear but not very well known. Banks do not take deposits and banks do not lend money. That's a fact. How is that possible. How is that possible. Well, legally they do not take deposits. They borrow from the public, because your money at the bank is not on deposit. Its not held in custody, it's not a bailment. What is it legally? You have lent money to the bank. So the expression in banking are designed to mislead what's really happening. Who is the owner of this money? It is the banks, you are just a general creditor. Which is very different from the impression given when we use the term deposit. What about lending surely banks lend money? No they don’t. No bank has ever lent any money. How is that possible? What does a bank do? Banks purchase securities and they don’t pay up. That's what they do. How is that? Well if you go to the bank and you borrow money you sign a loan contract. Very crucial. Your signature creates the money supply. Because the bank legally will consider the loan contract a promissory note. And that is what is considered legally, is a promissory note. Just like the bank of England Note, central bank money, paper money, is a promissory note from the central bank. And the bank purchases this contract. That is what they do, they purchase the loan contract. Now they owe you money. You say I dont care about the mechanics, give me the money. The banker will say we will put it in your account. You will find it in your bank account. Well what is a bank account? It is not a deposit. Its a record of the bank's debt to the public. It is a record of the bank's debt to the new borrower, and they show you the record of how much money they owe you. That is it, they don’t pay up. And this is how the money supply is created. So lets go in sequence: Step one: You go to the bank and you sign the loan contract, say a thousand pounds. This will be recorded in the bank balance sheet as an increase in bank assets. The bank, will then, record its debt to the borrower. But it will do some accountant trick. It should really say this is an accounts payable item. Something that the bank has to pay but it has not yet paid. But it wont record as an accounts payable. If you talk to an bank's accountant they are horrified “No you cannot use an expression like accounts payable in a bank” And do you know why? Because they recorded it as customer deposit. They show it on the bank's liability side as a customer deposit. But nobody has deposited it, the customer has not deposited for sure. The customer is borrowing it. The bank has not deposited either. It is added to the money supply, and this is how 97% of the money supply is created out of nothing on the basis of a signature and of course on the credit of the borrower. That is money creation. So no money is transferred from any where else to the borrowers account."

[@sc2starkey]

'Rich are taking home more of their income, they have a better life.' When he hears this he gets 'annoyed' Yea no problems here.

[@waswestkan]

The wealty in the America can & should finance a recovery because they will be the largest benefactors of a recovery The systemic problem is that post WW II the powers that be created an economy based on ever increasing consumption beyond one's immediate needs. That can only work until the finite natural resources are depleted. That consumption has to be dialed back, because it will be the end of use.

[@tobyw9573]

No mention of Value creation, Hours worked, P/L statement, Human capital, Allocation of costs of production, Welfare costs. How did things work when women worked in the home?

[@sa-iw4dr]

It only took one income to have a family

[@sharann3482]

Toby W the only thing you need is increase Real wages in line with Productivity growth and one family member can feed a family

[@tobyw9573]

Sharann, Productivity growth gets whittled down by the related expenses. Try studying business at Khanacademy.org

[@sharann3482]

Toby W that’s why you ad 2% (other countries used to go until 4%) Inflation on top of your Real Wages. If your Country’s Productivity grow by 3%, your Real wages grow by 3% plus 2% Inflation (meaning adjusting your income for the higher prices). So you end up with a purchasing power Increase this of 3%. Your Country’s Productivity growth is increasing your Wealth directly, this was the “unwritten rule“ from 1938 to 1978 also known as the Golden Age of Capitalism. Khan Denys aggregate Demand and only looks at supply side as far as I know, when he did the case against Minimum Wage and ignored the purchasing power increase in the economy. He’s a typical business man that only looks at microeconomics. I would suggest you you to learn more about economics from macroeconomic viewpoint who look at everything like Heiner Flassbeck, Stephanie Kelton or Mark Blyth

[@tobyw9573]

Rather than trying to insure people for routine and small healthcare items, we might as well be paid out of pocket, leaving insurance to cover unexpected, expensive health occurrences. Health care and insurance have been subject amazing, ingenious machinations that waste time and money. Big CEOs often make about 1% of revenue, which if fully redistributed would result in $1000/ employee. Info is available on financial sites. CEOs are also measured at their peak age of expertise and creativity. Economists are never measuring the inequality in income and wealth within individuals in similar groups over the course of their lives, and the causes of the differences. Usually people with HS diploma, who marry successfully and marry before having children have very little poverty, or soon grow out of it.

[@danielemorandi2814]

China SHOULD play by the rules ,global trade IS unfair ; this doesn't mean that unbalanced global trade is the SOLE cause of economic malaise but its undoubtedly a part of it.

[@sa-iw4dr]

Oregon State still pumps your gas and it's nice!

[@danajohnson3799]

Oddly no mention of the global policy called: "NAFTA", curious.

[@stressbelden5869]

He's not going to! He's a Clinton follower.....and Clinton endorsed fully NAFTA.

[@slowpainful]

I'm Canadian, and trade deals such as NAFTA are profoundly undemocratic, have way too much longevity and undermine each country's sovereignty. They're basically like backroom deals between corporations seeking to undermine any kind of regulation that lowers their profits. The one thing I believe Trudeau got wrong in the current tariff "war" is the U.S. demand for a sunset clause - he should have agreed to one. These agreements shouldn't last indefinitely without the chance to renegotiate, frankly, to be a policy that's put to the vote every few years.

[@thenucas]

he refers to NAFTA obliquely with the pithy 62% of his car joke. do you think he's "hiding" something, like NAFTA was bad? because the economic impact has been overwhelmingly positive. there have been losers but the economic gains far outweigh it. the problem is the losers are so much more visible, and we haven't done enough to address them with tax policy, so people who are moved by stories and anecdotes wind up in some weird anti free trade space, posting on KZbin on their pocket computers, with no sense of irony about why they can afford said pocket computers.

[@sharann3482]

Dana Johnson well NAFTA would have worked far better if the US didn’t stagnated it’s Real Wages.

[@leslieeaston3383]

He said then same thing I was gonna say!

[@waswestkan]

We are a republic the best you can hope for is to turn back the adversarial climate back to a cooperative climate. Thomas Paine's Agrability is adaptable to to anything, I'd use that model. Recognizes the basic communism that naturaly exists, provide for capitalism that pays for social programs from the profit they make fro being allowed to use natural resource A bit of Socialism to put the plan in motion & to manage it.

[@krileayn]

Don't bother watching, great talk as always from Robert Reich, but the audio just gets worse and worse.

[@jontobin5942]

(37:00) Origin of supposed Churchill quote. I became curious. quoteinvestigator.com/2012/11/11/exhaust-alternatives/

[@etniks69]

I had already heard the same quote being given to Churchill about the US. But even if he didn't say it, it is actually a very accurate observation on the fact the US behaves irrationally often.

[@jontobin5942]

Indeed

[@sa-iw4dr]

We need Service job and we should pay these jobs better wages, we will always need service jobs and we must stop degrade them because not everyone has the patience or personally to perform these jobs. We have to have more equalization. Top CEO don't do much and yet they claim they do!

[@dire67]

He's not kidding about Utah

[@wicksinn]

Getting things for free has nothing to do with pure socialism.. you're thinking of the postwar concensus. Keynesianism. Socialism is a critique of capitalism couple with workers control of the means of production. Totally different to what you are talking about. Nationalisation; Co-operatives, these are common sense policies to open up private space up to the public. Increasing freedom for the people, not the rich.

[@waswestkan]

Typically administrators aren't union, so what does teacher union have to do with an administrator's retirement? For education to attract the best teachers & administrators the compensation somewhat near what they can receive in other private sector positions What conservatives are trying to set up a system where teachers & administrators don't share equally in the rewards of good outcome & share equally in the penalties in poor outcomes

[@PeggyJame]

People’s Relationship of China Mao tse tung

[@davidazinger5639]

Robert Reich --- you cannot see the contradiction in your own arguments. You cannot say that as a result of all the wealth is going to the 1% there is not enough purchasing power in the middle class to keep the economy going and then SIMULTANEOUSLY SAY that manufacturing moving overseas is not a problem. Don't you see that the globalization is the CAUSE of the wealth being concentrated among the 1% ?? One causes the other. Cause/ effect. It increases profit margins for these companies which translates to higher executive pay and throws workers into lower paying jobs. That's a recipe for wealth inequality. FIGURE IT OUT BERKELEY BRAIN !!!! Bring back the manufacturing jobs and the top 1% will have less wealth as a percentage because manufacturing jobs pay more.

[@slowpainful]

I don't think he said manufacturing moving overseas wasn't a problem - he spoke about the "race to the bottom" of wages, for example. There's also the effect that some jobs aren't moving anywhere at all, they're simply disappearing due to automation, and that it is also the failure to invest in education so workers will have skilled jobs in which they create greater value. I think he's on "our" side (if I may risk assuming that we all want a more fair society), if a bit glib. Do you really think it's possible to "bring back the manufacturing jobs" when the nature of the work has fundamentally changed? Shouldn't we be thinking about concepts such as, for example UBI? About free higher education? We're overdue for a radical rethink.

[@davidazinger5639]

Has the nature of the work of manufacturing air conditioners, washers, dryers, refrigerators, tennis shoes, etc. fundamentally changed ??? Its delusional to say so. To say so is to give an excuse to Wall St. and private equity for their covetous, oppressive business tactics of uprooting America and sending it to China and Mexico. You're on the side of the oppressor. While corporate America exports our economy you want to talk about "free higher education." You're an egghead.

[@Kittiesinclair5]

Manufacturing jobs only pay more when those companies pay those workers more. Where do u think those jobs have gone? Overseas where the companies can pay workers less!

[@philfortner1805]

The problem is a 2 tier banking system where ordinary people pay one cost for money and insiders pay 10x less. This allows them to lobby and legally bribe politicians and also undercut the competition by an unassailable advantage. That why the dollar will devalue (inflate) to zero and Bitcoin replaces it. Everyone will live their life out of a Lightning wallet 10 years from now. Separating money from government is the solution and Bitcoin is the only one that does that.

[@PeggyJame]

Solar panels and electric vehicles will make excess carbon dioxide to be normalized.

[@palingram]

Short lecture 😜

[@clarestucki5151]

Ridiculous - as presently conducted, economics IS politics!

[@chrislubs1341]

Robert Reich, a positive bit of Clinton’s administration, though characteristically Clinton arrogance wasted the opportunity.

[@TieXiongJi]

Is English your 2nd language?

[@thesemaj1943]

Robert Reich, would you debate Ben Shapiro?

[@stickitupyourasteric]

on another lecture he said it was his wife...... i don't believe this story is true

[@etniks69]

He said it was his wife what?..... about the US trying everything before coming to the right thing? I had already heard the same story from someone else regarding the US and Churchill. Even if the story weren't true about Churchill saying it, the fact remains it is true the US behaves recklessly!! How can any nation or person behave with such outlandish self confidence demanding others behave morally, when the US is by force and against the law in Guantanamo CUBA (the lease has been up for years) and incarcerate people without any legal justification there in order to supposedly escape its own laws at home. Would you take a neighbor who behave like that seriously???

[@Kittiesinclair5]

A story can be true (that something was said or a point made) while changing the identities of the speakers. Its a way to be diplomatic and dignified, in this context. Point is not ‘who’ but ‘what’.

[@456zounds]

Dr. Reich is wonderful...though I do wish he'd not support the Global Warming baloney dogma..

[@justgivemethetruth]

+Bill Benton You mean science

[@cyborganic99]

All caps much? Let me guess; High-school dropout.

[@guyfroml]

Spoken like a true Marxist-Communist.

[@dashthepoet1]

guyfroml You don't even know what a Marxist-Communist is.

[@guyfroml]

Sure I do...it's you.