Wolff Responds: Class War and Inflation

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In this Wolff Responds, Professor Wolff discusses the class nature of inflation and economic policy in the US. He explains who sets inflationary prices, who is most affected by those prices, and what the Fed could do to counter the rising prices and alleviate the economic burden placed on those most affected.
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[@asorata2]

Inflation has always been determined by those who have the power to set prices and do not want to give up even a minimal reduction in their profit margins. The cost of inflation always falls on those who are salaried and cannot determine their level of income. The explanation is simple but in economics textbooks we avoid saying things as they are. Thanks Professor Wolff.👌

[@averayugen8462]

In OKC the gas prices dropped to less than three in some spots, then as time progressed they crept up again. They wanted customers and then as usual when they got there the owners couldn't resist MILKING THEM . American greed at its UGLIEST. Its almost FOUR here again

[@garyandsandrahamlin872]

Is that why the robber Barron age of the 19th century was dominated by deflation and falling prices?

[@ryanharris9585]

That is one way, however, printing trillions of dollars defiles currency and creates more inflation than what you mentioned.

[@stuckinthemud4352]

Just curious but what happens in an economy if you consume value faster than you create it? What happens if we all drink beer but we don't make beer?

[@garyandsandrahamlin872]

@@stuckinthemud4352 we get poorer as a society.

[@maxpotion]

Prof Wolff always hits the nail on the head.

[@rwolff6530]

More like Wolff hit his head on a nail.

[@averayugen8462]

Why's that? How easy is it to get involved with the worker coop movement? Please look at what I said back to Richard. I'm really so tired of the silence.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

​@@rwolff6530, are you a SOCIALIST? 🤔

[@proudhavenot]

I think another part of the conversation should be accounting and financial consultants. I used to be in corporate management and I used to be married to an accountant, I kinda know who's advising who and what their motivation is. Most business owners/CEO's don't have the skillset to make many of these decisions on thier own, kinda like Trump, they hire someone to "advise" them. In addition to calling out the leaders, why not call out accounting firms and adviser firms? They are in many ways influenencers.

[@friendofvinnie]

Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor.forms of class conflict include direct violence such as wars for resources and cheap labor, assassinations or revolution; indirect violence such as deaths from poverty and starvation, illness and unsafe working conditions; and economic coercion such as the threat of unemployment or the withdrawal of investment capital; or ideologically, by way of political literature. Additionally, political forms of class warfare include: legal and illegal lobbying, and bribery of legislators.

[@andrewthurman8836]

I have heard several people I know say to me that they have heard Prof Wolff say the same thing several times...I remind them and everyone who regularly watches videos on KZbin that the algorithm will quickly start recommending new videos that are really close to videos that you have already watched and unless you're careful soon you will be in an echo chamber. If you show a video with Prof Wolff to someone who doesn't watch KZbin, a lot of people depending on the video it might open areas of thought or action you/they didn't know existed.

[@blogintonblakley2708]

The way to combat that possibility is to listen to a variety of different sources, read... study. Your advice doesn't just fit KZbin, but all media sources. Many of whom have proven themselves to be motivated by profit rather than disseminating accurate news.

[@TheUnderfundedFashionista]

How do we change it? I feel so trapped and I’m just tired of doing the same thing. They want us to work until we 💀

[@realistblue-_-136]

It starts with the letter R

[@negochristian1]

Make yourself and employer by working for yourself or hiring 1-2 other people. Set whatever price you like and compete! Oh, not so easy, is it?

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

​@@realistblue-_-136 Keep calm - the REVOLUTION is coming! ✊ leftism: Otherwise known as “progressivism” and even more inaccurately as “liberalism”, leftism is a term originating from the French Revolution of 1789, in reference to the political faction that opposed the French (so-called) king. However, the term is currently used in common discourse to describe those criminals who actively support (or at least tacitly condone) a host of OBJECTIVELY-WICKED ideologies and practices that contravene dharma, such as non-monarchical governances and corrupt economic systems (particularly socialism, communism, fascism, and liberal democracies), egalitarianism, feminism, perverse sexuality (especially homosexuality, bestiality, and transvestism), multiculturalism, and the illegitimate abortion of innocent, defenceless, unborn children. Cf. “dharma”. In the past decade or two (of this treatise being composed), the mass media, especially the motion picture industry and television production companies, has been aggressively promoting all the above CRIMINAL ideologies and practices, helping to expedite the destruction of human civilization. Recently, large corporations have jumped on the leftist bandwagon (so to speak), in order to profit. As explicated in Chapter 11 of this “A Final Instruction Sheet for Humanity”, the state of being of any particular human (or any other animal, for that matter) is due entirely to his or her genetic sequencing and his or her conditioning. Therefore, the explosion of the leftist/liberal mentality in recent decades, particularly in Western countries, has been caused by poor breeding strategies overtaking the more conservative tradition of mate-selection of previous centuries (and indeed, millennia), as well as the concerted effort of Marxists to spread their nefarious ideology throughout the school system. In other words, due to the fact that criminal behaviour (especially the deviant sexual acts mentioned above) has become increasingly more tolerated, condoned, and even GLORIFIED in most countries, there has been a proliferation of corrupt genetic codes within the wider human population. According to genealogists, for (almost) the entire history of humanity, most women have successfully reproduced, whilst a far far smaller percentage of males have bequeathed their genetic sequence to proceeding generations. Due to the gradual phasing-out of polygamous marriages in even the most conservative societies, as well as the eradication of poverty in most every country, more and more men (as well as women) have been producing offspring. Thus, the human genome has rapidly become adulterated by inferior genetic material (that is, DNA from truly pathetic, uxorious beta-males, bisexuals, and even homosexual couples who engage surrogate mothers or sperm donors in order to conceive children - something of a rare occurrence in previous centuries/millennia). For centuries, breeders of elite animals such as horses, cattle, and dogs, have known that selecting the finest examples of a breed of animal will result in offspring with desirable characteristics. For example, present day thoroughbred horses boast a pedigree of the best-available horses from the seventeenth century. Such breeders are willing to pay enormous sums of money merely to hire the fastest stallions on earth in order for them to mate with their mares. In the case of we humans, women have traditionally chosen the most competent and masculine men with whom to bear children, and in general, have totally eschewed those males who displayed effeminate traits, and who showed themselves incapable of properly supporting a nuclear family. Unfortunately, due to rapid moral decay over the past few decades, Western women have become extremely sexually promiscuous, resulting in a multiplication of unwanted progeny (and, of course, an escalation of abortions). Boys born to single mothers often lack proper male roles models and invariably become feminized, unable (and often unwilling) to continue a strong lineage of progenitors. The solution to this problem is simply to ensure that society adheres to the principles of DHARMA (see the Glossary definition of that term, as well as Chapter 12). Unsurprisingly, the majority of leftists find it difficult to accept the fact that their criminal mentality is largely inherited (and of course, they are unwilling to acknowledge the blatantly-obvious fact that their ideologies and practices are intrinsically sinful, wicked, evil and immoral in the first place!). It seems the consensus amongst leftist “intellectuals” is that every human mental trait is due entirely to one’s environmental conditioning and social milieu, rather than as a consequence of BOTH one’s genetic sequence and one’s life-long conditioning - a fundamentally-flawed assertion that cannot be scientifically supported. I would not be surprised if the typical leftist would believe that, if the parents of the twentieth century communist tyrant, Joseph Stalin, and the parents of the Divine Incarnation, Lord Jesus Christ, had somehow crossed the time barrier, and exchanged their baby boys shortly after their birth, that Stalin would have grown to become a Prophet for God, whilst Christ would have become a murderous, left-wing dictator! This term was very reluctantly used in the chapter on feminism. I say “reluctantly” because it is unlikely that the term will perdure for many decades longer. This is simple deductive logic, since, as clearly demonstrated in certain chapters in “F.I.S.H”, human civilization cannot survive with such leftist practices and ideologies in place. If you happen to be reading this Holy Scripture a century or more after its conception, you will probably be residing in a nation (as opposed to a country) ruled by a monarch, following the implosion of post-modern, decadent societies. So, either the term “leftism” will eventually become redundant and obsolete, or else, human civilization will devolve into a decadent, diseased state of existence similar to that of the prehistoric era, when the peoples of the world resided in caves or shacks, subsisting on whatever food can be sourced from the surrounding bushland. I trust that you who are reading these wise words will endeavour to influence your social circles to adhere to right-leaning ideologies and practices, such as (above all) monarchical governance, an entirely free-market economy, sexual purity, veganism, and all other virtuous principles. Fear not, for God is with you! P.S. As a general rule, it seems (at least anecdotally) that the farther left-leaning is a person, the more physically (and of course, psychologically) UGLY is that person. Unfortunately, that does not seem to prevent leftists from propagating their mutant genes.🤡 N.B. In order to clarify the notion of inheritability, it is not being claimed that an adharmic (far-left) couple will INVARIABLY produce leftist children, but that it is more PROBABLE that they will do so, considering their genetic sequence and the environmental conditioning they are bound to impart to their children, just as two parents with a certain physiological disorder are more likely to generate offspring with that specific disease. In this regards, it is recommended to study introductory texts on epigenetics. 🧬 In my particular case, I was raised by a staunch communist, and so, was indoctrinated to believe that communism was the best course of action for a just society. Indeed, as a teenager, I even volunteered in the election campaign of a socialist politician, who eventually became the Premiere of the state of Western Australia. However, after studying dharma, I came to learn that I was misled by my father in this regard, and that the only system of governance that is dharmic (legitimate) is a divinely-sanctioned monarchy.

[@docholiday8029]

These are the answers I have been looking for. Thanks professor 👍

[@chuckleaf8027]

Simplistic answers for those who hate their boss. Class envy is what Wolff is pushing and you took it.

[@csm.andrew]

@@chuckleaf8027 Wolff does not advocate for class envy, rather the abolition of class, just like all Marxists.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

🐟 22. ILLEGITIMATE GOVERNANCES: SOCIALISM (and its more extreme form, communism) is intrinsically evil, because it is based on the ideology of social and economic egalitarianism, which is both a theoretical and a practical impossibility. Equality exists solely in abstract concepts such as mathematics and arguably in the sub-atomic realm. Many proponents of socialism argue that it is purely an economic system and therefore independent of any particular form of governance. However, it is inconceivable that socialism/communism could be implemented on a nationwide scale without any form of government intervention. If a relatively small number of persons wish to unite in order to form a commune or worker-cooperative, that is their prerogative, but it could never work in a country with a large population, because there will always exist entrepreneurs desirous of engaging in wealth-building enterprises. Even a musician who composes a hit tune wants his song to succeed and earn him inordinate wealth. Socialism reduces individual citizens to utilities, who, in practice, are used to support the ruling elite, who are invariably despotic scoundrels, and very far from ideal leaders (i.e. compassionate and righteous monarchs). Those citizens who display talent in business or the arts are either oppressed, or their gifts are coercively utilized by the corrupt state. Despite purporting to be a fair and equitable system of wealth distribution, those in leadership positions seem to live a far more luxurious lifestyle than the mass of menial workers. Wealth is effectively stolen from the rich. Most destructively, virtuous and holy teachings (“dharma”, in Sanskrit) are repressed by the irreligious and ILLEGITIMATE “government”. The argument that some form of government WELFARE programme is essential to aid those who are unable to financially-support themselves for reasons beyond their control, is fallacious. A righteous ruler (i.e. a saintly monarch) will ensure the welfare of each and every citizen by encouraging private welfare. There is no need for a king to extort money from his subjects in order to feed and clothe the impoverished. Of course, in the highly-unlikely event that civilians are unwilling to help a person in dire straits, the king would step-in to assist that person, as one would expect from a patriarch (father of his people). The head of any nation ought to be the penultimate patriarch, not a selfish buffoon. DEMOCRACY is almost as evil, because, just as the rabble favoured the murderous Barabbas over the good King Jesus, the ignorant masses will overwhelmingly vote for the candidate which promises to fulfil their inane desires, rather than one which will enforce the law, and promote a wholesome and just society. Read Chapter 12 for the most authoritative and concise exegesis of law, morality, and ethics, currently available. Even in the miraculous scenario where the vast majority of the population are holy and righteous citizens, it is still immoral for them to vote for a seemingly-righteous leader. This is because that leader will not be, by definition, a king. As clearly and logically explicated in the previous chapter of this Holy Scripture, MONARCHY is the only lawful form of governance. If an elected ruler is truly righteous, he will not be able to condone the fact that the citizens are paying him to perform a job (which is a working-class role), and that an inordinate amount of time, money and resources are being wasted on political campaigning. Furthermore, an actual ruler does not wimpishly pander to voters - he takes power by (divinely-mandated) force, as one would expect from the penultimate alpha-male in society (the ultimate alpha-male being a priest). The thought of children voting for who will be their parents or teachers, would seem utterly RIDICULOUS to the average person, yet most believe that they are qualified to choose their own ruler - they are most assuredly not. Just as a typical child fails to understand that a piece of sweet, juicy, healthy, delicious fruit is more beneficial for them than a cone of pus-infested, fattening, diabetes-inducing ice-cream, so too can the uneducated proletariat not understand that they are unqualified to choose their own leader, even after it is logically explained to them (as it is in this chapter, as well as in the previous chapter). And by “uneducated”, it is simply meant that they are misguided in the realities of life and in righteous living (“dharma”, in Sanskrit), not in facts and figures or in technical training. Intelligence doesn't necessarily correlate to wisdom. No socialist or democratic government will educate its citizens sufficiently well that the citizens have the knowledge of how to usurp their rule. To put it frankly, democracy is rule by the “lowest common denominator”. It should be obvious that ANARCHY can never ever succeed, because even the smallest possible social unit (the nuclear family) requires a dominator. Any family will fall-apart without a strict male household head. In fact, without the husband/father, there is no family, by definition. The English noun “husband” comes from the Old Norse word “hûsbôndi”, meaning “master of the house”. The same paradigm applies to the extended family, which depends on a strong patriarchal figure (customarily, the eldest or most senior male). Likewise with clans, tribes, villages, towns, cities, and nations or countries. Unfortunately, there are many otherwise-intelligent persons who honestly believe that an ENTIRE country can smoothly run without a leader in place. Any sane person can easily understand that even a nuclear family is unable to function properly without a head of the house, what to speak of a populous nation. The reason for anarchists' distrust of any kind of government is due to the corrupt nature of democratic governments, and the adulteration of the monarchy in recent centuries. However, if anarchists were to understand that most all so-called “kings/queens” in recent centuries were not even close to being true monarchs, they may change their stance on that inane “system”. Most of the problems in human society are directly or indirectly attributable to this relatively modern phenomenon (non-monarchies), since it is the government’s role and sacred DUTY to enforce the law (see Chapter 12), and non-monarchical governments are themselves unlawful. One of the many sinister characteristics of democracy, socialism, and other evil forms of governance, is the desire for their so-called “leaders” to control, or at least influence, the private lives of every single citizen (hence the term “Nanny State”). For example, in the wicked, decadent nations in which this holy scripture was composed, The Philippine Islands and The Southland (or “Australia”, as it is known in the Latin tongue), the DEMONIC governments try, and largely succeed, in controlling the rights of parents to properly raise, discipline and punish their children according to their own morals, compulsory vaccination of infants, enforcing feminist ideology, limiting legitimate powers an employer has over his servants, subsidizing animal agriculture, persecuting religious leaders (even to imprisonment and death, believe it or not. Personally, I have been jailed thrice for executing God’s perfect and pure will), and even trying to negatively influence what people eat and wear. Not that a government shouldn’t control what its citizens wear in public, but it should ensure that they are MODESTLY dressed, according to the guidelines outlined in Chapter 28, which is hardly the case in Australia, the Philippines, and similar nations. At least ninety-nine per cent of Filipinas, for instance, are transvestinal, despite Philippines pretending to be a religious nation. Cont...

[@carolbailey1325]

Inflation means the purchasing power of money also goes down. You can buy less for the same amount. Over time, the value of currencies, such as the American dollar, goes down. This is another side of what we experience as rising prices. The two, rising prices and the devaluation of currencies have the same effect on "consumers", but they are not quite the same. Devaluation of currencies is built into our monetary system. Its complicated, but in the end, the ordinary folk lose.

[@kdacuna]

I needed this analysis 🙌

[@DerekSpeareDSD]

these "market forces" are always presented in a way to convince the onlooker that they are mysterious - supernatural, even - when, in fact, inflation is simply profiteering. ...and nobody seems to listen, and nobody seems to care... -George Carlin

[@Name-ot3xw]

As of this year, we come to learn that inflation is only scary when wages go up to meet demand as well as goods.

[@1234kingconan]

The fact that most people don't know such obvious stuff is crazy. I've seen it first hand. The employer class will not / can not be displaced, threatened, or harmed. They're the hammer, we're the nail. And they simply do not know what it's like to be, or empathize with, the nail.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

🐟 22. ILLEGITIMATE GOVERNANCES: SOCIALISM (and its more extreme form, communism) is intrinsically evil, because it is based on the ideology of social and economic egalitarianism, which is both a theoretical and a practical impossibility. Equality exists solely in abstract concepts such as mathematics and arguably in the sub-atomic realm. Many proponents of socialism argue that it is purely an economic system and therefore independent of any particular form of governance. However, it is inconceivable that socialism/communism could be implemented on a nationwide scale without any form of government intervention. If a relatively small number of persons wish to unite in order to form a commune or worker-cooperative, that is their prerogative, but it could never work in a country with a large population, because there will always exist entrepreneurs desirous of engaging in wealth-building enterprises. Even a musician who composes a hit tune wants his song to succeed and earn him inordinate wealth. Socialism reduces individual citizens to utilities, who, in practice, are used to support the ruling elite, who are invariably despotic scoundrels, and very far from ideal leaders (i.e. compassionate and righteous monarchs). Those citizens who display talent in business or the arts are either oppressed, or their gifts are coercively utilized by the corrupt state. Despite purporting to be a fair and equitable system of wealth distribution, those in leadership positions seem to live a far more luxurious lifestyle than the mass of menial workers. Wealth is effectively stolen from the rich. Most destructively, virtuous and holy teachings (“dharma”, in Sanskrit) are repressed by the irreligious and ILLEGITIMATE “government”. The argument that some form of government WELFARE programme is essential to aid those who are unable to financially-support themselves for reasons beyond their control, is fallacious. A righteous ruler (i.e. a saintly monarch) will ensure the welfare of each and every citizen by encouraging private welfare. There is no need for a king to extort money from his subjects in order to feed and clothe the impoverished. Of course, in the highly-unlikely event that civilians are unwilling to help a person in dire straits, the king would step-in to assist that person, as one would expect from a patriarch (father of his people). The head of any nation ought to be the penultimate patriarch, not a selfish buffoon. DEMOCRACY is almost as evil, because, just as the rabble favoured the murderous Barabbas over the good King Jesus, the ignorant masses will overwhelmingly vote for the candidate which promises to fulfil their inane desires, rather than one which will enforce the law, and promote a wholesome and just society. Read Chapter 12 for the most authoritative and concise exegesis of law, morality, and ethics, currently available. Even in the miraculous scenario where the vast majority of the population are holy and righteous citizens, it is still immoral for them to vote for a seemingly-righteous leader. This is because that leader will not be, by definition, a king. As clearly and logically explicated in the previous chapter of this Holy Scripture, MONARCHY is the only lawful form of governance. If an elected ruler is truly righteous, he will not be able to condone the fact that the citizens are paying him to perform a job (which is a working-class role), and that an inordinate amount of time, money and resources are being wasted on political campaigning. Furthermore, an actual ruler does not wimpishly pander to voters - he takes power by (divinely-mandated) force, as one would expect from the penultimate alpha-male in society (the ultimate alpha-male being a priest). The thought of children voting for who will be their parents or teachers, would seem utterly RIDICULOUS to the average person, yet most believe that they are qualified to choose their own ruler - they are most assuredly not. Just as a typical child fails to understand that a piece of sweet, juicy, healthy, delicious fruit is more beneficial for them than a cone of pus-infested, fattening, diabetes-inducing ice-cream, so too can the uneducated proletariat not understand that they are unqualified to choose their own leader, even after it is logically explained to them (as it is in this chapter, as well as in the previous chapter). And by “uneducated”, it is simply meant that they are misguided in the realities of life and in righteous living (“dharma”, in Sanskrit), not in facts and figures or in technical training. Intelligence doesn't necessarily correlate to wisdom. No socialist or democratic government will educate its citizens sufficiently well that the citizens have the knowledge of how to usurp their rule. To put it frankly, democracy is rule by the “lowest common denominator”. It should be obvious that ANARCHY can never ever succeed, because even the smallest possible social unit (the nuclear family) requires a dominator. Any family will fall-apart without a strict male household head. In fact, without the husband/father, there is no family, by definition. The English noun “husband” comes from the Old Norse word “hûsbôndi”, meaning “master of the house”. The same paradigm applies to the extended family, which depends on a strong patriarchal figure (customarily, the eldest or most senior male). Likewise with clans, tribes, villages, towns, cities, and nations or countries. Unfortunately, there are many otherwise-intelligent persons who honestly believe that an ENTIRE country can smoothly run without a leader in place. Any sane person can easily understand that even a nuclear family is unable to function properly without a head of the house, what to speak of a populous nation. The reason for anarchists' distrust of any kind of government is due to the corrupt nature of democratic governments, and the adulteration of the monarchy in recent centuries. However, if anarchists were to understand that most all so-called “kings/queens” in recent centuries were not even close to being true monarchs, they may change their stance on that inane “system”. Most of the problems in human society are directly or indirectly attributable to this relatively modern phenomenon (non-monarchies), since it is the government’s role and sacred DUTY to enforce the law (see Chapter 12), and non-monarchical governments are themselves unlawful. One of the many sinister characteristics of democracy, socialism, and other evil forms of governance, is the desire for their so-called “leaders” to control, or at least influence, the private lives of every single citizen (hence the term “Nanny State”). For example, in the wicked, decadent nations in which this holy scripture was composed, The Philippine Islands and The Southland (or “Australia”, as it is known in the Latin tongue), the DEMONIC governments try, and largely succeed, in controlling the rights of parents to properly raise, discipline and punish their children according to their own morals, compulsory vaccination of infants, enforcing feminist ideology, limiting legitimate powers an employer has over his servants, subsidizing animal agriculture, persecuting religious leaders (even to imprisonment and death, believe it or not. Personally, I have been jailed thrice for executing God’s perfect and pure will), and even trying to negatively influence what people eat and wear. Not that a government shouldn’t control what its citizens wear in public, but it should ensure that they are MODESTLY dressed, according to the guidelines outlined in Chapter 28, which is hardly the case in Australia, the Philippines, and similar nations. At least ninety-nine per cent of Filipinas, for instance, are transvestinal, despite Philippines pretending to be a religious nation. Cont...

[@sofiasmith6757]

Thank you very much for your classes.

[@DanA-nl5uo]

I would love to see one reporter ask how raising the interest rates will lower the demand in the housing sector when the increase in demand comes from cash sales to wallstreet hedge funds and wealthy corporations.

[@kissoonkissoon1355]

Clear and simple explanation as usual

[@zironemegeaz]

inflation is not just the price of goods/services going up.

[@kd-mi4mi]

THank you prof wolff

[@DavidCodyPeppers.]

Fact: Capitalists destroy competition. Proof: if you are making 200k a year in dividends from the pharmaceutical industry would you vote to change the system that would cause you to lose that income? Peace! \o/

[@rickb3650]

The goal and inevitable outcome of capitalism is to eliminate competition and innovation.

[@davedismantled]

Fact: Socialism destroys intelligence. Proof: Your posted comment.

[@DavidCodyPeppers.]

@@davedismantled Your humor is a tonic and your tears taste delicious. Peace! \o/

[@Ianpact]

Thank you, Prof. Wolff.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

Good Girl! 👌 Incidentally, Slave, are you SOCIALIST? 🤔

[@ramseypietronasser2]

This is great

[@danielf9473]

🙏 Prof Wolff

[@rwolff6530]

Just another bot

[@norman9052]

Good stuff

[@tanujSE]

Marx perhaps kept inflation this way, To sum up: the more productive capital grows, the more it extends the division of labour and the application of machinery; the more the division of labour and the application of machinery extend, the more does competition extend among the workers, the more do their wages shrink together. Marx Wage labour and capital

[@piotr_jurkiewicz]

cheers form Poland 🇵🇱! 😘

[@fwdkad4001]

This guy is very moral and intelligent

[@rwolff6530]

Just another bot

[@markcrawford5810]

🤣

[@andreibaracuda]

How about dupply and demand? Due to demand pressures, the employer cost increases so they must raise prices to stay in business.

[@PoliticalEconomy101]

Ok agreed. But what stops a profit maximizing cooperative from doing the same thing? Price gouging and holding society hostage? It wouldnt be a problem under socialism with public ownership.

[@robertstan298]

Nothing, they would at most be a lesser evil. At the end of the day cooperatives are still private ownership, hence private interest.

[@jillzy1182]

Agreed! Why stop there though? Why not have public ownership of others homes? There are so many homeless or broke people who would love to be an owner of a house. Many homes have a spare bedroom not being used. Public ownership can be for cars too. Let someone use your car who typically would have to take the bus or even walk. You could create a website for people to sign up for locals in their area to use your car on the weekends. Let’s take generosity to a whole new level and be the change we wish to see in the world. It starts with us! It’s easy to tell that greedy business owner to give partial rights away to others, but not dip into our own pockets or be willing to share what we have. There is always someone less fortunate than ourselves. Always. So start giving away part ownership of everything you have purchased before you think it’s a good idea for others to do it.

[@mikeiswhite3]

@@jillzy1182 You have no idea what you are talking about and it's fucking hilarious 🤣 Abolish the private property of the bourgeoisie. No one wants your toothbrush, hairbrush, clothes, car, house etc. Go read about socialism and the subject at hand before speaking. Lol.

[@dashaw3255]

​@@jillzy1182 Dumb argument. We literally do this every fucking day of our lives when we realize it. When you lend your pencil - THAT YOU DON"T NEED - to someone who doesn't have one, thats you granting part ownership to someone else. You agree with share that pencil with someone. Sometimes you don't even care. Its a pencil. If you have extra, most people aren't gonna fucking cry when the person they lent it to forgot to return it. When your parents decided to let you stay in their house, giving you a room to put up your posters, that's you being granted part ownership of a house. When a rich employer a portion of his money, that's him doing the very same thing. Real marxists are not asking you to take "generosity to the next level". They are VERY specific about what it actually means - workplace democracy, where workers are empowered to negotiate with employers to determine how to distribute the profit fairly and what to do with the excess goods produced (also how it is produced) . It's not trying to abolish private ownership. Nobody's gonna come into your house and declare we partially own it. The argument isn't what to do on an individual level. All human beings are capable of kindness, even "Greedy business owners". The problem is with the SYSTEM that sees profit as the goal, and reward toxic behaviour such as greed, corruption, exploitation and pragmatism overwhelmingly over altruistic ones. You taking the stupid, moronic, argument about what individual do on a day to day basis, is still you FAILING to understand the argument. Let's use the ice cream cone analogy that wolff sometimes uses. A parent see a ice cream truck, his two kids want ice cream. The parent bought two ice cream and gave them both to the older brother, the younger brother cries. In your laughable strawman argument, you are making the case that the parent should order the brother to give one cone to his younger brother, in order to be fair. Except that's not what we're talking about here. We're saying the older brother should NEVER have gotten two in the first place, and that the NEXT time a ice cream truck comes along, the parent buys one for each. The older brother still get to lick his two ice cream cones. The current system is set up to allow the older brother keep asking for two, either by letting the parents to take a bite (bribery), telling the little brother to sftu and he deserves 2 because he's older (propaganda) or promise the little brother that he will let him take a bite (Trickle down economy which never works). Real marxist like Richard Wolff ain't interested in "TAKING MONEY YOU ALREADY HAVE". They are interested in changing the system so you don't get two ice cream cones in the FIRST PLACE. You can keep the ice cream cones you have already taken. It's just that from now on you won't be having 2. Get it? No one is asking you to give up what you already have or taking your fucking house and force you to live with strangers. Real Marxists are saying when you go out to work, there should be a SYSTEM in place that allow you to negotiate equally with the employer, about what to do with the PROFIT generated by the company, either through a vote or meeting or whatever process (such as UNION) that enable and protect the workers. Instead of a owner raking in 30 million dollar a year, build a system that ensures that 30 million dollars is divided AS FAIRLY AS POSSIBLE (because everyone with a brain knows true equality is impossible, but a negotiation process is still beneficial to everybody. It's not all or nothing). Get it?

[@nighthawk7151]

There are other market forces at play here. His example is way too simple. Also, DOJ antitrust division also has a say. I think there is some truth here that he is right about who inflation affects the most. Price freezing is up for debate.

[@kennytheclown3859]

I love Professor Wolf! Only thing is I disagree with calling these rich people hustlers, but I know what he's talking about.

[@Syncopation24]

Record Profits don't pair with Inflation without corporate greed in the equation.

[@Turdfergusen382]

Concise delivery. Keep em coming.

[@EarthColonyNet]

Dr. Wolff, An economy is so complex, even under pre-modern conditions. What about raw material shortages that trigger price hikes throughout all markets or inflation? For example, Germany ceased to export Potash before world war 1. The shortage of Potash reverberated in the form of product price inflation throughout markets everywhere. It was a government decision, not an employer decision. Sometimes natural disasters or simply running out of a natural resource can have the same effect. Your thoughts?

[@alexmala6483]

You are right, sometimes governments are complicit in price rises. But, who do you think governments serve? Do they serve more the employers, or the employees? Remember too, that when prices go up, government's taxation income goes up. Thus, in the class war, governments are on the side of the employers. They are employers' accomplices and assistants. Also, when prices go up because of 'shortages', many times those 'shortages' are artificially created, like the oil prices for example. The OPEC countries decide to cut production, the price of oil goes up. It is the same with many other commodities, products and services.

[@Jack-950]

When the person can't afford to buy a car and living expenses in general get worse they'll be forced into the workplace whether it's both parents or taking a second job or longer hours. Then the competition for work increases and the power tilts back into the employer class. Then they can offer lower pay and lower benefits. What we're watching is a revolt of the employer class based on how covid changed America. Americans suddenly had time to think so they did. And they realized they could work from home and they realized they wanted better health care and maternity leave and more. And this created competition amongst the employers. They had to offer these things or they weren't going to get the best talent anymore. Inflation and its "solution" solves that. It's another reset. And what's chilling is how quickly they did it.

[@banjoyBoy]

Yep. Watched my variable rate mortgage line of credit go from about 2.3% to 8% overnight. I'm glad I didn't let the bank sucker me into using much of it. But it's sucking money right out of my pocket ever month ... helps the economy ... how? Wolff gets it dead on, folks like me at the lower levels of the economy pay for it all. Interesting to me how these Fed policies produce windfall profits for banks, which is somehow is great for the economy? Sure, sure it is. They keep telling me it is, so therefore it must be true. Good grief. We're all stupid I guess.

[@andrisig]

I love that Rick keeps hammering this point that capitalist are fully resppnsable for inflation. Get the word out everyone!

[@davedismantled]

Central banks and governments are responsible for inflation - if a person actually understands what inflation is. Inflation is not rising prices, to give you a little hint.

[@rwolff6530]

Inflation was stable at 2%-3% a year for the past 40 years. Inflation has sky rocketed in the past 18 months since Biden took office. If capitalists are responsible for inflation why were they sitting around for the past 40 years content with 2-3 % and just recently decide to smother us by doubling the cost of everything ?

[@indonesiamenggugat8795]

🌹🌹

[@logic52]

Professor wolf, which moves the history is not the division/struggle of classes but the thechnological change. Thechnology (methods, including manuals to do things) exisits in all systems, including most primitive societies and it is what desides if society has classes, division/struggle of classes or not. Capitalism/pass from feudalism to capitalism, as example, were the consequences of the industrial revolution. That is the apperance of mechnical/electromechanical technology. Which, by turn, creates new two classes, capitalists/workers and the conflict between them. Now, we live a new technological change, information and telecommunication technology, ITC, which is by definition is decentralizing/globalizing/"world-alizing" technology opposite to the previous centralizer/nation states creator technology. ITC either creating it's, new societies/ONE WORLD SOCIETY, with a new CLASSESLESS structure.

[@marquardtfrickert3939]

Inflation is caused by expansion of the money supply and not by raising prices.... If you cause asset inflation, which the FED did for 23 years now, CPI will sooner or later follow. Remember the last time the US had inflation was from 70-80, try to guess when the Gold standard was abolished and reckless money printing begun.

[@beltonite2243]

Share this video.

[@edwardcortes6668]

Enjoyed your debate against the former CEO of Whole Foods. You exposed him for the greedy capitalist that he is.

[@chungyu390]

Is supply and demand determining the price?

[@Wolf-ln1ml]

To a degree, yes, but far, _far_ less than the typical "free capitalism if good" crowd would ever admit (if they're even aware of the reality).

[@biddu2683]

What a brilliant and honest man!!!!!

[@rwolff6530]

Just another bot

[@jonathonjubb6626]

Prices and Incomes Policy in 1960s Britain was not well received I seem to remember....

[@sqatsi1101]

Hi Professor Wolff, OK, the west has issues with some aspects of the economy. Has there ever been a system that allocates goods and services in the way you imply that would be more fair? It's the money printing that is causing the inflation and soon to be hyper-inflation just as in the Weimar Republic and many countries. It's not so much a small group of business owners capriciously raising prices as much as the inputs to what they are making have gone up in price. The banksters that forced this by printing excessive amounts of fiat are something like .00000001 of the world's population.

[@EggersEggers-pd6te]

On point.💎👍🤙

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

Can all in breadtube, and adjacent to it, please start educating people about both: (1) the difference between right-authoritarian vs. right-libertarian; & (2) the difference between left-authoritarian vs left-libertarian? It’s long overdue. People aren’t cattle or sheep: They will understand if we educate them.

[@PoliticalEconomy101]

LOL asking breadtube to educate people is an oxymoron. Breadtube is fundamentally anti intellectual and economic illiterate.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

@@PoliticalEconomy101 I’ve noticed and been disappointed with them sometimes. Even though they take their name from Kropotkin’s Conquest of Bread

[@darioleonfernandez6932]

Hay una secuencia lógica en lo que el profesor explica y aclara. Para mejorar ese poderoso y ( antes) muy culto pais, debe atenderse a las mayorías. Ellas son el pais, ellos son los estados unidos de américa, ellos haran que esa nación sea más rica y poderosa, y también mas concientes de que los problemas de los paises del resto del planeta les afectarán. Pero primero deben mejorarse, estudiar más, leer más que en la época de Allan Poe.

[@petersepall2590]

Classism is based on an animal compulsion for social dominance over others and capitalism is just a particular ideological attempt to rationalize and legitimize that. It is may be necessary to know how dominance is being dysfunctionally perpetuated throughout society, but that will never be sufficient in itself to end such dysfunction. Only increased self awareness and a culture that grows out of that stands a chance of success.

[@bradbell4022]

"animal compulsion for social dominance" in a complex society? Isn't the animal compulsion for social acceptance a far more powerful driver than social dominance? That is, kids want to be loved and respected members of family/groups; dogs want to be accepted as members of the pack. It also applies to groups ranging from complex societies to small groups. This is why anarchism works and why using coercion to shape behaviour is so ineffective. Also, where is the desire to be dominated? Is it with the desire to dominate? Are there social groups in complex societies that desire domination? Like the working class forcing the upper class to dominate them? Classism would seem better explained as an extension of the impulse to protect the tribe, family or pack we are a member of

[@petersepall2590]

@@bradbell4022 The drive for dominance does not exclude there being a drive for acceptance. In fact, dominance is one way of ensuring acceptance in that it prevents others from being able to reject. Nor does protecting the group to which one belongs exclude such a compulsion namely because groups are often if not usually united in mutual dominance over other groups. I am not saying it is the only drive: I am just asserting that it still exists only we have deluded ourselves, namely as a function of indoctrination and self-serving dishonesty, not to see it for what it is. Anarchism could work, at least as I understand it, but to say it has worked seems to me an overstatement. We are dealing with the unknown here. We have never had a sustained anarchistic society and experimentation is in order. Also to say coercion doesn't work to shape behavior is patently false. It works very well for the people doing the coercing. At least for as long as their power holds out. However it certainly is not ideal and I do not want to live like that. As for the desire to be dominated that is probably an evolved response for dealing with being dominated, but it may also have other explanations particularly on the individual level. Groups like certain working class groups might end up wanting to be dominated but I think it is more likely they are deceived into it by other organized groups intent on dominating them.

[@BrickBatDad]

Price freeze your solution.. lol..

[@humanidee118]

Very 👍

[@rcmrcm3370]

✊👍

[@elmerfadd]

Thanks for the insight and I agree. I would like to suggest two qualifications though: (i) It would be unfair to lump all employers as having equal responsibility for inflation. There are millions of micro-enterprise owners operating in competitive markets who cannot raise their prices that easily. (ii) Even for large corporations, it is not only a matter of owners´ interest, it is also a structural problem. I work for a multinational paint and coatings producer and we had to raise prices in response to the doubling of the price of our raw materials to protect our margins. However, the motivation behind this was not only the profitability of the owners (although I am sure the executive board wanted to ensure they got their bonuses). The additional reason was the increasing risk that we wouldn´t be able to keep up with our loans. This is what I mean by "structural problem".

[@Anthony-dj4nd]

Man must be ecstatic with the current state of the economy 🤣

[@ricardomaccarthy6903]

I do not agree with your inflation diagnostic. The owner of an enterprise will try to maximise its profit, but he can not rise prices indefinitely. The market determines the price of the products ( how much the consumers are willing to pay for a good or service) , and therefore not the owner of the enterprise.

[@rwolff6530]

Wolff missed that part of Econ 101 when he was a college student.

[@Euronasa]

I agree with you. But isolated he has a point. But I wish he would have mentioned the obvious circumstances like covid, like war in Ukraine and the energy crisis in Europe because Germany has skipped nuclear power and coal to rely on russian natural gas, which they cannot have because they sanction Russia. And why Saudi ARABIA, (OPEC) won't compensate for the crisis by increase their production to lower the prices. And the "green shift" in Europe and the reduction of Co2 emissions to the atmosphere to possibly reduce climate change. It is all connected. Why not talk about it? The big picture?

[@peterjol]

like hamsters in a wheel around and around we go necver getting anywhere.......inflation...fight for more money....'win' more money...inflation....fight for more money......'win' more money .....inflation.....just keep on going around and around. Always Repeating the same thing and somehow expecting different results. ..but we keep 'winning' in the end don't we?...lmao.

[@cev12]

But the government has **the potential** to be the intermediary between the powerful fat cats and the average worker. I guess enough workers just never realize the power they have with the vote though. Leaves you nothing but disillusioned with human beings.

[@Khannea]

The great emigration wave will soon start where the young will start leaving the US for western europe, fleeing horrible rightwing politics, guns, crime, lousy education standards, racial divisions, rampant racism, the rollback of womens rights, the drug epidemic, the maga insanity, police brutality, the withering wages, insane corporatism, religious madness, sick youth culture, ridiculous work hours, horrific medical care costs, homeless people everywhere, decaying infrastructure, bizarre bureaucracy, weird boomers, gun culture, complete lack of government investments, mass corruption, grotesque environmental disasters, etc. etc. etc. The Netherland will glady take these talented young workers off your hands.

[@dallasweaver4061]

I have listened to a lot of economists take simple-minded viewpoints, but he takes the cake. He cites Nixon as stopping "inflation on a dime" with wage and price controls, which shrinks the number of decision-makers to one person. He is almost as old as I am so I know he knows what happened with the "wage and price controls" when the prices became lower than the costs of production. We ended up with empty shelves and pumps and allocated products by how long we could wait in line. Money, Inflation, and interest rate discussions require a deeper understanding that may include concepts such as "real" interest rate, money as a store of value, and debasement of currency as a way for governments can steal value from every dollar in your pocket. In historical times, governments would dilute gold coins with silver and not they just effectively print more money which decreases the value of money which appears as inflation. He knows this but it doesn't fit his belief system. With all the observations around the world that prove that his communism/marxism beliefs don't produce good results for the people and the working man, he can't understand that any system that creates government monopolies without possible failure will be a system that becomes frozen in time and a long term failure.

[@kevinschmidt2210]

Raising prices is limited by the competition that does not raise prices. In reality, demand side inflation is mostly caused by too much government spending on the wrong things, like warmongering and wealthy welfare. Our current supply side inflation is caused by US economic WWIII sanctions against Russia.

[@go9316]

You talking about white supremacy

[@garrethoien6666]

Then why don't these employees price everything at 1million dollars or 2 billion? because the goods won't sell, so prices are set by the market.

[@tinetannies4637]

First, I assume you mean "employers", not "employees". And what you're seeing is prices getting raised to the point where consumers get bled dry.... where they can't save, where they increasingly have to limit discretionary spending, where they have to work more and more just to purchase the same things they did before. No, you can't be charged $1 million for a loaf of bread. But you can be charged $10.

[@DanA-nl5uo]

Look at the housing market today. It isn't families that are walking in and bidding over the asking price with cash in hand it is wallstreet hedge funds. The "free market" is just a way of disturbing limited resources based on wealth not based on need. Hedge funds clearly don't have a need for single family homes. I mean money doesn't need a bed and a roof over it's head.

[@davedismantled]

@@tinetannies4637 Don't conflate a rise in prices with inflation. They are not the same thing. And, in your limited view, anything the individuals face is also faced by people that own a business - only they have to worry about more than just themselves. Like the people working for them.

[@tinetannies4637]

@@davedismantled ah you just had to add that snark personal dig instead of simply trying to add to an enlightened conversation. did it feel good?

[@davedismantled]

@@tinetannies4637 You can call the Truth whatever you want. You do have a limited view. Just because you think it is snarky or "personal", doesn't mean you do not. Not only is your view limited, but it is incorrect. Do you actually understand what inflation really is? Do you understand fractional reserve banking, fiat currency, sound money, etc.? If you don't understand those things, then that - by definition - means you have limited views and are also probably incorrect about those views.

[@rubensdesateles108]

LULA 13 PT

[@peterstafford4426]

He has no facts. Its all hot air. Uts how he markets his books.

[@skapunkoialternativeliving6522]

I would say if you want capitalism to work for you. I say start your own business like I do I have a window washing business so capitalism in my case does work capitalism does not work for the working class because these are people who don't have no ideas or no way to build themselves so they these are the fools or the poor people you choose to work for someone else you don't make money working for other people you got to start your own business or do something for yourself the choice is always yours but I get it at the same time not everybody can have their own business that is also true so you're going to have workers ..so capitalism does not benefit Working Class People ..because they have nothing to offer..

[@DanA-nl5uo]

If you think your small business puts you in the same benefits as Warren Buffett, Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos you are sadly mistaken as to how the capitalist economy is stacked in favor of large monopolies.

[@MatthewNewman]

yup, systemic issues can be solved by just pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and tightening that belt...totally. absolutely. it certainly isn't a nonsense claim made to shift the responsibility of a system controlled by a small portion of hoarders using capital to maintain a desperation and misery based economy onto individuals. totally isn't. apt points all around. /s

[@boltstrike2787]

Well arguably at some point no one will have anything to offer because of automation, A.I. will displace a lot of people's places in the job market because humans aren't physically capable of what A.I. are. But even putting that aside, usually the main reason working class people have nothing to offer is because they don't have sufficient education, and education is becoming very expensive. Also even if you get an education, employers are starting to have sky high expectations for job applicants such as having previous experience in the field which creates a Catch 22 situation preventing skilled but unexperienced applicants from getting their foot in the door. It is much more complicated than "poor people haz no skillz", the economic system is actively pushing people out of the workforce for reasons behind their actions.

[@user-tl5yb1jy7c]

Richard knows better than this, hes basically purposefully lying to you all to drum up anti-corporate sentiment. Inflation is from printing money. If there is 100 dollar bills in circulation, and you double it to 200 bills in circulation, the price of all things double.

[@rickb3650]

That is absurd on it's face and only other people with absolutely no understanding of economics and currency will fall for it. This kind of simplistic nonsense is how the idea of "trickle down" was sold. I'll be waiting for the next nonsense about "the evils of fiat currency" and how we need to go back to "the gold standard". 🙄

[@brockmiller574]

That IS part of it, but monetary supply does not exclusively dictate inflation. Markets have a portion of sensitivity to pricing when you are looking at markets with a great deal of competition. The fast food analogy applies here. All those retailers have to figure out if or how much a price increase will impact volume of sales where it matters to figuring out what they need to move at what profit margin in order to maintain a profitable rate. So, the increased currency available is not viewed simply as more, but as a buffer against sensitivity to increase in expense on both sides where increase in cost of supply affects profit margin. So the question then becomes finding out where increase in end cost affects volume of sales, and what would be an acceptable decrease in volume, if any, if that increase can pad the margin or not to make up for decrease in volume. Then you have to consider all the other factors that inform that margin, like labor, marketing, packaging, logistics, and so forth... cost of fuel for instance, and availability of materials. None of it is in a vacuum.

[@user-tl5yb1jy7c]

@@brockmiller574 big picture it really is simple as inflation is due to money supply expansion and price reduction is due to capital investment. The fact that multiple forces at on prices make things difficult to resolve, but if you think record low rates for loans and stimulus did not largely cause our 15% inflation, you are fundamentally misunderstanding our current predicament.

[@user-tl5yb1jy7c]

@@rickb3650 simplistic nonsense? I just read Milton Friedmans Financial History of the US. I was distilling it for the morons on this site.

[@SCHMALLZZZ]

@@rickb3650 only deflation is an indicator of a healthy economy. There is absolutely no reason why it should cost more to produce a can of soda today than 50 years ago.

[@BrickBatDad]

Try reading “Economics in One Lesson”.. if your going to make these videos you should at least know the basics.

[@rwolff6530]

There is an old saying that every graduating class has someone who graduated dead last in the class. Wolff was that guy in his Econ 101 class.

[@sofiasmith6757]

Thank you very much for your classes.