COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Capitalism Hits the Fan ... a lecture by Richard Wolff (UnabridgedVersion)

http://youtu.be/y4ZsYQTiS5Q

ABOUT THE MOVIE:
With breathtaking clarity, renowned University of Massachusetts Economics Professor Richard Wolff breaks down the root causes of today's economic crisis, showing how it was decades in the making and in fact reflects seismic failures within the structures of American-style capitalism itself. Wolff traces the source of the economic crisis to the 1970s, when wages began to stagnate and American workers were forced into a dysfunctional spiral of borrowing and debt that ultimately exploded in the mortgage meltdown. By placing the crisis within this larger historical and systemic frame, Wolff argues convincingly that the proposed government 'bailouts,' stimulus packages, and calls for increased market regulation will not be enough to address the real causes of the crisis - in the end suggesting that far more fundamental change will be necessary to avoid future catastrophes. Richly illustrated with motion graphics and charts, this is a superb introduction designed to help ordinary citizens understand, and react to, the unraveling economic crisis.

TRANSCRIPT URL BELOW
http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/139/transcript_139.pdf TRANSCRIPT IS AVAILABLE IN THE TrueValueMetrics dialog at:
Transcript in TVM

'With unerring coherence and unequaled breadth of knowledge, Rick Wolff offers a rich and much needed corrective to the views of mainstream economists and pundits. It would be difficult to come away from this... with anything but an acute appreciation of what is needed to get us out of this mess.' —Stanley Aronowitz, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Urban Education, City University of New York