A very clear sign of a growing economic crisis has to do with defaults on auto loans.

Yes, loans for newly purchased automobiles, new and used, are rising at an alarming pace,

with hundreds of thousands of consumers facing mounting

bills amid surging new car prices. Like so many other areas of the capitalist economy,

unsustainable debt becomes the method of choice to paper over the contradictions of the system, that is at least

for the time being.

We need a new system.

We need a new society.

We need to demand that which may have sounded impossible even a few weeks ago, but is not

only realizable, but an imperative necessity. We are excited to have again, Professor Richard Wolfe.

He joins us for our regular weekly segment where we talk about the biggest stories related to the economy,

the state of the working class, and the crimes of big business. I'm your host, Brian Becker.

The Socialist Program brings you content three days a week. Thanks to the support of our patrons at patreon.com forward slash the socialist program. We appreciate all of your support and encourage you

to become a patron today. Richard Wolfe is the co-founder of the organization, Democracy at Work.

He's the author of many books, the latest being The Sickness is the System when Capitalism

fails to save us from pandemics or itself.

You can check out all of his work at R.D.Wolf.com.

That's R.D.W.L.F.f.com.

Professor Wolfe, welcome back.

Thank you, Brian. Glad to be here.

You know, Richard, when we were talking about this week's show,

of course, a big topic would be the Brick

...