Economic Update: The Global "Birth Strike" Changes Everything
Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff
Democracy at Work
4.8 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week on Economic Update, Professor Wolff delivers updates on the tentative agreement reached by the unionized portion (85%) of the staff at the Los Angeles Unified School District (400,000 students, 83,300 workers), the three separate labor unions that unified to win major improvements in wages and working conditions, how capitalist versus socialist enterprises would install AI, and how progressive mayors like Mamdani of New York could counter billionaires' threats to evade taxes by moving their businesses if any political leader taxed the rich (or moved to make the rich pay their fair share of taxes). The second half of the show features an interview with Dr. Harriet Fraad, a practicing psychotherapist in New York City, on the global movement to not have children, its social causes, and its social consequences.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome, friends, to another edition of Economic Update, a weekly program devoted to the |
| 0:26.5 | economic dimensions of our lives and those of our children. |
| 0:30.6 | I'm your host, Richard Wolfe. |
| 0:33.8 | Before jumping into today's program, I want to remind everyone that if you're interested in joining Professor Shahram Azar and myself for a live Q&A session, |
| 0:47.3 | and you haven't yet signed up for the on-demand access to this special program, you have until Friday, May 15th, to do so. |
| 0:58.8 | This special Q&A session will take place on Saturday, May 16th, from 12 to 2 Eastern Standard |
| 1:06.9 | Time. |
| 1:08.6 | Seats are limited, and the details for all of this can be found on our website, |
| 1:14.2 | Democracy at Work.info slash classes. I look forward to seeing you and talking with you |
| 1:23.1 | and having you join us at that time. If you haven't already, you can sign up for our weekly |
| 1:31.1 | newsletter, which has details on this project and the others like it, as well as other ways to |
| 1:37.9 | get involved with everything else we do. Please remember also that by liking, subscribing, and sharing this video with others, |
| 1:47.0 | you become a partner in an effort to shape and influence what we talk about in this country |
| 1:55.0 | and how we make the changes that need to come. |
| 2:00.9 | Today's program will be talking about union struggles in the city of Los Angeles, talking |
| 2:09.4 | about how capitalism versus socialism deals with the artificial intelligence challenge to our economic situation. |
| 2:21.6 | And finally, what Mayor Mamdani in New York City might think about doing when, as has now |
| 2:29.8 | happened, he is threatened by billionaires that they will leave New York if he dares tax them |
| 2:38.4 | even a small portion of what they ought to be paying. |
| 2:43.8 | So let's begin. |
| 2:47.2 | As I often do, I want to talk to you about a labor struggle because it is part of the change this country needs, |
| 2:55.6 | and because there are really important new militant trade union actions spreading across the United States. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 14 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Democracy at Work, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Democracy at Work and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.