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Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

The real looting in America (with Robert Reich)

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Civic Ventures

Business, Government, News, Politics

4.81.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2020

⏱️ 32 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The real looting in America is the looting of the wages and savings of the bottom 90% by the wealthiest 1%. And although it’s not in the news nearly as much as other types of looting recently, our rigged economic system causes far more harm to our society. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich joins Nick and Jessyn to explain who rigged the system, and what it will take to stop the real looting. To contact your elected leaders about the transfer of $50 trillion over the past 45 years from working Americans to the top 1%, text RAND to 67076 or go to www.civicaction.com/rand. Robert Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written 18 books, the latest of which is “THE SYSTEM: Who Rigged It, and How To Fix It.” He is a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, founder of Inequality Media, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentaries “Inequality for All” and “Saving Capitalism,” both now streaming on Netflix. Twitter: @RBReich Show us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics Further reading: Protesters criticized for looting businesses without forming private equity firms first: https://www.theonion.com/protestors-criticized-for-looting-businesses-without-fo-1843735351 Banks gave richest clients ‘concierge treatment’ for pandemic aid: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/business/sba-loans-ppp-coronavirus.html Who is really “looting” America? https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/06/9852642/billionaires-rich-looting-america-tax-law-money The top 1% have taken $50 trillion from the bottom 90%, and that’s made the U.S. less secure: https://time.com/5888024/50-trillion-income-inequality-america/ The golden age of white collar crime: https://www.huffpost.com/highline/article/white-collar-crime/ Some companies seeking bailouts had piles of cash, then spent it: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/business/coronavirus-bailouts-buybacks-cash.html U.S. billionaires got $845 billion richer since the start of the pandemic: https://www.fastcompany.com/90551712/u-s-billionaires-got-845-billion-richer-since-the-start-of-the-pandemic The rich really do pay lower taxes than you: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/06/opinion/income-tax-rate-wealthy.html What is private equity, and why is it killing everything you love? https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/1/6/21024740/private-equity-taylor-swift-toys-r-us-elizabeth-warren When Wall Street is your landlord: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/02/single-family-landlords-wall-street/582394/ Many companies pay nothing in taxes. The public has a right to know how they pull it off: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/22/many-companies-pay-nothing-taxes-public-has-right-know-how-they-pull-it-off/ Purdue Pharma admits to crimes for its OxyContin marketing. But no one is going to prison: https://www.vox.com/2020/10/21/21526868/purdue-pharma-oxycontin-opioid-epidemic-department-of-justice Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/ Twitter: @PitchforkEcon Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Transcript

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0:00.0

Who's doing the real looting in America?

0:03.0

Those who are very wealthy and have the power to change the rules of the game

0:07.4

to increase their wealth.

0:08.7

The real looters are the ones who have grossly benefited from this rig system around our economy.

0:16.0

The fundamental problem here is that when the powerful exploiting powerless,

0:20.0

under the cover of essentially capitalism of making a profit.

0:24.4

We don't consider it looting even though it is.

0:27.6

From the home offices of Civic Ventures in downtown Seattle, this is Pitch Fork Economics with

0:37.6

Nick Hanauer.

0:38.8

The only Economics Podcast that tells the truth about who gets what and why.

0:43.0

I'm Nick Henauer, founder of Civic Ventures.

0:48.0

I'm Jessen Farrell and I'm Senior Vice President at Civic Ventures and a former state

0:56.4

legislator.

1:00.2

So Jessen, we don't often start an episode of pitchfork economics by quoting the onion.

1:07.6

But in this episode on looting, I just don't think there's any way around it because in their terrific a piece from I think it was

1:16.2

May or June they had this fantastic headline which was protesters criticized for looting

1:22.4

businesses without forming private equity firm first,

1:26.0

which I think pretty much sums up the entire neoliberal enterprise.

1:31.6

Exactly, that is satire as truth.

1:35.4

You know, the mainstream corporate media has really used the word looting

1:40.3

quite a bit and has conflated that word with peaceful protests that have been around

1:46.3

police violence and advocating for black lives and Black Lives Matter.

...

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