Welcome, friends, to another edition of Economic Update, a weekly program devoted to the economic

dimensions of our lives and those of our children. I'm your host, Richard Wolfe. Today's program is a little bit

different. It's got a title, what's wrong with capitalism and what is the cure? And I want to

talk about that because of what has happened over this last year just behind us.

2022 saw many economic problems emerge or become much more serious,

even as most of our leaders continue to practice the denial of them,

or the denial of their seriousness, or of the fact that the U.S. Empire is now clearly in

decline. I'm going to give you a partial list. Bear with me as I look down occasionally,

because there are many items, and I don't want to miss them, because I want you to see with

me how many there really are.

We went through a year of a rampant inflation.

Prices rising, 8, 9, 10%, depending a little bit on how you count.

A terrible blow to a population that had just come through two years of the

worst public health crisis in a century plus an economic collapse. As if to make matters worse,

the last year also saw raising interest rates, a decision by the Federal Reserve system in this country.

You know, the people hurt most by an inflation are middle income and low income people.

People with a lot of money pay the higher prices, no big deal.

Raising interest rates is the same thing.

It hurts most, those who have the least amount of money, to pay

the higher interest rates. So notice, the problem hurts middle and poor income people the most,

and the solution found by our government has the same odd quality, especially when you remember that the rich among us are a very small

minority, and the middle and the bottom is the vast majority. But I'm just beginning. The year was

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