Interview with Noted Economist, Richard D. Wolff: Part One

All of that was done and made the depression much less worse for the people than it could have been.

It is one of the great shames of America today that not only is there no federal jobs program, but that nobody says one word about it. It’s as if that page of American history, so relevant to debate today had never existed. It’s an attempt to wipe out the past so that we don’t have the debate we ought to have about a federal jobs program that if introduced could in one move make the prospects and conditions for this generation of college students radically better than what it looks to be.

Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Visiting Professor at the New School University in New York. With frequent co-author, Stephen Resnick, he has published many books and articles on economic theory, economic history, and alternative economic theories. Their latest is Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian and Marxian (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2012). Wolff’s recent work (books, articles, speeches, and interviews) critically analyzes capitalism’s severe global crisis since 2007. That work and proposals for solutions are gathered at rdwolff.com and democracyatwork.info.

Konstantine Roccas is an observer of local and international affairs and governance, but also writes about anything else that piques his ire. He enjoys a half kilo of Greek yogurt daily. He writes for the Arbitrage Magazine. More of his work can be found at myriadtruths.blogspot.caand he can be followed on Twitter @KosteeRoccas.