As we bring this year to a close and look forward to what lies in store for us in 2013, it’s time once again time for us to kick off our annual “best of” roundup featuring the top 10 FORA.tv videos of 2012. And without further ado:
In the years since the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the subsequent “Great Recession,” economists have sought answers to how and why such a drastic decline could occur. Was the downturn an inevitable, natural check as a result of an unsustainable housing bubble and unsound monetary policy? Or, are there deeper issues within our economic system that need to be addressed?
If you ask Dr. Richard D. Wolff, Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, he might defend the latter question. Called “America’s most prominent Marxist economist” by the New York Times, Wolff is the author of Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism. He points to vast gaps in inequality, risky practices by financial institutions, and the negative influence of corporate interests that continue to perpetuate a broken system.
In the following video, Wolff explains the need to openly criticize and analyze capitalism, especially in a time of financial crisis, in order to help find a cure that is both big enough and bold enough help our country survive.