White House Panics Over Socialism’s Popularity

FEATURING RICHARD WOLFF – The year 2018 marked the 200th birthday of Karl Marx, a Western philosopher who changed global perspectives on the economy and the value of labor and goods. Sensing an increasing attraction to the ideas of socialism among the American public, Donald Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors released a bizarre document entitled “The Opportunity Costs of Socialism.”

The report attempted to make an empirical case for why socialism does not work. In doing so, the authors inadvertently make the case for a single payer system that conservatives have derided as “socialist.” Vox’s Sarah Cliff pointed out that a chart intended to show longer wait times for seniors seeking healthcare in various countries includes the US having the shortest wait times. But of course seniors in the US enjoy the benefits of Medicare – a single payer system just for those over the age of 65.

Many point out that the report is intended to counteract the growing popularity of a Medicare-for-all system among the public and politicians, especially Democrats, as well as the popularity of socialism as an economic system.

For more information about Richard Wolff’s ‘Economic Update’ program visit www.democracyatwork.info/tags/economic_update.

Richard Wolff, visiting professor at the New School University, New York and professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, author of a number of books including ‘Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism’, ‘Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism’, ‘Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA’, and ‘Capitalism’s Crisis Deepens: Essays on the Global Economic Meltdown.’

** This segment was originally broadcast on October 24, 2018.