Robinson's Podcast

Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s twelfth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He researches domestic and international finance, the history of economics, and the role of debt in shaping class stratification, among many other topics. This is Michael’s eighth appearance on the show. In this episode, Robinson, Richard, and Michael discuss colonialism and the death of modern nations. More particularly, they discuss the evolution of capitalism toward socialism, whether colonialism has officially ended, Russia, China, Israel, Iran, Trump, Putin, and the United States. Richard’s latest book is Understanding Capitalism (Democracy at Work, 2024). Michael’s most recent book is Temples of Enterprise (ISLET, 2024). 

Understanding Capitalism (Book): https://www.democracyatwork.info/understanding_capitalism

Richard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.com

Economic Update: https://www.democracyatwork.info/economicupdate

Michael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.com

Temples of Enterprise: https://a.co/d/a3c53dm

OUTLINE
00:00 Is Capitalism Evolving into Socialism?
07:20 Is Today the Post-Colonial Period?
18:10 How Colonialism Divided the World
28:54 China and the Revenge of Feudalism
41:06 Productive vs Unproductive Labor
49:24 Overcoming the “Discipline” of Academia
01:01:17 The Danger of Education
01:13:19 Will the United States Break Up?
01:21:22 Why the EU and NATO Will Break Up
01:29:15 Why Michael Believes the US Will Remain United
01:38:37 Trump’s Army and the Militarized Police
01:46:49 Is the US Turning into a Police State?
01:48:49 The Choice Before a Declining Empire
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Steve Keen is an economist and was most recently Head of the School of Economics, History and Politics at Kingston University in London. He has done research on a wide variety of topics, including Marxist economics, debt, complexity theory, and systems dynamics. In this episode, Steve and Robinson discuss his economic framework in relation to wars around the globe. More particularly, the discuss the importance of oil in the Iran War, the cold war with China, the war in Ukraine, and more.

OUTLINE
00:00 The Crucial Importance of Oil in the Iran War
08:54 Systems Dynamics and Economics
14:22 How Much Inflation Will the Iran War Cause?
18:17 Will the Iran War Cause Famine?
28:56 Conspiracy and the Iran War
30:48 Tariffs and Trade Deficits
46:03 Will Trump’s Tariffs Bring Manufacturing Back to the United States
52:49 Steve’s Motivation
59:25 The Crucial Flaw in Marxism
01:12:43 Understanding the War in Ukraine’s Impact on Europe
01:16:38 On Putin’s Motivations in Ukraine
01:26:32 Understanding Trump through Narcissistic Personality Disorder
01:32:52 Trump and the Takeover of Venezuela
01:38:11 Economists Misunderstand Everything About China
01:53:01 Why Will China Survive Global Warming?
01:57:18 AI and the Future Economics of the World

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Timothy Snyder holds the inaugural Temerty Chair in Modern European History at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Snyder’s work has appeared in forty languages and has received a number of prizes, including the Emerson Prize in the Humanities. Snyder was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford, has received the Carnegie and Guggenheim fellowships, and holds state orders from Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland. He is researching a family history of nationalism and finishing a philosophical book about freedom. In this episode, Robinson and Timothy discuss the future of the United States. More particularly, they delve into AI, rebellion, conspiracy theory, our relationship with Russia and Ukraine, Donald Trump, and more. Timothy’s most recent book is On Freedom (Crown, 2024).

Timothy’s Website: https://timothysnyder.org

On Freedom: https://timothysnyder.org/books/

OUTLINE
00:00 Will the United States Cease to Exist?
13:47 Is Trump Breaking the United States Apart?
21:09 Will AI Prevent Armed Rebellion Against the Government?
30:20 Trump, Conspiracy Theories, and the Politics of Small Numbers
39:46 Putin Does Not Think Ukraine Is Real
45:57 What Are Trump’s Soft Spots?
50:26 How Tim Organizes His Thought
57:59 Donald Trump and the Superloser

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s eleventh appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In this episode, Richard and Robinson discuss the ongoing war in Iran, as well as the war in Russia and Ukraine, our cold war with China, and the future possibilities of World War III. Richard’s latest book is Understanding Capitalism (Democracy at Work, 2024).

Understanding Capitalism (Book): https://www.democracyatwork.info/understanding_capitalism

Richard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.com

Economic Update: https://www.democracyatwork.info/economicupdate

OUTLINE
00:00 China, Iran, and the Implosion of the West
13:00 The Irreconcilable Gulf Between Russia and the West
16:01 Europe’s Hard World War II Lesson
21:20 Europe’s Final Collapse Is Coming
28:42 How China Is Methodically Conquering the World
35:44 Russia’s Siberian Advantage
39:15 Marx, War, and Economic Decline
52:39 Why Iran Will Always Control the Strait of Hormuz
01:02:02 How the United States Already Failed in Iran
01:06:37  What the United States Can Learn from the Collapse of the British Empire
01:12:19 Why the War in Iran Will Not Lead to Nuclear War
01:14:44 John Mearsheimer’s Escalation Ladder and the Threat of Nuclear War in Russia
01:29:53 What Would World War Look Like in the 21st Century?
01:36:17 Donald Trump, The Isolator
01:41:40 The Sad Legacy of the League of Nations
01:51:04 Is World War III Inevitable?

Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He researches domestic and international finance, the history of economics, and the role of debt in shaping class stratification, among many other topics. This is Michael’s Seventh appearance on the show. On past episodes, including with Richard Wolff, he and Robinson have neoliberalism, industrial capitalism, the rentier economy, Marxism, and the role of economics in political history. In this episode, Michael and Robinson talk about debt and the destruction of empires. Michael’s most recent book is Temples of Enterprise (ISLET, 2024). 

Michael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.com

Temples of Enterprise: https://a.co/d/a3c53dm

OUTLINE
00:00 Keeping Governments Under Control
07:01 Understanding the Church
17:27 Why Debts Grow Too Fast to Be Paid
22:57 Understanding the BRICS
26:50 How Can Countries Get Rich?
32:47 Where Is the United States’ Debt Dragging Us?
46:26 Why Michael Hudson Is Not a Mainstream Economist
48:59 The Historical Approach to Economics
01:06:01 Controlling Governments Through Tax Policy
01:23:55 How Michael Researches
01:33:31 The Myth of Economic Rent
01:38:47 The United States’ Hereditary Oligarchy
01:41:04 Why the United States Can’t Go Bankrupt
01:44:42 Closing Thoughts

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.