Marxism will be the core of our approach to political economy. But we are also open to a range of other views–the solidarity economy, Keynesian schools of thought, and debates between various opposing schools.

Six Lectures on Political Economy

Richard Wolff, UMass Amherst In addition to the link above and button below, CLICK HERE for more classes by Wolff. For his new book on the three contending theories of Neoclassicalism, Keynesianism, and Marxism, go HERE. Otherwise Access Here

Reading Marx’s Capital

These six 2016 lectures are part of Distinguished Professor David Harvey’s Lecture Series “Marx and Capital: The Concept, The Book, The History. ALSO: Harvey’s lectures on Marx’s Grundrisse Access Here

The Shock Doctrine

75-Minute Film Version of Naomi Klein’s Anti-Capitalist Book. Access Here

THE CORPORATION

An excellent 2003 documentary examining the modern-day corporation. This is explored through specific examples. It shows the development of the contemporary business corporation, from a legal entity that originated as a government-chartered institution meant to affect specific public functions to the rise of the modern commercial institution entitled to most of a person’s legal rights. It shows a few examples of ‘high road’ corporations but mainly reveals the downside for people and planet. 2.5 hours. Access Here

 

Debt: The First 5000 Years For thousands of years, the struggle between rich and poor has largely taken the form of conflicts between creditors and debtors—of arguments about the rights and wrongs of interest payments, debt peonage, amnesty, repossession, restitution, the sequestering of sheep, the seizing of vineyards, and the selling of debtors’ children into slavery. By the same token, for the past five thousand years, popular insurrections have begun the same way: with the ritual destruction of debt records—tablets, papyri, ledgers, whatever form they might have taken in any particular time and place. Enter Anthropologist David Graeber’s Debt: The First 5,000 Years (July, ISBN 978-1-933633-86-2), which uses these struggles to show that debt is also a history of morality and culture. 80-minute documentary Access Here

Wage Crisis: The USA’s New Underclass:

The American working underclass has been under extreme tension for some time. Now with politicians not inclined to increase the minimum wage and food stamps stretched thin, the social ramification could be disastrous. The recession is not over for most American citizens. Most Americans have seen their salaries hibernate or go down since 2008. The American average income of a full-time male worker today is lower than 40 years ago. 26-minute video HERE

Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution

May 30, 2013: Gar Alperovitz speaks about why the time is right for a revolutionary, new-economy movement — what it would mean to democratize the ownership of wealth, what it will take to build a new system to replace the decaying one, and more. What people may be surprised to find out is that this revolution is already well underway in the United States, with organizations like worker-owned cooperatives, credit unions and more already taking up a huge portion of the economy. Gar’s latest book is What Then Must We Do? Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution. 75-minute video lecture. ACCESS HERE

Finance Capital: Parasites over Enterprise.  This 15-minute video interview is an excellent discussion starter on the need for a popular front vs Wall St speculators, austerity and war. Conducted by Paul Jay of the Real News Network, the subject is  Gerald Epstein, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and Professor of Economics. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. He has published widely on a variety of progressive economic policy issues. Access Here