This week’s Economic Update Professor Richard Wolff discusses the resurging child labor in US, colleges athlete vote to join unions, unionization sweeping not-for-profit charities (hospitals, museums, etc.) such as MassMoca in western Massachusetts. Major discussion of how capitalism concentrates power in mass media (including social media), in authoritarian internal structures of corporations, and via donations and other controls exercised over two major political parties and over politicians.

Short Summary

1. The video segment discusses various economic issues, including the resurgence of child labor in the United States, unionization of college athletes at Dartmouth College, and strikes affecting charitable organizations.
2. It highlights the historical exploitation of children in capitalism and the current push to bring back child labor in some states.
3. The segment also mentions the formation of a union by college athletes at Dartmouth College to demand a share of the profits generated by college athletics.
4. The growing trend of students joining unions in the United States is discussed, with 40,000 students joining in the last two years to improve their working conditions, hours, and benefits.
5. The transcript also emphasizes a strike by workers at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts demanding a minimum wage increase to $18.25 per hour.
6. The importance of unionizing in various sectors, including museums, to ensure fair treatment of workers is highlighted.
7. The speaker discusses the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few capitalists, leading to the exclusion of working-class and poor people from media ownership and control.
8. Examples like Jeff Bezos owning the Washington Post and Elon Musk purchasing Twitter are used to show how billionaires shape public opinion and control social media platforms.
9. The speaker addresses the authoritarian nature of CEOs in large corporations, who hold unchecked power over employees without democratic accountability.
10. The video argues that the current system favors a tiny minority of wealthy individuals, leading to a disconnect between what the people want and what the government actually does, emphasizing the need for a more equitable distribution of power and wealth in society.