Capitalism Hits the Fan

Basically a filmed record of a lecture given on November 19, 2008 by Richard Wolff—an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst—Capitalism Hits the Fan offers a highly distinctive view of what created the current economic crisis. Wolff argues that the present malaise has its roots in the 1970s, citing the rise of computer automation, foreign competition, and an influx of immigrants as key factors in eliminating well-paying American jobs, while the mass movement of women into the workforce since the early 1970s is also blamed for creating more workers seeking fewer jobs. However, Wolff's focus on the worker-capitalist axis ignores the bigger picture problems that most economists have pegged as contributing to the present situation: disastrous federal deregulation policies dating to the Reagan era, inadequate federal and state oversight of the financial services industry, overreliance on foreign energy sources, and the absence of a national healthcare system coupled with the escalating expense of medical treatment in the U.S. Wolff claims that government intervention is not the solution, but current events have already made his argument outdated. Viewers with a penchant for socialist-tinged economics may find themselves nodding in agreement with Wolff, but those seeking a fuller comprehension of modern U.S. economics will not find it here. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)