On this week's show, Prof. Wolff discusses Bernie Madoff's $ 82 billion swindles and capitalism's incentives for swindling, the economics of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, US government's racist housing policies, and refuting the defense of capitalism as "lifting people out of poverty."

On the second half of the show, Wolff is joined by Professor Nina Banks to talk about economics and correcting the undervaluing of community building work by women of color.

Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff is a@Democracy At Work production. We make it a point to provide the show free of ads.

About our guest: Nina Banks is Associate Professor of Economics at Bucknell University.

Banks is also the president of the National Economic Association (NEA) and serves on the Board of Directors of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). She received her doctorate in economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Her book, Democracy, Race, and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T.M. Alexander (Yale University Press) will be out in June. 

Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff takes complex economic issues and makes them understandable, empowering listeners with information to analyze not only their financial situation but the economy at large. 

By focusing on the economic dimensions of everyday life - wages, jobs, taxes, debts, interest rates, prices, and profits - the program explores alternative ways to organize markets and government policies.

Missed an episode? Check out Economic Update on FSTV VOD anytime or visit the show page for the latest clips.

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