Here’s a sobering statistic: while China has reported fewer than 5,000 deaths from COVID-19, the United States is now reporting 684,000 deaths and counting.

This is a staggering number that can’t be explained by a few incompetent doctors or pharmaceutical companies. It’s a sign that the system is totally broken.

That’s the subject of economist Richard D. Wolff’s latest book, The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself. Today, he joins Friday host Esty Dinur for a discussion.

Richard D. Wolff is professor of economics emeritus of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a visiting professor in the graduate program in international affairs at the New School University, NYC. He is the founder of Democracy at Work and host of their nationally syndicated show Economic Update. His latest book is The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself (Democracy at Work, 2020).

Modified image by Arek Socha from Pixabay 

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here