Economic Update: Globalization from Celebration to Condemnation

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In this video, Professor Richard D. Wolff traces how globalization shifted from a widely celebrated economic strategy to a source of social and political backlash in the United States. He argues that corporate-led offshoring boosted profits while hollowing out U.S. manufacturing, creating long-term economic insecurity that later fueled populist reactions blaming immigrants and foreign competitors. Wolff suggests that both globalization and its nationalist backlash obscure the same underlying issue: an economic system structured to prioritize corporate gains over broad social outcomes. 

This video was produced by Democracy At Work and published on their YouTube channel on the 22nd of December, 2025. We have translated it into German and are republishing it today to help build opinion on this issue in Germany and beyond.

To read the transcript of the interview: Economic Update: Globalization from Celebration to Condemnation

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VIDEO: Economic Update: Globalization from Celebration to Condemnation

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ABOUT RICHARD D. WOLFF

Richard D. Wolff is the founder of Democracy at Work and host the show Economic Update. He is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught economics from 1973 to 2008. Earlier he taught economics at Yale University and at the City College of the City University of New York. Wolff was also a regular lecturer at the Brecht Forum in New York City. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University in New York City.