Richard D. Wolff
A clear-voiced economist who brought Marxist class analysis into mainstream American discourse through popular lectures and a focus on workplace democracy.
Born 1942 (age 84)·American Marxian economist·Birthday: April 1·The Silent Generation
Biography
Richard D. Wolff approaches economics not as a dry study of charts, but as a power dynamic, one he argues is fundamentally flawed under capitalism. Trained at Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, he worked within the system before turning into one of its most persistent internal critics. Wolff's central project has been to translate dense Marxian theory—particularly the concept of surplus value and class struggle—into accessible language for a general audience. He gained a significant public platform through his weekly online program 'Economic Update' and frequent media appearances, where his calm, professorial demeanor belies a radical prescription: the democratization of the workplace. Wolff argues that workers should collectively own and direct their enterprises, a model he calls workers' self-directed enterprises. By focusing on the micro-level of the firm rather than just state control, he offers a distinct vision of socialism meant for 21st-century America, making him a gateway thinker for a new generation interested in alternatives to the economic status quo.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Richard was born in 1942, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Richard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1942
#1 Movie
Bambi
Best Picture
Mrs. Miniver
Richard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1942Born
Battle of Midway turns the tide in the Pacific
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,175Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"White Christmas" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Mrs. Miniver
1947Started school
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1955Became a teenager
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1958Could drive
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1960Could vote
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Turned 21
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1972Turned 30
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1982Turned 40
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1992Turned 50
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 60
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 70
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2022Turned 80
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
2026Age 84 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Founded Democracy at Work, a non-profit organization that produces media and promotes the concept of workers' self-directed enterprises.
- Hosts the long-running weekly program 'Economic Update,' which analyzes current events through a Marxian economic lens.
- Authored foundational academic works with Stephen Resnick, including 'Knowledge and Class' and 'Contending Economic Theories.'
- Held professorial positions at several major universities, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is professor emeritus.
Did You Know?
He served in the U.S. Army as a supply sergeant before pursuing his graduate degrees in economics.
He was a student of the influential Marxian economist Paul Sweezy.
His wife, Dr. Harriet Fraad, is a psychotherapist and fellow host on the Democracy at Work platform.
He taught at the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) in the early 1990s.
“Capitalism is a system that is inherently unstable, that goes through crises, and in those crises it throws millions of people out of work.”
