The REALnews: Retired auto workers handed the risk

"Concessions by auto unions mean GM and Chrysler could be gambling away employees' health care"--Economist Richard Wolff

Richard Wolff, Economist and Professor at the New School in New York City speaks to Paul Jay about the troubled auto industry in the United States. He says the important question right now is whether the bondholders will be willing to give up their share for foreign shareholders and make the sacrifices necessary to make American auto companies survive. If they refuse, as many of them claim they will, then the only option will be bankruptcy. He also says that both GM and Chrysler are going to give their largely worthless shares to the fund for health-care programs insuring their workers. This means workers' health care will be gambled in the stock market.

Professor Wolff has authored or co-authored 10 books including The Economics of Colonialism, Bringing It All Back Home: Class, Gender and Power in the Modern Household, and Rethinking Marxism. His recent work has concentrated on analyzing the causes and alternative solutions to the current global economic crisis.