On the record · Updated October 1, 2026
political economist and host
18 things Robert Reich said, verbatim, from July 6, 2026 to September 27, 2026, each linked to where it ran. Grouped by the story each one belongs to.
More on the record
In their own words
“you have somebody who has no concept of how to either prosecute, persecute, prosecute a war, and somebody who has no concept of how to govern uh and he's meeting a challenger right now. He never expected that Iran was going to give him any kind of problems.”
on Trump's military readiness and governance during Iran conflict
In their own words
“These sorts of price fixing conspiracies are going to continue until we actually have tough antitrust enforcement.”
on price fixing persisting without stronger antitrust enforcement
In their own words
“Trump's illegal war on Iran, which nearly all Republicans have supported, has caused gas prices to skyrocket”
on Republican support for Trump's Iran war driving up gas prices
In their own words
“The rich used to support government by paying taxes. The rich now support government by lending money, and the rest of us pay them interest on a mounting Federal debt.”
In their own words
“It's an excuse to let the powerful do whatever they want. Uh and it's also the basis of trickle down economics. The idea that somehow if you have very wealthy people and give them tax cuts and give them regulatory roll backs, everybody will benefit. Well, it doesn't work. It's a hoax.”
on trickle-down economics and the $40 trillion national debt
As printed
“This isn’t capitalism, folks. It’s government becoming the major shareholder of the biggest chip-making in America ….”
on the government taking a major equity stake in a US chipmaker
In their own words
“And what's so dangerous about stagflation is that the Fed can't really do anything about it. If it raises interest rates, um it runs the risk that the economy's going to get worse.”
In their own words
“CEOs aren't making hundreds of times more than their workers because they work hundreds of times harder. They've just aimed the system to line their pockets”
As printed
“CEOs can now effectively give themselves a raise while workers get the shaft.”
on the gap between rising CEO pay and worker pay
Reason.com Robert Reich's CEO Pay Chart Is Wrong. Here's the Real Math. ›
As printed
“Stock buybacks used to be considered illegal stock manipulation until Ronald Reagan came along,”
on stock buybacks becoming legal under Reagan
Reason.com Robert Reich's CEO Pay Chart Is Wrong. Here's the Real Math. ›
In their own words
“Why is it that, for example, antitrust law is not able to reach AI? Why is it that consumer protection laws are not able to reach AI?”
on antitrust and consumer protection laws failing to regulate AI companies
In their own words
“Can we expect him to protect the public from the potential harms of AI when he's so heavily invested in the corporations pushing it?”
on Trump's financial ties to AI companies he'd need to regulate
In their own words
“They want to be the ones who decide the future and expand their wealth. But the American people demand a say. This is what democracy is all about.”
on public pushback against corporate data center expansion plans
As printed
“Vance resembles Trump in every way – he lies effortlessly, he’s utterly without principle, and he’s intent on gaining power – except that he’s smarter and more ruthless than Trump.”
US politics | The Guardian Why does JD Vance keep saying loony things? | Margaret Sullivan ›
As printed
“instead of big money, it's big excitement”
on grassroots energy replacing corporate funding in progressive organizing
As printed
“they are the opposite, Heather. of the kind of white male Christian nationalism that Trump and many Republicans represent right now”
In their own words
“It really is fundamentally about the public's right to know and you cannot have a dictator in the White House deciding what the public is going to know.”
Robert Reich Does the press serve the public's right to know? ›
In their own words
“To me, Dolly Parton represented the very best in America. Her kindness, compassion, her love of life, hardscrabble beginnings, ambition, and extraordinary talent were what this country is or should be.”
on Dolly Parton's character and what she represented about America
Further reading
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In their own words
Robert B. Reich · 2015
Reich, Labor Secretary under Clinton, argues that markets are shaped by rules that favor the wealthy and proposes changes to reduce inequality.
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