Whenever the subject of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and his economic plans come up, the Republican response is always the same. “SOCIALISM!” they cry, swiftly followed by hyperbolic imagery that invokes the bread lines of the Soviet Union and massive famines in China, entirely ignorant of the vast differences between democratic socialism and totalitarian communism – like their refusal to distinguish between “free market capitalism” and “unrestricted plutocracy.” It’s nothing but a fear-mongering campaign attempting to smear the sound and reasonable policies of democratic socialism that would strike at the very heart of American oligarchy, that would put a stop to the funneling of wealth to the top 1% of Americans and the overwhelming power of the gargantuan financial institutions of Wall Street.

It’s very ironic, because time and time again the data shows that collections of corporate handouts and subsidies for the ultrawealthy that the right tries to pass off as “tax plans” would be disastrous for both the American middle class and our economy as a whole. On the other hand, Bernie Sanders’ comprehensive financial reform plan has been endorsed by over 170 respected economists and financial analysts, who have gone as far as to sign a letter endorsing them as critical to the financial health of our nation:

In our view, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ plan for comprehensive financial reform is critical for avoiding another “too-big-to-fail” financial crisis. The Senator is correct that the biggest banks must be broken up and that a new 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act, separating investment from commercial banking, must be enacted. Wall Street’s largest banks are now far bigger than they were before the crisis, and they still have every incentive to take excessive risks. No major Wall Street executive has been indicted for the fraudulent behavior that led up to the 2008 crash, and fines imposed on the banks have been only a fraction of the banks’ potential gains. In addition, the banks and their lobbyists have succeeded in watering down the Dodd-Frank reform legislation, and the financial institutions that pose the greatest risk to our economy have still not devised sufficient “living wills” for winding down their operations in the event of another crisis. Secretary Hillary Clinton’s more modest proposals do not go far enough. They call for a bit more oversight and a few new charges on shadow banking activity, but they leave intact the titanic financial conglomerates that practice most shadow banking. As a result, her plan does not adequately reduce the serious risks our financial system poses to the American economy and to individual Americans. Given the size and political power of Wall Street, her proposals would only invite more dilution and finagle. The only way to contain Wall Street’s excesses is with reforms sufficiently bold and public they can’t be watered down. That’s why we support Senator Sanders’s plans for busting up the biggest banks and resurrecting a modernized version of Glass-Steagall.

Following on the heels of the Nation magazine’s endorsement (only their third ever) and new polls showing Sanders within striking distance of his rivals in Iowa and New Hampshire, it’s clear that not only the average people but also our academia are seeing the logic and necessity in Sanders’ proposals. This election will shape the future of our nation for decades to come; it is absolutely critical that we do not allow dark money and entrenched political establishments to preserve the plutocratic status quo. The fate of the middle class depends on it.

These are the names of the intellectuals who place the betterment of our nation over the ravenous greed of hypercapitalism and the demands of American oligarchy:

1. Robert Reich, University of California Berkeley

2. Robert Hockett, Cornell University

3. James K. Galbraith, University of Texas

4. Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research

5. Christine Desan, Harvard Law School

6. Jeff Connaughton, Former Chief of Staff, Senator Ted Kaufman

7. William Darity Jr., Duke University

8. Eileen Appelbaum, Center for Economic and Policy Research

9. Brad Miller, Former U.S. Congressman and Senior Fellow, Roosevelt

Institute

10. William K. Black, University of Missouri-Kansas City

11. Lawrence Rufrano, Research, Federal Reserve Board, 2005-2015

12. Darrick Hamilton, New School for Social Research

13. Peter Eaton, University of Missouri-Kansas City

14. Eric Hake, Catawba College

15. Geoff Schneider, Bucknell University

16. Dell Champlin, Oregon State University

17. Antoine Godin, Kingston University, London, UK

18. John P. Watkins, Westminster College

19. Mayo C. Toruño, California State University, San Bernardino

20. Charles K. Wilber, Fellow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace

Studies, University of Notre Dame

21. Fadhel Kaboub, Denison University

22. Flavia Dantas, Cortland State University

23. Mitchell Green, Binzgar Institute

24. Bruce Collier, Education Management Information Systems

25. Winston H. Griffith, Bucknell University

26. Zdravka Todorova, Wright State University

27. David Barkin, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco

28. Rick Wicks, Göteborg, Sverige (Sweden) & Anchorage, Alaska

29. Philip Arestis, University of Cambridge

30. Amitava Krishna Dutt, University of Notre Dame

31. John F. Henry, Levy Economics Institute

32. James G. Devine, Loyola Marymount University

33. John Davis, Marquette University

34. Gary Mongiovi, St. John’s University

35. Eric Tymoigne, Lewis & Clark College

36. Trevor Roycroft, Ohio University

37. James Sturgeon, University of Missouri-Kansas City

38. Spencer J. Pack, Connecticut College

39. Thomas Kemp, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire

40. Ronnie Phillips, Colorado State University

41. John Dennis Chasse, SUNY at Brockport

42. Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Bard College

43. Silvio Guaita, Institution, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

44. Glen Atkinson, University of Nevada, Reno

45. William Van Lear, Belmont Abbey College

46. James M. Cypher, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas

47. Philip Pilkington, Political Economy Research Group, Kingston University

48. Eric Hoyt, PhD candidate, UMass-Amherst

49. Jon D. Wisman, American University

50. James K. Boyce, University of Massachusetts Amherst

51. Hendrik Van den Berg, Professor Emeritus, Universities of Nebraska

52. Thomas E. Lambert, Northern Kentucky University

53. Michael Nuwer, SUNY Potsdam

54. Nikka Lemons, The University of Texas-Arlington

55. Scott T. Fullwiler, Wartburg College

56. Charles M A. Clark, St. John’s University

57. John T. Harvey, Texas Christian University

58. Daphne Greenwood, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs

59. Gerald Epstein, University of Massachusetts Amherst

60. Mohammad Moeini-Feizabadi, PhD candidate, University of Massachusetts

61. Rebecca Todd Peters, Elon University

62. Andres F. Cantillo, University of Missouri-Ka

nsas City

63. Michael Meeropol, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Western New England

University

64. Robert H. Scott III, Monmouth University

65. Timothy A Wunder, Department of Economics University of TexasArlington

66. Mariano Torras, Adelphi University

67. Gennaro Zezza, Levy Economics Institute

68. Wolfram Elsner, University of Bremen

69. Larry Allen, Lamar University

70. John Miller, Wheaton College

71. Chris Tilly, UCLA

72. Sean Flaherty, Franklin and Marshall College

73. Clifford Poirot, Shawnee State University

74. Anita Dancs, Western New England University

75. Calvin Mudzingiri, University of the Free State

76. Roger Even Bove, West Chester University

77. Andrea Armeni, Transform Finance

78. Anwar Shaikh, New School for Social Research

79. Steven Pressman, Colorado State University

80. Frank Pasquale, University of Maryland, Carey School of Law

81. John Weeks, SOAS, University of London

82. Matías Vernengo, Bucknell University

83. Thomas Masterson, Levy Economics Institute

84. Antonio Callari, Franklin and Marshall College

85. Avraham Baranes, Rollins College

86. Janet Spitz, the College of Saint Rose

87. Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts Amherst

88. Jennifer Taub, Vermont Law School

89. Irene van Staveren, Erasmus University

90. Yavuz Yaşar, University of Denver

91. Scott McConnell, Eastern Oregon University

92. Don Goldstein, Allegheny College

93. J. Pérez Oya, Retired UN secretariat (Spain)

94. Elaine McCrate, University of Vermont

95. Thomas E. Weisskopf, University of Michigan

96. Jeffrey Zink, Morningside College

97. Scott Jeffrey, Monmouth University

98. Lourdes Benería, Cornell University

99. Frank Thompson, University of Michigan

100. Baban Hasnat, The College at Brockport, State University of New York

101. Ilene Grabel, University of Denver

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102. Tara Natarajan, Saint Michael’s College

103. Leanne Ussher, Queens College, City University of New York

104. Kathleen McAfee, San Francisco State University

105. Victoria Chick, University College London

106. Steve Keen, Kingston University

107. Heidi Mandanis Schooner, The Catholic University of America

108. Louis-Philippe Rochon, Laurentian University

109. Jamee K. Moudud, Professor of Economics, Sarah Lawrence College

110. Timothy A. Canova, Shepard Broad College of Law, Nova Southeastern

University

111. Karol Gil Vasquez, Nichols College

112. Mark Haggerty, University of Maine

113. Luis Brunstein University of California, Riverside

114. Cathleen Whiting, Willamette University

115. William Waller, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

116. Kade Finnoff, University of Massachuettes-Boston

117. Maarten de Kadt, Independent Economist

118. Timothy Koechlin, Vassar College

119. Ceren Soylu, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

120. Dorene Isenberg, University of Redlands

121. Barbara Hopkins, Wright State University

122. Matthew Rice, University of Missouri-Kansas City

123. David Gold, The New School for Social Research

124. Cyrus Bina, University of Minnesota

125. Mark Paul, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

126. Xuan Pham, Rockhurst University

127. Erik Dean, Portland Community College

128. Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., George Washington University Law School

129. Rohan Grey, President, Modern Money Network

130. Tamar Diana Wilson, University of Missouri—St. Louis

131. Radhika Balakrishanan, Rutgers University

132. Alla Semenova, SUNY Potsdam

133. Yeva Nersisyan, Franklin and Marshall College

134. Linwood Tauheed, University of Missouri-Kansas City

135. Michael Perelman, California State University, Chico

136. Janet T. Knoedler, Bucknell University

137. David Laibman, Brooklyn College and Graduate School, City University of

New York

138. Ann Pettifor, Director, Policy Research in Macroeconomics, London

139. Steve Schifferes, City University London

140. Al Campbell, University of Utah

141. Faith Stevelman, New York Law School

142. Kathleen C. Engel, Suffolk University Law School

143. Jack Wendland, University of Missouri-Kansas City

144. Ruxandra Pavelchievici, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis

145. Zoe Sherman, Merrimack College

146. Donald St. Clair, CFP, Financial Planning Assoc. of Northern California

147. Carolyn McClanahan, CFP, Life Planning Partners, Inc.

148. Thomas Ferguson, Senior Fellow, Roosevelt Institute

149. Saule T. Omarova, Cornell University

150. Josh Ryan-Collins, City University, London

151. June Zaccone, Hofstra University

152. Alex Binder, Franklin & Marshall College

153. Albena Azmanova, University of Kent, Brussels School of International

Studies

154. Hans G. Ehrbar, University of Utah

155. Devin T. Rafferty, St. Peter’s University

156. Reynold F. Nesiba, Augustana University

157. David Zalewski, Providence College

158. Claudia Chaufan, University of California-San Francisco

159. L. Randall Wray, Levy Economics Institute and Bard College

160. Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP, WorthLiving LLC

161. Joseph Persky, University of Illinois-Chicago

162. Julie Matthaei, Wellesley College

163. Peter Spiegler, University of Massachuetts-Amherst

164. James Ronald Stanfield, Colorado State University

165. William D. Pitney, CFP, Director of Advocacy, FPA of Silicon Valley

166. Ora R. Citron, CFP, Oak Tree Wealth Management

167. Susan Webber, Former Associate at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

168. Richard D. Wolff, Democracy at Work and New School for Social Research

169. Mu-JeongKho, University College London

170. Kevin Furey, Chemeketa Community College