In our January episode, we engage in a dialogue with Professor Pavlina Tcherneva about formulating a winning policy agenda. What is the role of vision in elections and the policy process? Our Dollars & Sense Debrief this month focuses on the impact of climate change on insurance markets. Chris Sturr talks to Kenny Stancil, a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project, about how insurance companies are "mitigating risk."

#elections #voting #insurance #climate

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Feature interview with Professor Pavlina Tcherneva - 2:15 minutes

Dollars and Sense Debrief with Chris Sturr and Kenny Stancil - 35:55 minutes

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In our December episode, we converse with Professor Neni Panourgia about the Greek military dictatorship of 1967-1974, known in Greece simply as the Junta. Professor Panourgia grew up during the Junta years and she shares with us her experiences of life under a military dictatorship. Does it hold any lessons for those of us living in the United States today? In our Dollars & Sense debrief, Chris Sturr interviews journalist Kalena Thomhave about the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and what changes are on the way for SNAP after the passage of the Trump administration's "Big, Beautiful Bill."

#fascism #junta #greece #snap #foodstamps

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Feature interview with Professor Neni Panourgia - 3:20 minutes

Dollars and Sense Debrief with Chris Sturr and Kalena Thomhave - 34:20 minutes

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‘Tis the season to advertise! In our Special Feature this month, we replay Prof. Zoe Sherman's segment from November 2023. Zoe helps us peel back the glittering layers of advertising and the holiday season where capitalism meets celebration. Our Dollars & Sense Debrief features an interview of Rob Larson about the consumer credit industry. This is especially important as credit scores are utilized increasingly across the economy and not only in loan applications (e.g., by landlords and employers).

#blackfriday #consumerism #advertising #creditscores

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Feature interview with Zoe Sherman - 3:15 minutes

Dollars and Sense Debrief with Chris Sturr and Rob Larson - 35:37 minutes

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In the October episode of our podcast, we discuss the economics of the government shutdown and the situation of unhoused deportees in Tijuana Mexico. First, in our Dollars and Sense Debrief, Chris Sturr interviews photojournalist David Bacon. In the U.S. media there is very little attention to what happens to most people when they’re deported. Many who are deported go home to communities far south of the border. But the people who are just dumped through the border gate and have no home to go to find themselves in cities like Tijuana. David documents their living conditions in detail. In our feature segment, Sirisha and Taki are in conversation with Professor Mathew Forstater from the University of Missouri Kansas City about the federal government shutdown. As of early November, approximately three million federal government employees have been directly impacted by the shutdown as most are on furlough. In addition, over 40 million food stamp recipients are impacted as SNAP benefits are significantly curtailed. Listen to Professor Forstater provide crucial insights as we move into the second month of the shutdown.

#shutdown #immigration #mexico

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Dollars and Sense Debrief with Chris Sturr and David Bacon - 2:20 minutes

Feature interview with Mat Forstater - 23:20 minutes

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In the August episode of Economics for the People, we interview Professor Vamsi Vakulabharanam about his book Class and Inequality in India and China, 1950-2010. On the eve of Indian Independence from British rule, and upon the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War, both countries were similar in economic terms. However, their trajectories diverged significantly over the period of time under investigation. Why? In our regular Dollars and Sense segment, Chris Sturr interviews Richard Wolff about Military Keynesianism: how it ended the Great Depression, its impact on the US economy over the 20th century, and why the ruling class continues to support it.

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Feature interview with Vamsi Vakulabharanam - 2:07 minutes

Dollars and Sense Debrief with Chris Sturr and Richard D. Wolff - 36:32 minutes

Our July episode is all about crypto. We present two different perspectives on how to understand cryptocurrency. In our Dollars & Sense Debrief, Chris Sturr interviews economist Gerald Epstein from the University of Amherst, who talks about the risks of crypto to the financial system as a whole. Our feature interview is with Professor Rohan Grey, in which we discuss crypto in detail. What is it? How does it affect the working class? What is the future of crypto? Rohan also dissects the crypto legislation that passed in Congress and was signed by President Trump this month. Additionally we converse about the STABLE Act (2020) proposed by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, which Professor Grey helped design, which would have provided an alternative regulatory framework for crypto.

#crypto #finance

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Dollars and Sense Debrief with Chris Sturr and Gerald Epstein - 3 minutes

Feature interview with Rohan Grey - 21:30 minutes

In our June episode, we spoke with Kshama Sawant about her campaign to win the House seat in Seattle's 9th Congressional district. Kshama was a member of city council in Seattle for about a decade, helping to win important victories for the working class such as the highest minimum wage in the US, the Amazon tax, and stronger protections for tenants. She is also co-founder of the organization Workers Strike Back. Additionally, we discussed tariffs, imperialism, and working class unity. In the Dollars and Sense Debrief, Chris Sturr interviewed economist Amanda Page-Hoongrajok about the recent history of wildcat strikes in the garment industry of Vietnam, China, and Bangladesh.

#wildcatstrikes #fightback #socialism #kshamasawant

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Dollars and Sense Debrief with Chris Sturr and Amanda Page-Hoongrajok - 3 minutes

Feature interview with Kshama Sawant - 18:25 minutes