What if the relentless drive to maximize personal gain isn't human nature, but just a flawed model we built? In this Back-to-Basics episode, behavioral economist Samuel Bowles helps us lay homo economicus—the myth of the perfectly rational, self-interested actor—six feet under. He shows how this caricature not only misrepresents human behavior, but underpins an economic system that ignores cooperation, community, and ethics. If we're hoping to reclaim our society from greed-driven oligarchs and neoliberal policy, we need a better model—which starts with recognizing that humans are more than economic robots.

Samuel Bowles is an economist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, currently serving as Research Professor and Director of the Behavioral Sciences Program at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also the author of The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens. 

This episode originally aired May 7, 2019.

Further reading: 

The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens

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The promise of the American Dream—work hard, play by the rules, and you’ll get ahead—is unraveling before our eyes.

In this Back-to-Basics episode, Christian H. Cooper and law professor Khiara Bridges join Nick and Goldy to posit whether economic mobility has ever truly existed, or if the system was rigged from the start. As wages stagnate, homeownership drifts out of reach, and inequality worsens, their conversation exposes how the American Dream has always been selectively granted and systematically denied.

Amid today’s debates over “competitiveness” and “opportunity,” this episode is a reminder: the American Dream didn’t disappear by accident—it’s been taken. Understanding how is the first step toward winning it back.

Christian Cooper is a derivatives trader, quantitative finance author, and commentator based in New York City. He directs Banking for a New Beginning, a collaboration between the Aspen Institute and the U.S. Department of State that connects central banks in emerging markets—such as Turkey, Tunisia, and Pakistan—with best practices to strengthen their financial systems

Khiara M. Bridges is an anthropologist and professor of law at UC Berkeley School of Law, specializing in race, class, reproductive rights, and constitutional law. She is the author of The Poverty of Privacy Rights. 

Social Media:

@christiancooper

Further reading: 

The Poverty of Privacy Rights

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When a few giants dominate the economy, democracy is the first to go. In this back-to-basics episode, author and anti-monopoly expert Matt Stoller unpacks how concentrated corporate power doesn’t just warp markets—it tilts the political playing field toward plutocracy. Drawing from his book Goliath, Stoller shows how corporate giants from banks to Big Tech leverage economic dominance into political control, fueling authoritarianism and undermining citizen power.

This is more than an economics lesson—it’s a warning, and one that we must hear, now more than ever. Political power isn’t confined to ballots and policy. It lives in company boardrooms and consolidated industries. Understanding how monopolies operate is the first step toward reclaiming American democracy.

Matt Stoller is the Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project, where he focuses on monopoly power and antitrust policy. He is co-host of the Organized Money Podcast, and the author of Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy, a history of how concentrated corporate power undermines democratic governance.

This episode originally aired December 3, 2019.

Social Media:

@matthewstoller

‪@matthewstoller.bsky.social‬

Further reading: 

Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy

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We’ve all heard the story: In a fair market, workers are paid exactly what they’re worth. Economists even have a name for it—marginal productivity theory. It’s neat, simple…and completely wrong.

In this Back-to-Basics episode, economist Marshall Steinbaum and labor leader Saru Jayaraman dismantle the myth that the market fairly rewards labor. Steinbaum reveals how this theory has been weaponized to excuse wage stagnation, justify corporate power, and erode worker bargaining rights. Jayaraman shows what that looks like in the real world, from restaurant workers stuck at subminimum wages to entire industries built on underpaying the people who keep them running.

They make the case that your paycheck isn’t determined by some neutral law of economics—it’s the result of choices, policies, and power dynamics that can be rewritten to ensure everyone is truly paid what they’re worth.

Marshall Steinbaum is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Utah and a Senior Fellow in Higher Education Finance at the Jain Family Institute.

Saru Jayaraman is an attorney, President of One Fair Wage and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), and author of One Fair Wage: Ending Subminimum Pay in America. 

This episode originally aired September 10, 2019.

Social Media: 

@Econ_Marshall

‪@econmarshall.bsky.social‬

@SaruJayaraman

Further reading: 

One Fair Wage: Ending Subminimum Pay in America

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If you’ve ever wondered why the economy feels stuck, even when it seems like there's a lot more money in the system, this episode will blow your mind.

Political economist Ann Pettifor joins Nick and Goldy to explain why money isn't flowing like it used to, and why that matters. Over the last century, the velocity of money (how quickly a dollar circulates) has plummeted. Today, each dollar in circulation generates up to 70% less economic activity than it did just ten years ago, so it's not being circulated through the local economies, growing wages, and building small businesses with each transaction. Instead, new dollars are just frozen in place. 

The culprit? Excess money sitting at the top—hoarded by the wealthy and corporations instead of getting spent.

Pettifor shows that taxing the rich isn’t just fair—it’s pro-growth. Redistribution accelerates the velocity of money, unleashing demand, expanding markets, creating jobs, and ultimately boosting prosperity for everyone. If you’re ready to reclaim the economy from its top-down chokehold, this back-to-basics episode isn’t optional—it’s essential.

Ann Pettifor is a British political economist, author, and Director of Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME). Known for correctly predicting the 2008 financial crisis, her work spans sovereign debt, macroeconomics, and sustainable development. She’s the author of The Production of Money and The Case for the Green New Deal, and directs groundbreaking research that puts money creation and equitable growth at the center of economic policy.

Social Media:

@annpettifor.bsky.social‬

Further reading: 

Want to expand the economy? Tax the rich!

What does money velocity tell us about low inflation in the U.S.?

REPORT: A world awash in money

Vultures are Circling Our Fragile Economy

The Production of Money 

The Case for the Green New Deal

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For decades, orthodox economics has treated morality as irrelevant—as if economic decisions happen in a vacuum, separate from our values and social bonds. But that approach has failed spectacularly, giving cover to policies that divide and exploit us.

In this episode, Heather McGhee joins Nick and Paul to argue that morality must be central to how we think about the economy. They explore how racial division has been weaponized to undermine collective action, why “structural racism” can’t be addressed without naming the powerful actors behind it, and how inclusive economic policies lead to more prosperity for everyone.

Part of our Back-to-Basics summer series—essential listening for anyone ready to reject trickle-down and reimagine the economy as a moral system built on trust, justice, and cooperation.

This episode originally aired April 2, 2019.

Heather McGhee is a policy expert, author, and advocate for economic and racial justice. She is the former president of the progressive think tank Demos and currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow. Heather is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Sum of Us, and her work has appeared in outlets such as The New York Times, The Nation, and NBC News.

Further reading:

The Moral Burden on Economists

The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

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Is economic growth just about money, trade, and GDP? Or is something deeper at play?

In this episode, economist W. Brian Arthur and physicist Cesar Hidalgo join Nick and Goldy to reveal the real drivers of rising prosperity: human knowledge, know‑how, and innovation. They challenge the old assumptions of growth and argue that innovation isn't a byproduct of a strong economy—it's a cause of economic growth. Once we understand that, it changes how we think about investing in people and shaping the economy.

Part of our Back‑to‑Basics summer series. Essential listening for anyone who believes that growth should empower people, not enrich the status quo.

This episode originally aired January 15, 2019.

W. Brian Arthur is an economist and complexity theorist, renowned for his work on technology and innovation. A longtime researcher at the Santa Fe Institute and former Stanford professor, he’s the author of The Nature of Technology, in which he argues that economic growth stems from evolving combinations of existing technologies.

Cesar Hidalgo is a physicist, professor at the Toulouse School of Economics, and Director at the Center for Collective Learning at Corvinus University of Budapest. He’s also the author of Why Information Grows, where he explores how knowledge and know-how shape economies, arguing that real prosperity comes from embedding insights in people and collaborative networks.

Social Media:

‪@cesifoti.bsky.social‬

Further reading: 

The Nature of Technology

Why Information Grows

Complexity Economics: A Different Framework for Economic Thought

Economic Complexity: From useless to keystone

Complexity Economics Shows Us Why Laissez-Faire Economics Always Fails

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Trickle-downers love to pretend that "Econ 101" is a convincing argument against policies like the minimum wage that invest in working Americans. But the truth is that mainstream economists are terrible at predicting how the economy will behave in the future…Is Econ 101 broken?

In this key foundational episode for the podcast, we dismantle the myths of orthodox economics and expose Econ 101 for what it really is: not a science, but a simplistic story used to justify inequality and defend the status quo. Our guests Eric Beinhocker (The Origin of Wealth) and James Kwak (Economism) explain how outdated assumptions about markets, people, and growth have warped economic thinking—and why it’s time to write a new, better story about how the economy actually works.

Part of our Back-to-Basics summer series. Essential listening for anyone ready to move beyond trickle-down talking points and think middle-out.

This episode originally aired December 17, 2018.

Eric Beinhocker is the Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the University of Oxford. He’s the author of The Origin of Wealth, which applies complexity science to economics and challenges traditional market thinking.

James Kwak is a writer, law professor, and former entrepreneur. He co-authored 13 Bankers and wrote Economism: Bad Economics and the Rise of Inequality, a sharp critique of how Econ 101 ideology shapes public policy and deepens inequality.

Social Media:

@ericbeinhocker.bsky.social‬

Further reading: 

The Curse of Econ 101

The Origin of Wealth: The Radical Remaking of Economics and What It Means for Business and Society

Economism: Bad Economics and the Rise of Inequality

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Ever find yourself halfway through a Pitchfork Economics episode thinking, “Wait… what’s a monopsony?” You’re not alone.

In this listener-favorite episode, Nick and Goldy break down some of the most important—and most misunderstood—economic terms we use on the show. From ‘neoclassical’ and ‘neoliberal’ to ‘monopoly’, ‘monopsony,’ ‘stock buybacks,’ and ‘heterodox economics,’ we cut through the jargon so you can focus on what really matters: understanding how the economy works—and who it works for.

Part of our Back-to-Basics summer series. Fun, clear, and essential episodes for new (or slightly confused) listeners.

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‪@nickhanauer.bsky.social‬

@goldyha.bsky.social‬

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In 2014, Nick Hanauer sounded the alarm: if economic inequality kept growing, the pitchforks would come—for him, and for the rest of America’s wealthy elite. Then 2016 happened. Donald Trump was elected president on a wave of economic populism that correctly identified massive inequality as a problem, but which offered all the wrong solutions.

The inaugural episode of Pitchfork Economics lays the groundwork for everything that followed. We revisit the urgent warning that launched the show, explore the deep myths that still shape our economy, and explain why telling a better story about how the economy works is the first step toward building one that works for everyone.

Part of our Back-to-Basics summer series—essential listening for anyone ready to ditch trickle-down and think middle-out.

Ganesh Sitaraman is a law professor at Vanderbilt University and a leading expert on constitutional law, economic inequality, and political economy. He’s the author of several influential books, including The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution, The Great Democracy, and Why Flying Is Miserable and How to Fix It. Sitaraman has served as a policy advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren and co-founded the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator.

Walter Scheidel is a historian at Stanford University whose work explores inequality, economic history, and the rise and fall of civilizations. He’s best known for his acclaimed book The Great Leveler, which argues that throughout history, extreme inequality has only been reduced through violent shocks like war, revolution, or plague.

This episode originally aired December 11, 2018.

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‪@ganeshsitaraman.bsky.social‬

@walterscheidel.bsky.social‬

Further reading: 

The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats by Nick Hanauer

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