Tariffs won’t save America’s economy—but knowledge might. In the third episode of our Trade series, Nick and Goldy sit down with physicist César Hidalgo to explore how prosperity really grows—not through tariffs or trickle-down promises, but through the accumulation of knowledge and know-how. Hidalgo explains why digital exports don’t show up in trade data, why tariffs fail, and why the future belongs to countries that invest in research, strategy, and human talent.

César Hidalgo is the director of the Center for Collective Learning, with offices at the Toulouse School of Economics and Corvinus University of Budapest. A physicist by training, he is also the founder of Datawheel, a company specializing in data visualization and distribution systems. Hidalgo is the author of Why Information Grows, a groundbreaking book on the relationship between knowledge, innovation, and economic prosperity, and his forthcoming book, The Infinite Alphabet and the Laws of Knowledge, explores the dynamics of how knowledge evolves and diffuses globally.

Social Media:

@cesifoti.bsky.social 

@cesifoti

Further reading: 

Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies

The Infinite Alphabet and the Laws of Knowledge

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In the second episode of our Trade series, Nick and Goldy talk with author Nat Dyer about his book Ricardo’s Dream: How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray. Dyer reveals how David Ricardo’s famous theory of comparative advantage—long touted as proof that free trade is always a win-win—was built on unrealistic assumptions and a false history.

They trace how this elegant but misleading model fueled globalization, masked exploitation, and locked nations into centuries of stagnation. From Trump’s tariff tantrums to Biden’s “small yard, high fence” strategy, their conversation challenges the myths of free trade and asks: when does trade strengthen societies, and when does it doom them to decline?

Nat Dyer is a writer and researcher specializing in global political economy and author of the book Ricardo's Dream: How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray. He is a Fellow of the Schumacher Institute and the Royal Society of Arts. He has worked for Global Witness and for Promoting Economic Pluralism, and his stories have been reported on by the BBC, the New York Times, and Bloomberg.

Social Media:

@natjdyer.bsky.social

@natjdyer

Further reading: 

Ricardo's Dream: How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray

Escape from Model Land: How Mathematical Models Can Lead Us Astray and What We Can Do about It

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In this kickoff to our special series on trade, Nick and Goldy unpack why trade policy isn’t just about tariffs and treaties—it’s about people, power, and priorities. For decades, the prevailing narrative has been that trade benefits everyone by lowering prices. But the real question is: who does it help, and who does it hurt? From the false promises of globalization to the overlooked damage in hollowed-out communities, this episode sets the stage for exploring a fresh way to think about trade—one grounded in power dynamics, democratic values, and middle-out economics.

David Autor is a labor economist and professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies how technological change and globalization affect workers. He is also co-director of the MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative and the National Bureau of Economic Research Labor Studies Program.

Marc-William Palen is a historian and senior lecturer at the University of Exeter, specializing in the history of international relations, U.S. foreign policy, and political economy. He is the author of Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World. 

Social Media: 

@davidautor.bsky.social

@davidautor

@mwpalen.bsky.social

@MWPalen

Further reading: 

Places versus People: The Ins and Outs of Labor Market Adjustment to Globalization

Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World

Recovering the Left-Wing Free Trade Tradition 

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Political economist Mark Blyth joins Nick and Goldy to unpack the myths and realities of rising prices, from pandemic supply shocks and corporate profiteering to central-bank missteps and decades of bad economic theory. Drawing from his new book Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers, Blyth explains why some narratives fall flat, why others reveal deeper truths about power and inequality, and what smarter, more equitable policies could look like in the future.

Mark Blyth is a political economist and professor of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, where he studies the political power of economic ideas. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea and Angrynomics, and most recently Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers.

Social Media:

@mkblyth.bsky.social

@MkBlyt

Further reading: 

Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers

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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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