Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

By Civic Ventures

Business

What's Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer about?

Any society that allows itself to become radically unequal eventually collapses into an uprising or a police state—or both. Join venture capitalist Nick Hanauer and some of the world’s leading economic and political thinkers in an exploration of who gets what and why. Turns out, everything you learned about economics is wrong. And if we don’t do something about rising inequality, the pitchforks are coming.

4.7

1,069 ratings

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

Capitalism is working bette...

09.28.2021

Contrary to popular belief, Nordic countries aren’t actually socialist! No, friends, the Nords are capitalists—but they pull it off much better than we do. To help re-imagine American capitalism, writers Anu Partanen and Trevor Corson join us this week all ...

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer episodes:

09.28.2021 Capitalism is working better in Finland (with Anu Partanen and Trevor Corson) Contrary to popular belief, Nordic countries aren’t actually socialist! No, friends, the Nords are capitalists—but they pull it off much better than we do. To help re-imagine American capitalism, writers Anu Partanen and Trevor Corson join us this week all ...
09.24.2021 Right-to-work is bad for workers (with Shane Larson) Right-to-work laws, which make unionizing more difficult in 28 states, could more accurately be referred to as right-to-work… for less. Why? On average, worker pay drops 3.1% when right-to-work laws are passed. Shane Larson from CWA, the largest communications and ...
09.21.2021 How neoliberalism captured Democrats (with James Kwak) Democrats used to be known as the party of the working people—so how did they get so off track? Who took over the party, and why? Author and professor James Kwak joins Nick and Paul in a blistering analysis of ...
09.17.2021 Why restaurants can’t find workers (with restaurateur Mark Bucher) DC restaurateur Mark Bucher explains what’s behind the “labor” shortage (hint: it’s the wages), the role that restaurant owners need to play in stopping the “churn and burn” model of low-wage workers, and the future of the restaurant industry post-Covid. ...
09.14.2021 What convinces people to act in the interest of others? (with Margaret Levi) What does it take for someone to act in the interest of others? What constitutes trust in general, and trust in government in particular? Margaret Levi, a professor of political and behavioral sciences, shares her research on how people can ...
09.07.2021 How Covid shook the world’s economy (with Adam Tooze) There have been far more lethal pandemics than Covid-19, but the scale of our response to Covid-19 is dramatically new. For the first time in human history, our civilization made a collective decision to shut much of the world economy ...
08.31.2021 Why is getting out of poverty so hard? (with Felicia Wong) Roosevelt Institute President Felicia Wong and writer Hanna Brooks Olsen join Nick and Goldy to explore how the intense burdens of poverty make it nearly impossible to even think about climbing the economic ladder. This episode was originally recorded and ...
08.24.2021 Why is the child tax credit good economic policy? (with Wendy Bach) Everything you need to know about what the expanded child tax credit actually is, why it’s good policy, and how it will impact people’s lives. Wendy Bach is a Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is ...
08.17.2021 How the credit market drives up housing prices (with Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman) What’s the next generation of access to credit? Why are home prices and rents so out-of-whack with each other? And how can we approach the discord between what liberals say they want for their community versus what housing and development ...
08.10.2021 Ask Nick Anything, continued! Is inflation bad? What’s the difference between a neoliberal and a conservative? If large corporations were held to higher labor standards than small employers, wouldn’t Walmart get all the talent? And more! Thanks to Mark from Nashville, David from Japan, ...
08.03.2021 Everything you need to know about the Frito-Lay Strike (with KS Rep Jason Probst) Workers at a Frito-Lay factory in Topeka, Kansas made national headlines when they went on strike to protest dismal labor conditions including forced overtime and 84-hour workweeks. (Frito-Lay's parent company, PepsiCo, made $10.5 billion in profit last year.) The strike ...
07.27.2021 Ask Nick Anything Nick and Goldy answer your questions! If we had progressive taxation, would we still need means testing? Can we send ultra-rich people away to their own economy? What are the best economic indicators for the progressive economy? And more! Thanks ...
07.20.2021 Fiscal policy can help save the environment (with Sarah Bloom Raskin) Can we create transformative climate outcomes by adopting new regulatory strategies? Financial regulation expert Sarah Bloom Raskin helps us explore what levers exist to steer fiscal and monetary policy toward lasting sustainability. Sarah Bloom Raskin is the former Deputy Secretary ...
07.13.2021 Why billionaires are paying no taxes (LIVE from CAP) Our friends at the Center for American Progress put on a great virtual event last week with Senator Sherrod Brown, discussing how the U.S. tax codes favors the wealthy and the tools Congress plans to use to rebalance the tax ...
07.06.2021 We all do better when we all do better (with JP Julien) Contrary to fears that economic inclusion must come at the expense of economic growth, global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company's research and empirical evidence supports the idea that economic growth is at its best when it is most inclusive ...
06.29.2021 Summer Reading List! It’s Nick and Goldy’s summer reading list! We want to know what you’re reading, too. Let us know on Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics. Remember to shop local and small when you can, or order from IndieBound or Bookshop.org—both of which support independent ...
06.22.2021 Post-pandemic booms (with Callum Williams) Callum Williams from The Economist predicts what we can expect from the economy in the coming months based on past periods of massive non-financial disruption, including past pandemics and major world wars. Callum Williams is a senior economics writer at ...
06.15.2021 Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol is a trickle-down clown You probably saw the news that Chipotle is raising its menu prices by 4 percent, and that leadership is blaming the price increase on the fact that they had to raise their starting pay to $15 per hour. It’s not ...
06.09.2021 Inequality is bad for everyone (with Djaffar Shalchi) We’re back to our favorite topic this week—TAX THE RICH! Beyond all the benefits that come from a well-funded social safety net, taxing the wealthy would lessen inequality, which would make most people—including the extravagantly wealthy—happier. Super-rich Danish entrepreneur Djaffar ...
06.01.2021 How U.S. policy was designed to suppress wages (with Larry Mishel and Josh Bivens) Radical and rising economic inequality is no secret — and now, thanks to new research from the Economic Policy Institute, neither is its price tag nor its cause. There’s never been a study quite like this — one which places ...
05.25.2021 It’s not a labor shortage, it’s a wage shortage (with Heidi Shierholz) You have no doubt seen the scary headlines warning of a “labor shortage” caused by the additional pandemic unemployment insurance payments. The coverage of this story is widespread, even though most economics reporters can find no credible evidence linking unemployment ...
05.18.2021 Your non-compete clause is probably illegal (with WA Attorney General Bob Ferguson) Non-compete clauses, and the lesser-known no-poach agreements between franchises, are shockingly common for low-wage workers. Although these contracts were originally intended to protect trade secrets among high-level executives, they have spiralled into an unfair labor practice that keeps wages low, ...
05.11.2021 Why we need a mission-driven economy (with Mariana Mazzucato) What do the internet and COVID vaccines have in common? Neither would be possible without the work of DARPA, a mission-focused federal agency responsible for funding research and development. Professor Mariana Mazzucato is with us this week to argue that ...
05.04.2021 Is the economy at a turning point? (with Anusar Farooqui) Essayist Anusar Farooqui makes the case that we are witnessing the final break from neoliberalism in the United States. Anusar Farooqui writes on Substack as Policy Tensor. Show us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics The ...
04.27.2021 Can businesses help repair society? (with Ben & Jerry) Can business leaders use their power and resources to make meaningful change? Should they? Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the founders behind iconic ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s, help map the landscape between business and activism and introduce their ...
04.20.2021 There’s no such thing as a race-neutral policy (with Valerie Wilson) EPI economist Valerie Wilson joins us for a conversation about the economic costs of racism, and which policies could help further racial equality. Valerie Wilson is the Director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy at the Economic ...
04.13.2021 Diving into March’s giant jobs report (with Austan Goolsbee) The latest monthly report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed massive gains in March—the strongest in seven months—indicating that economic growth is gaining speed. Economist Austan Goolsbee explains why he’s optimistic, what kind of numbers we need to keep ...
04.06.2021 Winning back our freedom from the market (with Mike Konczal) The relationship between time, work, and freedom has always been a battleground in the American economy. Could our devotion to free-market fundamentalism in fact be making Americans less free? Author Mike Konczal joins the show to talk about positive versus ...
03.30.2021 Andrew Yang interviews Nick! On his podcast Yang Speaks, former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang asks Nick about pervasive economic myths, the next big labor standards fight (the overtime threshold), and the early days of the Fight for $15. Plus, they debate whether a ...
03.23.2021 Atlas Hugged (with David Sloan Wilson) If you’re one of the many people who have asked us to take down the concepts in Atlas Shrugged, which argues that we’re a fundamentally selfish species, this episode is for you! If you’re not one of those people, well, ...
03.16.2021 Can’t stop, won't stop, GameStop (with Congressman Ro Khanna) When GameStop’s stock skyrocketed early this year, Wall Street was pissed. A group of Redditors had manipulated the stock market—and everyone knows only professional hedge fund managers are allowed to do that! We couldn’t ignore the market news that took ...
03.09.2021 No, the relief bill won’t cause inflation (with Austan Goolsbee) This weekend, the Senate passed the coronavirus relief bill—and the House is scheduled to debate the bill, and widely expected to pass it, on the day this episode is published (Tuesday, March 9th). While the Senate debated what would be ...
03.02.2021 The idea for a National Investment Authority, explained (with Saule Omarova) Tackling existential threats to our future like climate change and economic inequality is a huge undertaking, and building the future is going to require massive public investment. Cornell Law Professor Saule Omarova calls for a National Investment Authority that would ...
02.23.2021 The velocity of money (with Ann Pettifor) Over the last century, the velocity of money—the rate at which money changes hands through the economy—has declined. Today, money moves at one of the slowest rates on record, meaning every dollar today generates 70% less economic activity than a ...
02.16.2021 Re-post: Does the market pay you what you’re worth? (with Marshall Steinbaum and Saru Jayaraman) The theory of marginal product of labor says that every worker is paid exactly what they’re worth—the value that their labor generates. Employers cite marginal productivity to legitimize paying the lowest wages possible, but that’s just another trickle-down scam. Economist ...
02.12.2021 What’s the deal with the CBO report? The big news in the minimum wage world this week is the brand new CBO report—which, among many benefits, also found that a $15 federal minimum wage would cost jobs, increase the deficit, and raise prices. How can that be, ...
02.09.2021 Ask Nick Anything You know the drill: Nick and Goldy answer your questions! Did we see ‘pitchforks’ at the Capitol insurrection? What should people who subscribe to the economic theories we talk about in this podcast call themselves? What are the smartest investments ...
02.05.2021 Repost: How to spot a bogus minimum wage study (with Ben Zipperer) Here’s another resource from the archive that will help you wade through the loud and often misleading coverage of the Raise the Wage Act. Not all minimum-wage studies are equal. Some of the most headline-grabbing negative reports on the effects ...
02.02.2021 Do wealthy Americans have too much power? (with Thom Hartmann) Is the U.S. an oligarchy, or does it just have a bunch of super-rich people living in it? Is there a difference? Author Thom Hartmann joins Nick and Paul to explain the relationship between wealth and American political power and ...
01.29.2021 Repost: Why raising the minimum wage doesn’t raise unemployment (with Mayor Eric Garcetti and Alan Krueger) You may have noticed that the trickle-downers are out in full force again spouting bad ideas in response to the Raise the Wage Act, which will raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour. To set the record straight, we’re reposting ...
01.26.2021 How can Democrats win back rural America? (with Bill Hogseth) Democrats used to win elections in rural areas, but that seems like a distant memory now. This week, Zach is joined by Bill Hogseth, a political organizer from rural Wisconsin, to talk about the difference between making promises and delivering ...
01.22.2021 The sounds of the new administration Celebrate the end of inauguration week with this compilation of fun soundbites from past guests who are now serving in the Biden Administration! Featuring: Jared Bernstein, from ‘What can a board game teach us about capitalism? https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/what-can-a-board-game-teach-us-about-capitalism/ Chris Lu, from ...
01.19.2021 The economic challenges Biden faces (with Idrees Kahloon) Idrees Kahloon from The Economist joins us for inauguration week to assess the daunting economic challenges that the Biden-Harris administration will face the second they take office. Idrees Kahloon is the Washington correspondent for The Economist. He covers US policy, ...
01.12.2021 The case for a True New Deal (with Bharat Ramamurti) In a recent report, The Roosevelt Institute called for a new set of policies to mitigate the economic suffering caused by the pandemic. Taken all together, these policies are as sweeping as the New Deal was—but unlike the New Deal, ...
01.05.2021 How banking deregulation makes you unsafe (with Anat Admati) No matter what some politicians may claim, there’s actually no such thing as ‘less regulation’ — there are only regulations that favor the powerful, and those that don’t. Stanford economist Anat Admati walks us through the deregulation of the banking ...
12.29.2020 Tax me more, I’m rich (with Abigail Disney and Chye-Ching Huang) Trickle-down economics would have you believe that the rich are job creators. For decades we’ve been told that the more money the wealthy have to invest in creating jobs, the better the economy will be for everybody. This lie has ...
12.22.2020 Why should we cancel student debt? (with Fenaba Addo) The CARES Act delayed student loan payments as a form of stimulus, raising an important question: if forgiving student loan debt is good policy and broadly popular with Americans, should we just cancel student debt altogether? University of Wisconsin Madison ...
12.15.2020 Why conventional wisdom is finally pushing for higher wages (with Binyamin Appelbaum) Six years after the beginning of the Fight for $15 movement, conventional wisdom is finally waking up to economic reality. How do we know? Because the New York Times recently published an editorial titled ‘Let’s Talk About Higher Wages’ calling ...
12.08.2020 Author Interview: Competition is Killing Us (with Michelle Meagher) Neoliberal economics says free trade is always good, and its followers try to lower trade barriers without discretion. Freedom is an essential ingredient for successful international trade—but that doesn’t mean all trade should be unregulated. Competition law expert Michelle Meagher ...
12.01.2020 Restoring conservative economics (with Oren Cass) “Conservative economics” in the U.S. has become synonymous with libertarian principles. But that’s not what American conservatism was originally about. Oren Cass, the executive director of a new think tank called American Compass, is on a mission to restore conservative ...

Older episodes