Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

A new report from the Economic Policy Institute looks into the salary and stock packages of America’s most overcompensated corporate titans and the numbers are staggering. According to journalist Mark Kreidler, who recently covered the report for Capital + Main, CEO paychecks are a huge contributor to inequality. He joins the podcast to share why more people would do better if CEOs were paid less.

We want your questions for another “Ask Me Anything” episode with Nick and Goldy! Call and leave us a voicemail at 731-388-9334.

Mark Kreidler is a California-based writer, journalist, and broadcaster. He’s the author of three books, including Four Days to Glory.

Twitter: @MarkKreidler

For America’s Top-Ranked CEOs, Too Much Is Never Enough

https://capitalandmain.com/for-americas-top-ranked-ceos-too-much-is-never-enough 

CEO pay has skyrocketed 1,460% since 1978

https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-in-2021

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Inequality has grown so large that a number of pessimists believe America is lost. But Professor Scott Galloway argues that our nation is actually adrift, and in his latest book he explains what needs to be done to fix this imbalance and rebuild America’s foundations. Galloway joins Nick and Goldy for an honest conversation about age inequality, the middle class, corporate consolidation, and more.

Scott Galloway is Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business and a serial entrepreneur. He is the bestselling author of Post Corona, The Four, The Algebra of Happiness, and most recently Adrift.

Twitter: @profgalloway

Adrift: America in 100 Charts https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/713560/adrift-by-scott-galloway  

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Human society is built on social contracts, but decades of neoliberalism have left many of our most fundamental contracts—worker power, social safety nets, trust in key institutions— in tatters. It’s no wonder that people are pissed off: without fairness, we can’t have cooperation, and without cooperation, we can’t have a strong economy… or a strong democracy. Can we restore the social contracts that served us so well, or has our sense of fairness been damaged beyond repair? Oxford economics professor Eric Beinhocker shares his latest research into the psychology and economics of cooperation.

Eric Beinhocker is a Professor of Public Policy Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government and the Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the University of Oxford’s Martin School.

Twitter: @EricBeinhocker, @INETOxford

Fair Social Contracts and the Foundations of Large-Scale Collaboration https://www.inet.ox.ac.uk/publications/no-2022-26-fair-social-contracts-and-the-foundations-of-large-scale-collaboration

INET Oxford https://www.inet.ox.ac.uk

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In one of the highlights of last week’s EconCon Presents event in Washington D.C., Washington Post columnist Perry Bacon Jr. convened an all-star panel of political experts. Maurice Mitchell, Faiz Shakir, and Anna Greenberg joined Bacon to share lessons learned from the midterm elections, and debate strategies for driving the progressive economic agenda forward in 2023 and beyond.

Thanks to our friends at EconCon for sharing audio of this event for Pitchfork Economics listeners. For more information about upcoming EconCon events, follow them on Twitter: @EconConPresents.

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Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Kroger wants to buy Albertsons and effectively become the second-largest grocery chain in the United States. This merger would result in less competition, rising grocery prices, and lower wages. Corporate greed has gotten us into this mess, but new federal anti-merger guidelines, and some tenacious Attorneys General, may just get us out. Returning guest Stacy Mitchell explains why mergers like this one are bad news for workers and shoppers alike.

Stacy Mitchell is Co-Executive Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a research and advocacy organization that challenges concentrated corporate power and works to build thriving, equitable communities.

Twitter: @stacyfmitchell

Institute for Local Self-Reliance: https://ilsr.org 

Stacy Mitchell Responds to Kroger’s Bid to Buy Albertsons https://ilsr.org/statement-kroger-albertsons-merger 

Report: How New Federal Anti-merger Guidelines Can Roll Back Corporate Concentration and Build Local Power

https://ilsr.org/rolling-back-corporate-concentration-how-new-federal-anti-merger-guidelines-can-restore-competition-and-build-local-power

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Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

If there's one thing we learned from the far-right campaign against voting rights following the 2020 election, it's how fragile our democracy really is. That’s why we’re celebrating Election Day 2022 by revisiting our conversation with Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey, who explains how voter suppression happens and what reforms would help ensure a truly inclusive democracy. Don’t forget to vote!

This episode originally aired in October 2021.

Andrea Hailey is the CEO of Vote.org, the nation’s largest nonpartisan digital voter engagement organization.

Twitter: @AndreaEHailey

Vote.org: https://www.vote.org 

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Corporate concentration has strained the labor market for virtually all workers, but the resulting lack of competition has caused unique harm to the creative economy. Increasingly exploitative monopolies have rendered artists, authors, musicians, and other creative workers all but powerless. Novelist Cory Doctorow and intellectual property expert Rebecca Giblin discuss their new book, Chokepoint Capitalism, which documents the increasing tensions between extractive corporations and creative laborers, and offers solutions to help fight back against the devaluation of creativity.

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction writer and activist, as well as a special advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a visiting professor of computer science at the Open University and of library science at the University of North Carolina, and an MIT Media Lab research affiliate.

Rebecca Giblin is an ARC Future Fellow and Professor at Melbourne Law School. She is Director of the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia and heads up the Author’s Interest and eLending projects.

Twitter: @doctorow, @rgibli

Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labor Markets and How We'll Win Them Back http://www.beacon.org/Chokepoint-Capitalism-P1856.aspx 

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Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Economics is another form of storytelling—specifically, it’s the story of who gets what and why. And as the rise of trickle-down and middle-out economics shows us, telling the right story at the right time can transform the economy for a generation. The same is true for politics, but simple and easy-to-understand narratives are notoriously not a strength of Democratic politicians. That’s what the folks at the Winning Jobs Narrative Project are trying to fix. On this must-listen episode before the midterm elections, Bobby Clark and Melissa Morales explain why messaging matters to voters.

Bobby Clark is a Communications Strategist who advises philanthropic and progressive advocacy organizations on investments in communications research, structures, and campaigns. Bobby led the team that developed the Winning Jobs Narrative.

Twitter: @bobbyprogress

Melissa Morales is the Founder and President of Somos Votantes (C4) & Somos PAC (527), which are currently running multi-million dollar Latino-focused electoral programs in battleground states ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

Twitter: @Melissa_in_DC

The Winning Jobs Narrative Project https://winningjobsnarrative.org

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We’ve lived in the shadow of trickle-down economics for over 40 years. During that time, our leaders unquestioningly embraced economic policies that prioritize the wealthiest and most powerful, with the idea that their wealth will eventually "trickle down" to everyone else. Finally, a contrasting progressive economic understanding is beginning to take hold. Middle-out economics—the idea that prioritizing the working- and middle-class is better for everyone in the economy—is having a moment. But where did middle-out come from? Michael Tomasky’s new book chronicles the history of middle-out and the rise of progressive economics in the United States.

Michael Tomasky is a journalist and author. He’s top editor of The New Republic, editor of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, and a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times.

Twitter: @mtomasky

The Middle Out https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671443/the-middle-out-by-michael-tomasky 

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While President Biden has embraced middle-out economics here in the states, the UK’s new leaders have decided to enthusiastically revive trickle-down economics. Political economist Mark Blyth, who teaches International Economics, shares his thoughts on the United Kingdom’s troubling new budget policies, certainty’s role in building an economy, and much more on this wide-ranging episode. 

Mark Blyth is Director of the William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance. He’s a professor, author, and political economist. His latest book, Diminishing Returns, is out now.

Twitter: @MkBlyth

Forget trickle down, what the UK needs is middle-out economics https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/25/forget-trickle-down-what-the-uk-needs-is-middle-out-economics

Angrynomics by Mark Blyth and Eric Lonergan  https://angrynomics.com

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