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 specific, real dollar amounts on every trickle-down policy American politicians have embraced. The study’s authors, Larry Mishel and Josh Bivens, explain how their work  reveals that the massive upward redistribution of income our nation has suffered these past four decades can largely be attributed to policies intentionally designed to suppress the wages of American workers. 

Lawrence Mishel is a distinguished fellow at EPI after serving as president from 2002-2017. In the more than three decades he has been with EPI, Mishel has helped build it into the nation’s premier research organization focused on U.S. living standards and labor markets. 

Twitter: @LarryMishel

Josh Bivens is the director of research at EPI. His areas of research include macroeconomics, fiscal and monetary policy, the economics of globalization, social insurance, and public investment. 

Twitter: @joshbivens_DC

Middle-class pay lost pace. Is Washington to blame? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/business/economy/middle-class-pay.html 

Identifying the policy levers generating wage suppression and wage inequality: https://www.epi.org/unequalpower/publications/wage-suppression-inequality/ 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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 checks to a labor shortage. EPI economist Heidi Shierholz joins us to explain why UI and stimulus payments aren’t causing a “labor shortage”, and why the answer to this made-up problem is so clear: it’s the low wages, stupid. 

Heidi Shierholz is the Senior Economist and Director of Policy at the Economic Policy Institute. 

Twitter: @hshierholz

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Unemployment benefits are not creating a worker shortage: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/worker-shortage-unemployment-benefits_n_609056c3e4b09cce6c21a850 

Is unemployment insurance behind the fast-food labor shortage? https://prospect.org/labor/is-unemployment-insurance-behind-fast-food-labor-shortage/ 

Restaurant labor shortages show little sign of going economywide: https://www.epi.org/blog/restaurant-labor-shortages-show-little-sign-of-going-economywide-policymakers-must-not-rein-in-stimulus-or-unemployment-benefits/ 

U.S. Labor Shortage? Unlikely. Here’s why: https://policydialogue.org/opinions/worker-shortages/ 

It’s not a ‘labor shortage’. It’s a great reassessment of work in America: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/07/jobs-report-labor-shortage-analysis/ 

The Myth of Labor Shortages: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/briefing/labor-shortages-covid-wages.html 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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, limits employee mobility, and decreases competition. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson explains how non-competes and no-poach agreements violate the law in many states, what his team did to get hundreds of huge employers across the country to cease and desist, and why you should tell your state’s Attorney General if you know of any low- or middle-income workers who are being forced into signing these agreements. 

Bob Ferguson is Washington State’s 18th Attorney General. As the state’s chief legal officer, Bob is committed to protecting the people of Washington against powerful interests that don’t play by the rules. 

Twitter: @BobFergusonAG

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Why aren’t paychecks growing? A burger-joint clause offers a clue: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/business/pay-growth-fast-food-hiring.html

Workers in Washington state win big under new non-compete law: https://www.emeryreddy.com/2019/09/workers-in-washington-state-win-big-under-new-non-compete-law/ 

Attorney General Bob Ferguson stops King County coffee shop’s practice requiring baristas to sign unfair non-compete agreements: https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/attorney-general-bob-ferguson-stops-king-county-coffee-shop-s-practice-requiring 

AG Report: Ferguson’s initiative ends no-poach practices nationally at 237 corporate franchise chains: https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-report-ferguson-s-initiative-ends-no-poach-practices-nationally-237-corporate 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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 our economy will be better off if more government agencies adopt DARPA’s mission-oriented approach.  

Mariana Mazzucato is a Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London, where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. She is the author of three highly-acclaimed books: The Entrepreneurial State, The Value of Everything, and Mission Economy. 

Twitter: @MazzucatoM

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Mission Economy: https://marianamazzucato.com/books/mission-economy 

It’s 2023. Here’s how we fixed the global economy: https://time.com/collection/great-reset/5900739/fix-economy-by-2023/#new_tab

DARPA’s early investment in COVID-19 antibody identification producing timely results: https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2020-11-10  

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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. 

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The Making of the Mother of All Economic Booms: https://policytensor.substack.com/p/the-making-of-the-mother-of-all-economic 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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 new project, the Campaign to End Qualified Immunity. 

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. Most recently, they are the leaders of the Campaign to End Qualified Immunity, a new police reform and criminal justice campaign. 

Ben’s twitter: @YoBenCohen

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https://campaigntoendqualifiedimmunity.org/ 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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 Policy Institute. Prior to joining EPI, she was an economist and vice president of research at the National Urban League Washington Bureau. 

Twitter: @ValerieRWilson

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Racism and the Economy: https://www.epi.org/blog/racism-and-the-economy-fed/  

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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 seeing to realize a full recovery, and how the report proves that even though some think high unemployment insurance payments will disincentivize people from returning to work, a lack of jobs is actually what’s driving unemployment rates.  

Austan Goolsbee is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He previously served as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and a member of President Obama’s Cabinet.  

Twitter: @Austan_Goolsbee

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Strong job growth in March as vaccine distribution expands and the American Rescue Plan ramps up: https://www.epi.org/blog/strong-job-growth-in-march-as-vaccine-distribution-expands-and-the-american-rescue-plan-ramps-up/ 

The soft underbelly to a looming economic boom: Millions will miss out: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/30/fed-inflation-bad-economy-low-wage/

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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 negative freedom and the policies that would make us more free, in a real sense. 

Mike Konczal is the Director of Progressive Thought at the Roosevelt Institute. His latest book is Freedom from the Market: America’s Fight to Liberate Itself from the Grip of the Invisible Hand.

Twitter: @rortybomb

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Freedom from the Market: https://bookshop.org/books/freedom-from-the-market-america-s-fight-to-liberate-itself-from-the-grip-of-the-invisible-hand/9781620975374 

Time is the universal measure of freedom: http://bostonreview.net/class-inequality-law-justice/mike-konczal-time-universal-measure-freedom 

Our episode with Elizabeth Anderson: https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/coercion-in-the-workplace-with-elizabeth-anderson/ 

Our episode with Anu Partanen and Trevor Corson: https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/re-imagining-capitalism-with-anu-partanen-and-trevor-corson/ 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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 higher minimum wage or a universal basic income would be better for society. 

The episode from Yang Speaks: https://shows.cadence13.com/podcast/yang-speaks/episodes/f017e270-cc82-40ab-b4a2-6b90b1a564e0 

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Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer