Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

When are we going to know the results of this election? What can we do about voter suppression? And are Democrats finally giving up on trickle-down economics? Zach and political strategist Cristina Uribe answer these questions and more as they discuss what this election means for our economy and the health of our democracy. 

It’s not too late to vote! If you’re unsure how, go to vote.org. And if you already voted by mail, track your ballot and make sure it was accepted! 

Cristina Uribe is a veteran political strategist and manager working at the intersection of advocacy and politics. She has held senior management roles at several organizations, including California Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC), Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives at the National Education Association (NEA), and Western Regional Director at EMILY’s List. She has led campaigns and civic engagement efforts in dozens of states across the country. 

Twitter: @curibeca

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Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

This strange Halloween, we bring to you the harrowing tale of two young trick-or-treaters who dare to stop at James Buchanan’s house. To learn more about the real-life horrors of Buchanan, read Jane Mayer’s ‘Dark Money’ — the spooky real-life story of the right-wing trickle-down machine.

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Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

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Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

The real looting in America is the looting of the wages and savings of the bottom 90% by the wealthiest 1%. And although it’s not in the news nearly as much as other types of looting recently, our rigged economic system causes far more harm to our society. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich joins Nick and Jessyn to explain who rigged the system, and what it will take to stop the real looting. 

To contact your elected leaders about the transfer of $50 trillion over the past 45 years from working Americans to the top 1%, text RAND to 67076 or go to www.civicaction.com/rand. 

Robert Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written 18 books, the latest of which is “THE SYSTEM: Who Rigged It, and How To Fix It.” He is a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, founder of Inequality Media, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentaries “Inequality for All” and “Saving Capitalism,” both now streaming on Netflix. 

Twitter: @RBReich

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Further reading: 

Protesters criticized for looting businesses without forming private equity firms first: 

https://www.theonion.com/protestors-criticized-for-looting-businesses-without-fo-1843735351 

Banks gave richest clients ‘concierge treatment’ for pandemic aid: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/business/sba-loans-ppp-coronavirus.html

Who is really “looting” America? https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/06/9852642/billionaires-rich-looting-america-tax-law-money

The top 1% have taken $50 trillion from the bottom 90%, and that’s made the U.S. less secure: https://time.com/5888024/50-trillion-income-inequality-america/ 

The golden age of white collar crime: https://www.huffpost.com/highline/article/white-collar-crime/

Some companies seeking bailouts had piles of cash, then spent it: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/business/coronavirus-bailouts-buybacks-cash.html

U.S. billionaires got $845 billion richer since the start of the pandemic: https://www.fastcompany.com/90551712/u-s-billionaires-got-845-billion-richer-since-the-start-of-the-pandemic 

The rich really do pay lower taxes than you: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/06/opinion/income-tax-rate-wealthy.html

What is private equity, and why is it killing everything you love? https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/1/6/21024740/private-equity-taylor-swift-toys-r-us-elizabeth-warren

When Wall Street is your landlord: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/02/single-family-landlords-wall-street/582394/

Many companies pay nothing in taxes. The public has a right to know how they pull it off: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/22/many-companies-pay-nothing-taxes-public-has-right-know-how-they-pull-it-off/

Purdue Pharma admits to crimes for its OxyContin marketing. But no one is going to prison: https://www.vox.com/2020/10/21/21526868/purdue-pharma-oxycontin-opioid-epidemic-department-of-justice  

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

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Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Harvard Business School professor Rebecca Henderson tells Nick and Goldy why businesses should reject the idea that the sole purpose of the corporation is to maximize shareholder value, and how businesses can help reform the market system. 

Rebecca Henderson is a professor at the Harvard Business School, a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a fellow of both the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is an expert on innovation and organizational change, and her research explores the degree to which the private sector can play a major role in building a more sustainable economy. 

Twitter: @RebeccaReCap

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Further reading: 

Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire: https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/rebecca-henderson/reimagining-capitalism-in-a-world-on-fire/9781541730137/

Do managers have a role to play in sustaining the institutions of capitalism? https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/BrookingsInstitutionsofCapitalismv5.pdf

Ending shareholder primacy in corporate governance: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/ending-shareholder-primacy-in-corporate-governance/ 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

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Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Why did the American middle class boom after WWII, and how do we get it booming again? New York Times economics reporter Jim Tankersley joins Paul to lay out the thesis of his new book, ‘The Riches of This Land’—that the economy will thrive when everyone can fully participate in it. 

Jim Tankersley covers economic and tax policy for The New York Times. Over more than a decade covering politics and economics in Washington, he has written extensively about the stagnation of the American middle class and the decline of economic opportunity in wide swaths of the country. 

Twitter: @jimtankersley

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The Riches of This Land: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781541767836

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

What’s the opposite of neoliberal economics? What would the manifesto of the perfect political party look like? How much money do corporations spend lobbying against taxes, and is it even worth it? Nick and Goldy answer these questions (and more!) from listeners.

To ask us a question, use the contact page on our website: https://pitchforkeconomics.com/contact/ 

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Further reading: 

Economism: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781101871195

The Curse of Econ 101: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/economism-and-the-minimum-wage/513155/

Arguing with Zombies: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781324005018 

Nick’s publications: https://nickhanauer.com/publications/ 

Trends in income from 1975 to 2018: https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WRA516-1.html

The Top 1% of Americans Have Taken $50 Trillion From the Bottom 90%—And That's Made the U.S. Less Secure: https://time.com/5888024/50-trillion-income-inequality-america/ 

Money spent on lobbying skyrocketed during tax overhaul: https://apnews.com/article/bd8a878c5fe84ea48ffbcf05b4edba0e

The 4 companies that lobbied most on tax overhaul - and what they got for it: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/12/7/16709586/republican-tax-bills-lobbying

Corporations now spend more lobbying Congress than taxpayers spend funding Congress: https://www.vox.com/2015/4/20/8455235/congress-lobbying-money-statistic 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

This week, Biden-Sanders unity task force appointee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed walks Nick and Goldy through the Biden transition team’s health care plan. 

Abdul El-Sayed is a physician, epidemiologist, public health expert, and progressive activist. He is the Chair of Southpaw Michigan and a contributor at CNN. He is the author of ‘Healing Politics’ and the co-author of the upcoming ‘Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide’. He also hosts “America Dissected,” a podcast by Crooked Media. 

Twitter: @AbdulElSayed

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Further reading: 

Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying condition: our epidemic of insecurity: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/19/coronavirus-insecurity-anxiety-us-epidemic

Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force Recommendations: https://joebiden.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/UNITY-TASK-FORCE-RECOMMENDATIONS.pdf

Healing Politics: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781419743023 

Health insurance and the COVID-19 shock: https://www.epi.org/publication/health-insurance-and-the-covid-19-shock/ 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

This week, labor market economist Suresh Naidu explains how his field attempts to account for the influence of power while studying employee/employer relationships, and unveils the hidden tricks of the coercive labor market. 

Suresh Naidu is a professor of economics and international and public affairs at Columbia University as well as a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, external faculty at the Santa Fe Institute, and a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. 

Twitter: @snaidunl

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Further reading: 

'Essential' workers are just forced laborers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/05/21/essential-workers-pay-wages-safety-unemployment/

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

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Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Yesterday, a groundbreaking study by the RAND Corporation put the first-ever price tag on how much income inequality costs American workers. The bill? $50 trillion. You read that right: $50 trillion has been diverted from working Americans to the wealthiest 1% since 1975. To make sense of this staggering number, Nick and Goldy are joined by mathematician Carter Price, the study’s co-author. 

Carter C. Price is a senior mathematician at the RAND Corporation. 

Twitter: @CarterCPrice

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Further reading: 

The Top 1% of Americans Have Taken $50 Trillion From the Bottom 90% - And That’s Made the U.S. Less Secure: https://time.com/5888024/50-trillion-income-inequality-america/

“We were shocked”: RAND study uncovers massive income shift to the top 1%: https://www.fastcompany.com/90550015/we-were-shocked-rand-study-uncovers-massive-income-shift-to-the-top-1

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Economist Olugbenga Ajilore explains how policymakers should be thinking about rural America (it’s not a monolith), and what interventions we should pursue to provide what he calls a “different kind of help.” 

Olugbenga Ajilore is a senior economist at the Center for American Progress. His expertise includes regional economic development, macroeconomic policy, and issues in diversity and inclusion. 

Twitter: @gbenga_ajilore

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Further reading: 

COVID and Rural America: https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/covid-and-rural-america/

Congress Must Help Rural America Respond to the Coronavirus: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2020/07/27/488129/congress-must-help-rural-america-respond-coronavirus/

Economic Recovery and Business Dynamism in Rural America: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2020/02/20/480129/economic-recovery-business-dynamism-rural-america/

Rural Americans are Vulnerable to the Coronavirus: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2020/03/05/481340/rural-communities-vulnerable-coronavirus/

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer