Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

A budget is a moral document that reflects what we value and prioritize. But to most people, the budget-making process is convoluted and confusing. Budget expert Bob Greenstein joins Nick and Jasmin this week to explain how a budget is made, and how these mind-bogglingly huge numbers impact everyday life. 

Bob Greenstein is the Founder and President of the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute that analyzes federal budget priorities. Greenstein is considered an expert on the federal budget and a range of domestic policy issues, including anti-poverty programs and various aspects of tax and health care policy. 

Twitter: @GreensteinCBPP

@CenterOnBudget

Further reading: 

Trump’s budget will wreak havoc on the American economy: https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/20/perspectives/trump-budget-economy/index.html

2021 Trump Budget Would Increase Hardship and Inequality: https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/2021-trump-budget-would-increase-hardship-and-inequality

News clips from PBS NewsHour and Bloomberg Politics. 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Why is right now the easiest time in modern history for the wealthy to get away with whatever they want? HuffPost reporter and fellow Seattleite Michael Hobbes joins Zach in the studio for a deep dive into his most recent article about white collar crime. 

Michael Hobbes covers the new economy for HuffPost and is the co-host of the podcast “You’re Wrong About”.  

Twitter: @RottenInDenmark

@HuffPost

Further reading: 

The Golden Age of White Collar Crime: https://www.huffpost.com/highline/article/white-collar-crime/

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Pretend every economic problem we’ve ever discussed on this podcast has magically been solved. What’s next? What are the economic problems that we’ll face a decade from now? This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by futurist Kevin Kelly for a conversation based on a voicemail left by Pitchfork Economics listener Cody from Florida. Thanks, Cody!

You can call and leave us a voicemail, too—in fact, we would love it if you did! Our number is (731) 388-9334. 

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick and co-founder at Wired. He has written for The New York Times, The Economist, Science, Time, and The Wall Street Journal among many other publications. His most recent book, The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future, is a New York Times Bestseller. 

Twitter: @kevin2kelly

Further reading: 

The Inevitable: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525428084

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

You can’t talk about philanthropy without mentioning Darren Walker. As the president of the Ford Foundation, Walker has been charged with reimagining one of the largest philanthropic endowments in the world. This week he joins Nick and Jessyn in a conversation about transforming philanthropy to meet the challenges of structural inequality.

Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation. He chaired the philanthropy committee that brought a resolution to the city of Detroit’s historic bankruptcy and is co-founder and chair of the US Impact Investing Alliance. Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation. 

Twitter: @darrenwalker 

@FordFoundation

Further reading: 

From Generosity to Justice: https://www.fordfoundation.org/ideas/ford-forum/the-future-of-philanthropy/from-generosity-to-justice/

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Democracy in Chains is required reading around the Civic Ventures office, and Paul is happy to explain why it’s earned must-read status. Listen, be convinced, go read! 

Democracy in Chains: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781101980965

Paul’s twitter: @paulconstant

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

We’re continuing the conversation about reimagining capitalism this week with Professor Steve Keen, one of the biggest names in alternative economics. What would society look like if we stopped believing in long-held economic fictions like meritocracy and the equilibrium system? 

Steve Keen has spent his career working to develop an alternative, realistic economics. He is the author of Debunking Economics and the designer of Minsky, an open source dynamic modelling program that makes it possible for anyone to build and understand monetary models of the economy. He was one of the first economists to correctly predict the 2008 financial crisis and its causes. 

Twitter: @ProfSteveKeen

Steve Keen’s work is funded through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ProfSteveKeen

Make sure you check out Majority.FM’s AM Quickie, the morning news podcast for progressives in the know: amquickie.com

Further reading: 

Debunking Economics: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10303367-debunking-economics---revised-and-expanded-edition

Minsky download: https://sourceforge.net/projects/minsky/

Inequality, Debt, and Credit Stagnation: https://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2016/07/05/inequality-debt-and-credit-stagnation/

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

On Tuesday’s episode, Anu Partanen mentioned the Finnish civil war, which divided the country between elite land-owners and the working class. That’s right up our pitchforks alley - so we called an expert, Finnish professor Tuomas Tepora, for a history lesson. 

Tuomas Tepora is a lecturer in history at the University of Helsinki. His research deals with a wide variety of topics related to the cultural history of war and the history of emotions. 

Twitter: @TTepora

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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 the way from Finland. 

Anu Partanen is a journalist and the author of The Nordic Theory of Everything. The book debunks some of the most common myths about Nordic societies and discusses what the United States might be able to borrow from aspects of Nordic success in the twenty-first century. She has written for The New York Times and The Atlantic.

Twitter: @anupartanen

Trevor Corson is an award-winning author and editor. His articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and many more. 

Twitter: @TrevorCorson

Further reading: 

The Nordic Theory of Everything: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062316547

Finland Is a Capitalist Paradise: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/07/opinion/sunday/finland-socialism-capitalism.html

What Americans Don’t Get About Nordic Countries: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/bernie-sanders-nordic-countries/473385/

Capitalism Redefined: https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/31/capitalism-redefined/

Safe, happy and free: does Finland have all the answers? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/safe-happy-and-free-does-finland-have-all-the-answers

Make sure you check out Majority.FM’s AM Quickie, the morning news podcast for progressives in the know: amquickie.com

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Goldy’s in the studio today answering your questions! Up for debate this time: What’s the line between needing to budget more and just not making enough money? Will raising the minimum wage hurt small, rural businesses? And how is public opinion about the difference between worker and CEO pay changing? 

Find Goldy on Twitter: @GoldyHA

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

The average family earning $25,000 a year in the U.S. spends about $2,400 on financial transactions. Whether it’s the astronomical interest rates of a payday loan or the costs that come with being unbanked, the extractive practices of the financial services industry are effectively keeping the poor in poverty. Lawyer and author Mehrsa Baradaran and economic mobility expert Cate Blackford join Nick and Steph this week to explain why banking while poor is so expensive, and what states can do to rein in the people who profit from it. 

Mehrsa Baradaran is a professor of law at UC Irvine. She writes about banking law, financial inclusion, inequality, and the racial wealth gap. Her scholarship includes the books How the Other Half Banks and The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap. 

Twitter: @MehrsaBaradaran

Cate Blackford is the Director of Outreach and Donor Development at the Bell Policy Center, where she leads the Financial Equity Coalition to eradicate systemic discrimination and hold financial predators accountable. She was the Co-Chair of the 2018 Proposition 111 campaign in CO to limit the interest lenders could charge on payday loans and eliminate fees from payday lending products, which passed with 75% of the vote. 

Twitter: @catetiller @BellPolicy

Further reading: 

How the Other Half Banks: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674983960

The Color of Money: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674237476

If the U.S. Government Treated Poor People as Well as It Treats Banks: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/if-the-us-government-treated-poor-people-as-well-as-it-treats-banks/410614/

CO’s Prop 111 explained: https://coloradosun.com/2018/10/22/proposition-111-colorado-2018-explained/

Briefed by the Bell - Predatory Economy: https://www.bellpolicy.org/2018/09/10/predatory-economy/

How Do Payday Loans Work? https://www.incharge.org/debt-relief/how-payday-loans-work/

Make sure you check out Majority.FM’s AM Quickie, the morning news podcast for progressives in the know: amquickie.com

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer