Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Wall Street’s War on Workers (with Les Leopold)

Mar 11, 2025

Les Leopold, a labor educator and author, reveals the harsh realities of corporate layoffs driven by Wall Street in a quest for profits. He discusses how stock buybacks and deregulation have shifted layoffs from signs of failure to strategic tools, alienating workers and exacerbating inequality. Leopold highlights the economic and social crises in areas like Mingo County, advocating for grassroots movements and innovative policies to restore worker rights. The conversation aims to empower the working class against corporate greed and inspire systemic change.

36:59

Episode guests

Les Leopold

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Mass layoffs have shifted from a corporate failure indicator to a strategic tool for enriching CEOs via stock buybacks and deregulation.

Transitioning to middle-out economics emphasizes investing in the middle class as essential for fostering genuine economic growth and stability.

Deep dives

The Impact of Trickle-Down Economics

Trickle-down economics has led to significant rising inequality and political instability, illustrating its failure to foster genuine economic growth. This economic theory, which prioritizes benefits for the wealthy in hopes that the advantages will eventually reach the lower classes, has not delivered the intended outcomes over the past five decades. Instead, proponents argue that it perpetuated wealth accumulation at the top while neglecting the middle class, which ultimately fuels economic expansion. Transitioning to middle-out economics emphasizes the importance of investing in the middle class as a catalyst for flourishing economic conditions.

Intro

2min

The Shift in Corporate Layoffs and Power Dynamics

19min

Mingo County's Economic Crisis and Political Fallout

9min

The Impact of Stock Buybacks on Inequality and Employment

2min

The Impact of Stock Buybacks on Workers and Corporate Behavior

5min

Mass layoffs have become a routine corporate strategy—not because companies are struggling, but because Wall Street demands it. In Wall Street’s War on Workers, labor educator and author Les Leopold exposes how stock buybacks, deregulation, and financialized capitalism have made job cuts a tool for enriching CEOs and hedge funds at the expense of workers and communities. He joins Nick and Goldy this week to explain how this happened, why both political parties have failed to stop it, and what we can do to fight back.

Les Leopold is a labor educator, author, and co-founder of the Labor Institute, where he has spent decades advocating for economic justice and worker rights. He is the author of several books, including Runaway Inequality and Wall Street’s War on Workers, which exposes how financial elites have rigged the economy in their favor.

Social Media:

@les_leopold