Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer Back to Basics Series: Why do we call it Pitchfork Economics? (with Ganesh Sitaraman & Walter Scheidel)
Jul 1, 2025
Ganesh Sitaraman, a law professor and constitutional law expert, teams up with historian Walter Scheidel, known for his insights on inequality and civilization's turmoil. They dive into the warning behind 'Pitchfork Economics', discussing how rising economic inequality fuels social unrest. Sitaraman shares alarming data on wealth concentration, while Scheidel links historical upheavals to economic disparities. They propose innovative solutions for reforming policies to ensure a stable middle class, highlighting lessons from the Gilded Age to prevent future crises.
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Inequality Breeds Instability
- Extreme inequality inevitably leads to either a police state or an uprising.
- Economic systems must be designed to prevent such inequality for social stability.
Warning Before 2016 Election
- Nick Hanauer warned about the rise of economic inequality for over a decade.
- His 2014 viral piece predicted populist uprisings before the 2016 election of Donald Trump.
Middle Class Protects Democracy
- A large middle class is essential not only to the economy but to the survival of democracy.
- Severe economic inequality risks oligarchy or tyranny instead of democratic stability.
