AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer
Poverty for Profit: How Corporations Get Rich off America’s Poor (with Anne Kim)
Feb 25, 2025
Anne Kim, a writer and public policy expert, delves into the disturbing reality of how major corporations exploit anti-poverty programs to boost profits rather than alleviate suffering. She highlights the role of tax prep companies and Medicaid contractors in this scheme. The discussion unveils the unethical practices behind privatization, revealing how these systems prioritize shareholder profits over essential services for the impoverished. Kim also shares potential reforms to increase transparency and enhance support for low-income individuals, advocating for a government focused on public welfare.
38:16
Episode guests
AI Summary
AI Chapters
Episode notes
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- The podcast reveals how the so-called poverty industrial complex allows corporations to profit from anti-poverty programs, undermining the true beneficiaries.
- It advocates for middle-out economics and reforms in the tax code to eliminate exploitative corporate practices and promote equitable economic growth.
Deep dives
The Ineffectiveness of Trickle-Down Economics
Trickle-down economics has failed to alleviate poverty and has instead contributed to rising inequality and political instability. This economic theory assumes that benefits for the wealthy will eventually trickle down to the middle and lower classes, but evidence suggests the opposite occurs. Middle-out economics, which supports the growth of the middle class as a primary driver of economic prosperity, is presented as a viable alternative. By centralizing support around the middle class, this approach seeks to create a more equitable economy for everyone.
Get the Snipd
podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered
Discover
highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any
moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share
& Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover
highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode