Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

This week we’re continuing our exploration into the ways that higher education contributes to America’s political, cultural, and economic divisions. Goldy chats with author Will Bunch about how our leaders almost established a university education as a public good, why the so-called “knowledge economy” has caused inequality to grow, and how we can possibly fix our educational divide.Will Bunch is a national opinion columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and author of several books. He has won numerous journalism awards and shared the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for spot news reporting with the New York Newsday staff.Twitter: @Will_BunchAfter the Ivory Tower Falls https://www.harpercollins.com/products/after-the-ivory-tower-falls-will-bunchBetter Public Schools Won’t Fix America https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/education-isnt-enough/590611Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Universities across America are still teaching an outdated, neoclassical way of economic thinking. The trickle-down curriculums taught in Econ 101 classrooms aren’t just bad for students—they have had disastrous, far-reaching effects on the economy. Decades of bad education has left students adrift: A new study from Rethinking Economics reveals that the majority of college students are critical of the US economic system, with a large majority believing it needs to change. Can we redesign economic curriculums to better reflect how the economy really works?Abigail Acheson is network coordinator and staff organizer with the US Rethinking Economics National Network. A recent graduate, Abigail is dedicated to revitalizing student organizing for curriculum change at universities. Nouhaila Oudija is a researcher and consultant at RE-USA. She recently published a research project about college students' attitudes around the US economic system and about the lack of diversity of thought in economics curricula.Twitter: @RethinkEcon_USA, @rethinkeconEconomics is Failing US College Students https://www.rethinkeconomics.org/2022/10/18/econ-failing-us-studentsWebsite: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

As Tax Day approaches in the United States, we’re revisiting our conversation with Gabriel Zucman, the authority on wealth taxes. For the last 40 years, trickle-down politicians have slashed tax rates on the rich, benefiting the wealthy few at the expense of the American middle class. Zucman explains how the rich manage to dodge taxes, and how we can fix this broken system.This episode originally aired on November 26, 2019.Gabriel Zucman is now Professor of Economics at the Paris School of Economics and Ecole Normale Supérieure – PSL, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, Director of the EU Tax Observatory, and Director of the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Wealth and Income Inequality at UC Berkeley.Twitter: @gabriel_zucmanThe Triumph of Injustice: https://wwnorton.com/books/the-triumph-of-injusticeThe Wealth Detective Who Finds the Hidden Money of the Super Rich: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-05-23/the-wealth-detective-who-finds-the-hidden-money-of-the-super-richWebsite: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

One in five American workers has signed a noncompete clause. The FTC believes that the elimination of these clauses would generate extra job opportunities for 30 million workers and raise wages by $300 billion—a huge win for the average American worker. Economist Evan Starr shares findings from his new report on noncompetes and their enforceability in court, which uses data from our home state of Washington.Evan Starr is an Assistant Professor of Management & Organization at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan. Twitter: @evanpstarrDo Firms Value Court Enforceability of Noncompete Agreements? https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4364674 The Transformation at the Heart of Biden’s Middle-Out Economic Agendahttps://prospect.org/economy/2023-02-09-biden-middle-out-agenda Why your noncompete clause is probably illegal https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/why-your-non-compete-clause-is-probably-illegal-with-attorney-general-bob-ferguson Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

When did ordinary people come to believe that free market solutions are always better than government intervention? How do we create a future where markets serve democracy instead of stifling it? In this episode we’re talking about the “magic” of the marketplace and the myth that the free market is ruthlessly efficient and always knows best. The co-authors of The Big Myth explain exactly how American business taught us to loathe government and love the free market.Naomi Oreskes is Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. Her opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. Erik M. Conway is a historian of science and technology and works for the California Institute of Technology. He is the author of seven books and dozens of articles and essays.Twitter: @NaomiOreskes, @ErikMConway The Big Myth https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/big-myth-9781635573572The Silicon Valley Bank Bailout Didn’t Need to Happen https://prospect.org/economy/2023-03-13-silicon-valley-bank-bailout-deregulation Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Between 1870 and 2010 an unprecedented explosion of material wealth transformed the globe, but that wave of prosperity failed to create a fully functioning and equal society. How did we manage to create an economic pie large enough for everyone to share, but then fumble dividing that pie up equally? Brad DeLong explores this question in his new book, Slouching Towards Utopia, which looks at the economic history of the twentieth century and why it matters today.J. Bradford DeLong is an economic historian and a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He was a deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury during the Clinton administration. He writes a widely read economics blog, now at braddelong.substack.comTwitter: @delongSlouching Towards Utopia https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/j-bradford-delong/slouching-towards-utopia/9780465019595Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

We've released dozens of episodes exploring how to improve the lives of Americans that live in rural areas, but we don’t often discuss how cities (and the folks that live in them) are being left behind by state lawmakers and federal policies. This is a problem because cities are key to innovation and economic growth. Richard McGahey's new book explores how to overcome anti-urban bias in order to reduce inequality in cities throughout the United States.Richard McGahey is an economist and senior fellow at the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis and the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy, both within The New School.Twitter: @rickmcgaheyUnequal Cities http://cup.columbia.edu/book/unequal-cities/9780231173346Redefining Rural America https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/redefining-rural-america-with-olugbenga-ajilore/  Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

A new report from the Economic Policy Institute found that anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of employers are essentially stealing thousands of dollars from their workers every year by misclassifying them as independent contractors. In addition to lower pay, those misclassified workers are also deprived of employer-provided benefits like health care and labor rights like basic safety regulations. Returning guest Heidi Shierholz walks us through the report and explains how to figure out if your employer is stealing from you by classifying you as an independent contractor.Heidi Shierholz is the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that uses the power of its research on economic trends and on the impact of economic policies to advance reforms that serve working people, deliver racial justice, and guarantee gender equity.Twitter: @hshierholzThe economic costs of worker misclassification https://www.epi.org/publication/cost-of-misclassification Shared security, shared growth https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/37/shared-security-shared-growth Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Goldy and Paul interview author Rick Wartzman about how America’s biggest employer (Walmart) began taking better care of its workers (by raising wages)—and why that decision might be too little, too late. According to Wartzman, Walmart has gone through a remarkable transformation, but there are limits to how much positive change this brand of socially conscious capitalism can create.Rick Wartzman is co-president of Bendable Labs, a technology, consulting and research firm that builds and tests social innovations in the areas of lifelong learning, workforce development and job quality. He’s the author of several books that meet at the intersection of business and society including Still Broke: Walmart's Remarkable Transformation and the Limits of Socially Conscious Capitalism, The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America, Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire.Twitter: @RWartzmanStill Broke https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/rick-wartzman/still-broke/9781549156250Walmart and McDonald’s have the most workers on food stamps and Medicaid, new study shows https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/18/food-stamps-medicaid-mcdonalds-walmart-bernie-sanders  Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Stock buybacks are one of the worst excesses of modern capitalism, which naturally means they're one of our favorite subjects to cover on the podcast. And since they’re in the news again, we thought it would be a good time to revisit one of our first episodes, from 2019. How much has changed over the past 4 years? President Biden’s proposal to raise taxes on buybacks to 4% is the most promising update so far, but much of our conversation with Senator Cory Booker remains relevant today.This episode originally aired on February 26, 2019.Cory Booker is the U.S. Senator from New Jersey. Since 2013, Cory has written and championed dozens of bills aimed at fixing our broken criminal justice system, expanding economic opportunity, and fighting for equal justice for everyone.Twitter: @CoryBookerThe Transformation at the Heart of Biden’s Middle-Out Economic Agenda https://prospect.org/economy/2023-02-09-biden-middle-out-agenda Stock buybacks are soaring to record levels — and Cory Booker wants to stop it https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/6/17083398/booker-buyback-populist Stock Buybacks Are Killing the American Economy https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/02/kill-stock-buyback-to-save-the-american-economy/385259Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.comTwitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer