Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

What’s the next generation of access to credit? Why are home prices and rents so out-of-whack with each other? And how can we approach the discord between what liberals say they want for their community versus what housing and development policies they’ll actually support? Glenn Kelman, the CEO of real estate brokerage website Redfin, helps us examine the future of housing and the best ways that companies like his can contribute to solving the housing crisis. And if you’re wondering why this episode sounds so good, or why nobody mentions the pandemic… it’s because this conversation is from our archives of interviews that we recorded in-studio, just before the pandemic hit. But don’t let that discourage you—this is still just as relevant today as the day it was recorded. Enjoy! Glenn Kelman is the CEO of Redfin. Twitter: @glennkelmanWebsite: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Is inflation bad? What’s the difference between a neoliberal and a conservative? If large corporations were held to higher labor standards than small employers, wouldn’t Walmart get all the talent? And more!Thanks to Mark from Nashville, David from Japan, Mike from Dallas-Fort Worth, Mary from Pennsylvania, Steve from Austin, and Pete from Boston, who left the great voicemails included in this episode! If you have any questions for a future AMA episode, leave us a voicemail at 731-388-9334. Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Workers at a Frito-Lay factory in Topeka, Kansas made national headlines when they went on strike to protest dismal labor conditions including forced overtime and 84-hour workweeks. (Frito-Lay's parent company, PepsiCo, made $10.5 billion in profit last year.) The strike ended after 19 days on July 26th, but it’s an important part of a national conversation about labor and corporate profits. Kansas state Representative Jason Probst joins the show to explain the details of the strike and how these insidious labor practices affect his state’s economy.  Jason Probst serves in the Kansas House of Representatives. Twitter: @thatguyinhutchSubstack: https://thatguyinhutch.substack.com/ Kansas Frito-Lay workers end strike: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/07/26/frito-lay-strike-topeka/ Striking information - what PepsiCo’s annual report tells us about the Frito Lay strike: https://thatguyinhutch.substack.com/p/striking-information The Backbreaking Work That Goes Into a Bag of Chips: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/frito-lay-workers-on-their-strike.html Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Nick and Goldy answer your questions! If we had progressive taxation, would we still need means testing? Can we send ultra-rich people away to their own economy? What are the best economic indicators for the progressive economy? And more!Thanks to Lisa from Indianapolis, Rick from Baltimore, Jacob from Portland, Sean from Philadelphia, Linda from Seaside, and Frank from Georgia who left the great voicemails included in this episode! If you have any questions for a future AMA episode, leave us a voicemail at 731-388-9334. Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Can we create transformative climate outcomes by adopting new regulatory strategies? Financial regulation expert Sarah Bloom Raskin helps us explore what levers exist to steer fiscal and monetary policy toward lasting sustainability. Sarah Bloom Raskin is the former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and a former Governor of the Federal Reserve Board. She served as the Commissioner of Financial Regulation for the State of Maryland from 2007 to 2010. She is currently a visiting professor and distinguished fellow at Duke Law School’s Global Financial Markets Center, and a member of President Biden’s Regenerative Crisis Response Committee, which recommends changes in fiscal, monetary, and financial regulatory policies that are likely to enable the U.S. to achieve net carbon neutrality before 2050. Twitter: @SBloomRaskinLearn more about the Regenerative Crisis Response Committee here: https://regenerativecrisisresponsecommittee.org/ Does environmental regulation kill or create jobs? https://policyintegrity.org/files/media/Jobs_and_Regulation_Factsheet.pdf Do regulations really kill jobs? https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/regulations-jobs/513563/Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Our friends at the Center for American Progress put on a great virtual event last week with Senator Sherrod Brown, discussing how the U.S. tax codes favors the wealthy and the tools Congress plans to use to rebalance the tax system. Twitter: @amprogYou can watch video of the event here: https://www.americanprogress.org/events/2021/06/21/500822/billionaires-paying-no-taxes/The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Contrary to fears that economic inclusion must come at the expense of economic growth, global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company's research and empirical evidence supports the idea that economic growth is at its best when it is most inclusive – but that equity needs to be embedded in systems from the start in order to be effective. What does ‘inclusion’ mean in the context of an economy that works for everyone? McKinsey's JP Julien explains how policymakers and companies can ensure that economic growth goes hand-in-hand with – and is enhanced by – reducing inequality.JP Julien is an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he serves US federal, state, and city governments on inclusive economic-development topics and supports private-, public-, and social-sector organizations in advancing racial equity. He is a leader of the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility, a global economic think tank focused on inclusive economic development and racial equity topics. Twitter: @McKinseyThe case for inclusive growth: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/the-case-for-inclusive-growth Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

It’s Nick and Goldy’s summer reading list! We want to know what you’re reading, too. Let us know on Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics. Remember to shop local and small when you can, or order from IndieBound or Bookshop.org—both of which support independent bookstores! All of these books are also likely available at your library. Every book mentioned in this episode: The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich Escape from Rome: The Failure of Empire and the Road to Prosperity by Walter ScheidelThe Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? by Michael J. SandelSuccess and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Merit by Robert H. FrankThe Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas TalebDemocracy, Race, and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T. M. Alexander by Nina Banks Why Buddhism is True by Robert WrightCaste by Isabel WilkersonHis Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham  The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee1491 by Charles C. MannNature’s God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic by Matthew StewartThe Second World War by Winston Churchill Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Debt by David Graeber Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Callum Williams from The Economist predicts what we can expect from the economy in the coming months based on past periods of massive non-financial disruption, including past pandemics and major world wars. Callum Williams is a senior economics writer at The Economist.Twitter: @econcallumWhat history tells you about post-pandemic booms: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/04/29/what-history-tells-you-about-post-pandemic-booms Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

You probably saw the news that Chipotle is raising its menu prices by 4 percent, and that leadership is blaming the price increase on the fact that they had to raise their starting pay to $15 per hour. It’s not at all surprising to see a large employer like Chipotle blame rising wages for everything, but what was disappointing was the media’s willingness to repeat Chipotle’s story without looking deeper into the numbers: namely, none of the stories covering the price increases mentioned that Chipotle gave its CEO a $24 million raise last year, and that the company is in the middle of enacting a $153 million stock buyback program to enrich a handful of shareholders. Around here, that type of trick will land you the title of Trickle-Down Clown! This week Goldy has a few choice words to say about Chipotle’s behavior, and then we thought it would be a good time to revisit our stock buybacks episode with Senator Cory Booker for an explanation of the pervasiveness and dangers of the practice.Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer