Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

You know the drill: Nick and Goldy answer your questions! Did we see ‘pitchforks’ at the Capitol insurrection? What should people who subscribe to the economic theories we talk about in this podcast call themselves? What are the smartest investments the average person can make for a stronger, more prosperous, more democratic America? And more! To ask Nick and Goldy a question for a future AMA, leave us a voicemail at (731) 388-9334. Show us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics The Pitchforks are Coming… For Us Plutocrats: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014CORE Economics: https://www.core-econ.org/ Evonomics: https://evonomics.com/  Institute for New Economic Thinking: https://www.ineteconomics.org/Rethinking Economics network: https://www.rethinkeconomics.org/Raising the minimum wage leads to significant gains for workers, not to ‘benefits cliffs’: https://www.nelp.org/publication/raising-minimum-wage-leads-significant-gains-workers-not-benefits-cliffs/ Study finds increasing minimum wage does not cause loss of jobs: https://www.dailycal.org/2018/09/10/study-finds-increasing-minimum-wage-does-not-cause-loss-of-jobs/Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Here’s another resource from the archive that will help you wade through the loud and often misleading coverage of the Raise the Wage Act. Not all minimum-wage studies are equal. Some of the most headline-grabbing negative reports on the effects of the minimum wage were commissioned and promoted by right-wing organizations looking to legitimize trickle-down policies that hurt workers. How can you spot studies that aren’t worth their salt? Economist Ben Zipperer joins Nick and Jasmin to reveal some of the tricks that economists pull, and to help us understand how some studies can conclude that raising wages will kill jobs—even though, as we know, the opposite is true. Ben Zipperer is an economist at the Economic Policy Institute. His areas of expertise include the minimum wage, inequality, and low-wage labor markets. He has published research in the Industrial and Labor Relations Review and has been quoted in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, and the BBC. Twitter: @benzipperer, @EconomicPolicyShow us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics Further reading: Gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 would be good for workers, good for businesses, and good for the economy: https://www.epi.org/publication/minimum-wage-testimony-feb-2019/Six reasons not to put too much weight on the new study of Seattle’s minimum wage: https://www.epi.org/blog/six-reasons-not-to-put-too-much-weight-on-the-new-study-of-seattles-minimum-wage/Studies mentioned in the episode: New EPI study: The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs: Evidence from the United States Using a Bunching Estimator: https://www.nber.org/papers/w25434Card and Krueger: Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/njmin-aer.pdfUniversity of Washington study - Minimum Wage Increases, Wages, and Low-Wage Employment: Evidence from Seattle: https://www.nber.org/papers/w23532Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Is the U.S. an oligarchy, or does it just have a bunch of super-rich people living in it? Is there a difference? Author Thom Hartmann joins Nick and Paul to explain the relationship between wealth and American political power and share some of the research that went into his latest book, ‘The Hidden History of American Oligarchy.’ Thom Hartmann is the #1 progressive radio talk show host in the US and a New York Times bestselling author. Twitter: @Thom_HartmannShow us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: https://bookshop.org/books/the-hidden-history-of-american-oligarchy-reclaiming-our-democracy-from-the-ruling-class/9781523091584 Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

You may have noticed that the trickle-downers are out in full force again spouting bad ideas in response to the Raise the Wage Act, which will raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour. To set the record straight, we’re reposting one of our first-ever episodes, from early 2019, that reveals what the research proves (no, raising the minimum wage doesn’t affect employment), and asks why changing public perception around the minimum wage has been so difficult.  Eric Garcetti is the Mayor of LA, where he signed a $15 minimum wage ordinance into law in 2015. The late Alan Krueger was a leading labor economist best known for his work on the effects of the minimum wage. Show us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Democrats used to win elections in rural areas, but that seems like a distant memory now. This week, Zach is joined by Bill Hogseth, a political organizer from rural Wisconsin, to talk about the difference between making promises and delivering change—and how Democrats can win rural America back again.Bill Hogseth is a political organizer from rural Wisconsin, where he works for the Wisconsin Farmers Union. He is the former Chair of the Dunn County Democrats. Twitter: @billhogsethShow us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics Opinion: Why Democrats Keep Losing Rural Counties Like Mine: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/01/democrats-rural-vote-wisconsin-441458 Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauerZach's twitter: @zachariahsilk

Celebrate the end of inauguration week with this compilation of fun soundbites from past guests who are now serving in the Biden Administration!Featuring: Jared Bernstein, from ‘What can a board game teach us about capitalism? https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/what-can-a-board-game-teach-us-about-capitalism/Chris Lu, from ‘Whatever happened to overtime?’ https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/whatever-happened-to-overtime/Felicia Wong, from ‘Why is getting out of poverty so hard?’ https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/why-is-getting-out-of-poverty-so-hard/ Lisa D. Cook, from ‘Economic Woman’: https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/economic-woman-with-katrine-marcal-lisa-d-cook-and-anna-gifty-opoku-agyeman/ Mehrsa Baradaran, from ‘The hidden costs of banking while poor’: https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/the-hidden-costs-of-banking-while-poor-with-mehrsa-baradaran-and-cate-blackford/Ron Klain, from ‘Leadership failure made the U.S. pandemic worse’: https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/leadership-failure-made-the-u-s-pandemic-worse-with-ronald-klain/ Heather Boushey, from ‘Inequality and coronavirus’ and ‘Whatever happened to the middle class? https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/inequality-and-coronavirus-with-heather-boushey-and-michelle-holder/https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/whatever-happened-to-the-middle-class/ Joelle Gamble, from ‘How Econ 101 upholds racist systems’: https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/how-econ-101-upholds-racist-systems-with-joelle-gamble/ Bharat Ramamurti, from ‘The case for a True New Deal’: https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/the-case-for-a-true-new-deal-with-bharat-ramamurti/ Show us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Idrees Kahloon from The Economist joins us for inauguration week to assess the daunting economic challenges that the Biden-Harris administration will face the second they take office. Idrees Kahloon is the Washington correspondent for The Economist. He covers US policy, poverty, and COVID-19 stimulus packages. Twitter: @imkahloonShow us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics Further reading: President Joe Biden will face two extraordinary economic challenges: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/11/14/president-joe-biden-will-face-two-extraordinary-economic-challenges Joe Biden is taking office amid a poverty crisis: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21582005/joe-biden-poverty-covid  Here’s a look at the economy Biden will inherit next month: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/12/17/us/joe-biden-trump#heres-a-look-at-the-economy-biden-will-inherit-next-month Joe Biden’s Four-Year Plan: https://prospect.org/day-one-agenda/joe-bidens-four-year-plan/ The three progressive policies voters seem to love: https://slate.com/business/2020/11/progressives-election-minimum-wage-marijuana-medicaid.amp Top charts of 2020: https://www.epi.org/publication/top-charts-of-2020-the-economic-fallout-of-covid-19/  Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

In a recent report, The Roosevelt Institute called for a new set of policies to mitigate the economic suffering caused by the pandemic. Taken all together, these policies are as sweeping as the New Deal was—but unlike the New Deal, they’re truly representative of America’s race, class, and gender diversity. Attorney Bharat Ramamurti, the incoming Deputy Director of the Biden administration’s National Economic Council and a co-author of the report, joins Nick and Goldy to make the case for a True New Deal. Bharat Ramamurti is the incoming Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. At the time of our interview, he was the managing director of the Corporate Power Program at the Roosevelt Institute and a member of the COVID-19 Congressional Oversight Commission. He was previously an economic advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren. Twitter: @BharatRamamurtiShow us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics A True New Deal: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/true-new-deal-for-the-covid-19-era/ Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

No matter what some politicians may claim, there’s actually no such thing as ‘less regulation’ — there are only regulations that favor the powerful, and those that don’t. Stanford economist Anat Admati walks us through the deregulation of the banking industry and explains how she would overhaul financial regulations to make them work well for society, not just for the rich and powerful. Anat Admati is the George G.C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, a director of the Corporations and Society Initiative, and a senior fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. She has written extensively on information dissemination in financial markets, portfolio management, financial  contracting, corporate governance, and banking. She is the co-author of ‘The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What to Do About It’. Twitter: @anatadmati Show us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics Making financial regulation work for society: https://www.ineteconomics.org/events/finance-society/agenda/making-financial-regulation-work-a-conversation-with-anat-admati-and-brooksley-born  When she talks, banks shudder: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/business/when-she-talks-banks-shudder.html Financial crises, corporate scandals and blind spots: who is responsible? https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/01/25/financial-crises-corporate-scandals-and-blind-spots-who-is-responsible/The Bankers’ New Clothes: http://bankersnewclothes.com/ Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Trickle-down economics would have you believe that the rich are job creators. For decades we’ve been told that the more money the wealthy have to invest in creating jobs, the better the economy will be for everybody. This lie has had catastrophic effects: the top 0.1% of Americans now own more wealth than the bottom 90% of Americans combined. As debates rage among our leaders over stimulus bills and Americans battle their way through this economic crisis, the case for taxing the wealthy has never been as strong as it is now—so this week we’re re-surfacing this episode, originally published in 2019. Class traitor Abigail Disney and tax expert Chye-Ching Huang make the case for taxing the rich. And we highly recommend Abigail Disney’s podcast, All Ears: https://www.forkfilms.com/all-ears/ Abigail Disney is a documentary filmmaker, philanthropist, and social activist. She is the granddaughter of Roy Disney, the co-founder of the Walt Disney Company.Twitter: @abigaildisneyChye-Ching Huang is the Director of Federal Fiscal Policy at the Center on Budget Policy Priorities, where she focuses on the fiscal and economic effects of federal tax and budget policy. She rejoined the Center in 2011 after working as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, where she taught tax law and conducted research in tax law and policy. Twitter: @dashching @CenteronBudgetShow us some love by leaving a rating or a review! RateThisPodcast.com/pitchforkeconomics Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer