Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Up this week in listener questions: How much should you tip when you’re using a company credit card? What’s the difference between democratic socialism and the ideas we talk about? Who holds our national debt, and what does that even mean? And more! Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

This fall, Naomi Klein joined the show to warn that economic orthodoxy may be the downfall of significant efforts against climate change like the Green New Deal and other big, sweeping reforms we need to combat it. Enjoy our full, unedited conversation with her. Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author. She is Senior Correspondent for The Intercept, a Puffin Writing Fellow at Type Media Center, and the inaugural Gloria Steinem Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University. Her most recent book, ‘On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal’, published worldwide in September, was an instant New York Times bestseller and a #1 Canadian bestseller. Twitter: @NaomiAKleinOur website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Our twitter: @PitchforkEconOur instagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

The American pharmaceutical industry is rigged to make a handful people fabulously wealthy while everyone else gets screwed over. Because of intricate patent laws, we pay double what people in 29 other rich countries pay. Experts and change-makers Priti Krishtel and John Arnold join Nick and Jasmin to explain how we got into this mess (Monopolies! Patent law!), and what we can do about it. Priti Krishtel is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of I-MAK, a global organization that works to increase access to lifesaving medicine. A 15-year veteran of the global access to medicines movement, she helped lead the movement to a pivotal moment in treatment access history with the passage of a health-friendly patent law. Twitter: @pritikrishtel@IMAKglobalJohn Arnold is a former hedge fund manager who, with his wife Laura, now focuses on advocacy through their organization Arnold Ventures. Arnold Ventures has distributed more than $175 million in grants to over 80 healthcare nonprofit organizations, universities, and institutes with the ultimate goal to lower healthcare spending without compromising quality. Twitter: @JohnArnoldFndtnFurther reading: It’s Time for Pharmaceutical Companies to Have Their Tobacco Moment: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/24/opinion/drug-prices-congress.htmlA Humira Prescription Costs $38,000 A Year Because Our Patent System Is Being Abused: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/opinion-humira-costs-patents_n_5bd0c893e4b0a8f17ef3961fHow Big Pharma Reaps Profits While Hurting Everyday Americans: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2019/08/30/473911/big-pharma-reaps-profits-hurting-everyday-americans/Comprehensive Reform to Lower Prescription Drug Prices: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/news/2019/01/29/465621/comprehensive-reform-lower-prescription-drug-prices/A Supreme Court victory for lowering drug prices: https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/385326-why-scotus-ruling-in-oil-states-v-greenes-energy-group-is-a-win-for-workingHow a billionaire couple greased the skids for Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing bill: https://www.statnews.com/2019/11/26/laura-john-arnold-billionaire-greased-the-skids-for-drug-pricing-bill/Billionaire Philanthropist John Arnold On Drug Prices: Congress Needs to Act: https://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2018/11/29/billionaire-philanthropist-john-arnold-on-drug-prices-the-congress-needs-to-act/#b6097ee57a25Millions in U.S. Lost Someone Who Couldn’t Afford Treatment: https://news.gallup.com/poll/268094/millions-lost-someone-couldn-afford-treatment.aspxOur website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Our twitter: @PitchforkEconOur instagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Nick and Goldy are back to answer more of your voicemails! They’re tackling questions about housing, what our economic theory is actually called, portable benefits for gig economy workers, and more. Enjoy, and happy new year!Resources: https://www.core-econ.org/TED Talk reading list: https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_hanauer_the_dirty_secret_of_capitalism_and_a_new_way_forward/reading-list?language=enTED Talk references: https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_hanauer_the_dirty_secret_of_capitalism_and_a_new_way_forward/footnotes?language=enOur website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Our twitter: @PitchforkEconOur instagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Our resident book nerd Paul Constant is back with another book recommendation. This week, it’s ‘Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy.” Check it out for a greater understanding of how our biases shape the seemingly impartial numbers we use to measure the world. Paul’s twitter: @paulconstantWeapons of Math Destruction: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780553418811Our website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Our twitter: @PitchforkEconOur instagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

What is the “trick” in “trickle down” economics? It’s how wealthy elites and their neoliberal lackeys convince you that what’s good for them (tax cuts, deregulation, etc.) is good for you… and that policies like the minimum wage, overtime, and paid sick leave will ruin the economy. Economics is a story we tell ourselves to help explain who gets what, and why. In this episode, which we’re re-issuing for the holidays because it’s just so dang good, we explore how to tell a better story.Yuval Noah Harari is the author of international bestsellers: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. He is a professor in the Department of History at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Twitter: @yuvalharariFacebook: @Prof.Yuval.Noah.HarariInstagram: @yuval_noah_harariMolly Crockett is the director of the Crockett Lab and an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University. She is also a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics.Twitter: @mollycrockettFurther reading:A threat, not a theory: https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/41/a-threat-not-a-theory/To my fellow plutocrats: you can cure Trumpism: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/18/to-my-fellow-plutocrats-you-can-cure-trumpism-215347Our website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Our twitter: @PitchforkEconOur instagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

In nations around the world, people are protesting economic inequality and taking to the streets in political frustration. We said it here first: The pitchforks are coming. This week, Cesar Hidalgo joins Nick and Paul to discuss the unrest in Chile and explain how his political organizing app is helping protestors prioritize the policies they want government to address. The texture piece is courtesy of Gustavo de la Piedra, a listener from Santiago, Chile. The news clips are sourced from the news station France 24.Cesar Hidalgo is a Chilean-Spanish physicist, author, and entrepreneur. He currently holds an ANITI (Artificial and Natural Intelligence Toulouse Institute) Chair at the University of Toulouse, an Honorary Professorship at the University of Manchester, and a Visiting Professorship at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. From 2010 to 2019, Hidalgo led MIT’s Collective Learning group. He is known for the creation of the field of Economic Complexity, which uses disaggregate data and network methods to explain and predict economic development dynamics, for his work on the creation of data visualization and distribution systems, and for advancing ideas on the use of Artificial Intelligence in democracy. Twitter: @cesifotiFurther reading: The pitchforks are coming... for us plutocrats: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014‘Chile Woke Up’: Dictatorship’s Legacy of Inequality Triggers Mass Protests: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/world/americas/chile-protests.htmlGlobal protests share themes of economic anger and political hopelessness: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/10/25/global-wave-protests-share-themes-economic-anger-political-hopelessness/Chile announces $5.5 billion economic recovery plan as protests bite: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/03/chile-announces-5point5-billion-economic-recovery-plan.html

Earlier this week, we examined whether journalists live up to their responsibility to discuss economic issues fairly and intelligently. Here, we continue that conversation with Charles Mudede, a local economics reporter here in Seattle. Charles joins Paul to examine the ways that media has let economics down, as well as the deep economic implications of films like Alien and Pretty in Pink. Charles Mudede writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger, Seattle’s alternative biweekly newspaper. He is also a filmmaker. Twitter: @mudedeFurther reading: A Note on the Movie ‘Alien’ and Self-Checkout Machines: https://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2015/02/13/21707530/the-future-of-work-in-the-21st-century-self-checkout-in-a-no-service-economyPiketty Gives Good Economics: https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/piketty-gives-good-economics/Content?oid=19281392And viewing: Charles Mudede, “Adventures with Thomas Piketty”: https://vimeo.com/channels/smokefarmsymposium/108752151Our website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Our twitter: @PitchforkEconOur instagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Most people understand the economy through the news—how it’s doing, what the new laws are, and what experts predict for the future. For better or for worse, that means journalists largely dictate our common knowledge of economics issues. What’s the media’s responsibility as they cover the economy? Media Matters senior fellow Matt Gertz joins Steph and Paul to ponder the question: does economics have a media problem?Matt Gertz is a senior fellow at Media Matters, a progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Matt’s work focuses on the relationship between Fox News and the Trump administration, news coverage of politics and elections, and media ethics. His writing on the Trump-Fox feedback loop has appeared in The Daily Beast, HuffPost, and Politico Magazine, and he has discussed his analysis on MSNBC, NPR, and Comedy Central.Twitter: @MattGertzFurther reading: Media Matters website: https://www.mediamatters.org/Who Fact-Checks the Fact-Checkers? https://civicskunk.works/who-fact-checks-the-fact-checkers-da45dc63e00cHow local ‘fake news’ websites spread ‘conservative propaganda’ in the US: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/19/locality-labs-fake-news-local-sites-newspapersStudy: Major media outlets show improvement at debunking Trump misinformation on Twitter: https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/study-major-media-outlets-show-improvement-debunking-trump-misinformation-twitterOur website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Our twitter: @PitchforkEconOur instagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

In his new book ‘Goliath’, author Matt Stoller explains how the 2016 election heralded the return of authoritarianism and populism to American politics, due largely to concentrated financial power and rampant consumerism. This week, Matt joins Nick and Goldy for a conversation about creating a new democracy. Matt Stoller is the author of ‘Goliath: The Hundred-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy’ and a fellow at the Open Markets Institute. He is a former policy advisor to the Senate Budget Committee, and also worked for a member of the Financial Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives during the financial crisis. Twitter: @matthewstollerFurther reading:Goliath: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Goliath/Matt-Stoller/9781501183089How Democrats Killed Their Populist Soul: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/how-democrats-killed-their-populist-soul/504710/Tech Companies Are Destroying Democracy and the Free Press: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/opinion/tech-monopoly-democracy-journalism.htmlBoeing’s travails show what’s wrong with modern capitalism: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/11/boeing-capitalism-deregulation