Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer Civic Ventures

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.com

Twitter: @delong

Slouching Towards Utopia https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/j-bradford-delong/slouching-towards-utopia/9780465019595

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Nick’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: @rickmcgahey

Unequal Cities http://cup.columbia.edu/book/unequal-cities/9780231173346

Redefining Rural America https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/redefining-rural-america-with-olugbenga-ajilore/  

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Nick’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: @hshierholz

The 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.com
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Nick’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: @RWartzman

Still Broke https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/rick-wartzman/still-broke/9781549156250

Walmart 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.com
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Nick’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: @CoryBooker

The 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/385259

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

In July 2021, President Biden signed an executive order directing government agencies to rewrite policies to encourage competition in the U.S. economy. Returning guest David Dayen has compiled 18 months’ worth of actions resulting from this order. After more than four decades of unrestrained corporate power, Dayen explains, competition is finally returning to the economy—and that’s good news for everyone.

David Dayen is the executive editor of The American Prospect. His work has appeared in The Intercept, The New Republic, HuffPost, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and more. His most recent book is ‘Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power.’

Twitter: @ddayen

A Pitched Battle on Corporate Power https://prospect.org/economy/2023-01-25-pitched-battle-corporate-power 

The Transformation at the Heart of Biden’s Middle-Out Economic Agenda https://prospect.org/economy/2023-02-09-biden-middle-out-agenda 

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer