Episodes

  • How Big Oil Rigged the System and Stuck You With the Bill (with Faiz Shakir)

    How Big Oil Rigged the System and Stuck You With the Bill (with Faiz Shakir)
    Nov 19 2024
    This week, Nick And Goldy are joined by Faiz Shakir, Executive Director of A More Perfect Union, to discuss the shocking revelation of an international oil price-fixing conspiracy. Their conversation explores how the collusion between American oil companies and the foreign nations that make up OPEC significantly contributed to inflation, costing American families between $500 and $1,000 annually. Shakir explains how the Federal Trade Commission uncovered this conspiracy and highlights the urgent need for increased regulatory oversight and harsher penalties to protect consumers from corporate malpractice. Faiz Shakir is the Executive Director of the nonprofit education, advocacy, and journalism organization, More Perfect Union, and former campaign manager of Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Presidential Campaign. Prior to his work with Senator Sanders, Shakir held various leadership positions within the Democratic Party and progressive organizations, working to advance social and economic justice issues. Social Media: @faiz.bsky.social @fshakir @perfectunion @moreperfectunion.bsky.social @MorePerfectUS Further reading: An Oil Price-Fixing Conspiracy Caused 27% of All Inflation Increases in 2021 A 2024 Timeline of Big Oil Greed House Democrats investigate whether Big Oil colluded with OPEC to inflate gas prices The Truth Behind the Latest Oil Price-Fixing Scandal Gas Price Fixing Scandal Grows as Another US Oil Exec 'Caught Colluding With OPEC' Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Substack: The Pitch
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    37 mins
  • The Guarantee (with Natalie Foster)

    The Guarantee (with Natalie Foster)
    Nov 12 2024
    This week, Natalie Foster, co-founder of the Economic Security Project, joins Nick and Goldy to discuss her book The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America's Next Economy. Foster argues that as the world’s wealthiest nation, the U.S. can ensure a basic economic floor for all by guaranteeing essentials like housing, healthcare, higher education, family care, good jobs, and income, regardless of race, religion, or location. Foster explains how giving people money might just be the key to growing the economy for everyone. Their wide-ranging conversation covers topics including the wealth gap, housing affordability, baby bonds, and the political dynamics surrounding guarantee programs. Natalie Foster is the president and co-founder of the Economic Security Project and author of the book The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy. Natalie previously founded the sharing economy community Peers, and co-founded Rebuild the Dream, and served as Digital Director for President Obama’s Organizing for America. Twitter: @nataliefoster Further reading: The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics Substack: The Pitch
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    39 mins
  • Revisiting How to Stand Up for Voting Rights (with Andrea Hailey)

    Revisiting How to Stand Up for Voting Rights (with Andrea Hailey)
    Nov 5 2024
    Voting is the cornerstone of a functioning democracy, yet access to the ballot is increasingly under threat in America. No matter who wins the Presidential race, it should be a priority to strengthen and expand accessible and secure voting. This election day, we’re revisiting a conversation we had in 2021 with Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org, where we unpack the ongoing fight for voting rights and discuss how restrictive policies disproportionately impact marginalized communities. Hailey shares insights into the tools and strategies we can all use to ensure that every American has an equal voice at the polls. She also explains why voting access matters more than ever and how we can stand up for democracy by defending the right to vote. This episode originally aired on October 21, 2021. Andrea Hailey is the CEO of Vote.org, the nation’s largest nonpartisan digital voter engagement organization. Twitter: @votedotorg See what’s on your ballot Sign up to get election reminders Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics Substack: The Pitch
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    35 mins
  • Project 2025 is All Trick, No Treat (with Peggy Bailey)

    Project 2025 is All Trick, No Treat (with Peggy Bailey)
    Oct 29 2024
    As Election Day approaches, Peggy Bailey from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities joins Paul and Goldy to discuss the devastating potential effects of the House Republican agenda and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. The proposals, supported by candidates who will be on your ballot this November, include a wholesale dismantling of federal government programs, cutting benefits, shifting costs to states, and penalizing working families in order to slash taxes for the rich. Bailey reveals the massive economic disinvestment and inherent racism and discrimination in the trickle-down agenda of Project 2025 and the House Republican agenda, even as she emphasizes the need for the federal government to revitalize the economy from the bottom up with investments in those who have been marginalized. Peggy Bailey is the Executive Vice President of Policy and Program Development at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She previously served in the Biden-Harris Administration as the Senior Advisor on Rental Assistance to HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. She also served as the Director of Health and Housing Integration for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, where she focused on Medicaid expansion and finding sustainable funding sources for the services that people with histories of homelessness and chronic health conditions need to maintain their housing. Twitter: @PeggyBaileyDC @CenterOnBudget Further reading: Report from the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities: House Republican Agendas and Project 2025 Would Increase Poverty and Hardship, Drive Up the Uninsured Rate, and Disinvest From People, Communities, and the Economy Stop Project 2025 Comic Book Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics Substack: The Pitch
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    41 mins
  • Acemoglu on Automation: The Nobel Laureate Vs. the Robots (with Daron Acemoglu)

    Acemoglu on Automation: The Nobel Laureate Vs. the Robots (with Daron Acemoglu)
    Oct 22 2024
    Since Daron Acemoglu just won the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences alongside MIT Sloan professor Simon Johnson and University of Chicago professor James Robinson, we’re revisiting this powerful episode featuring Acemoglu’s insights from 2023. In his groundbreaking book Power and Progress, Acemoglu exposes how the elite have weaponized technology to tighten their grip on wealth and influence, and explains how we can ensure that technological progress works for everyone, not just the wealthy few. This episode originally aired on August 22, 2023. Daron Acemoglu is the Institute Professor of Economics at MIT, the university’s highest faculty honor, and a 2024 Nobel laureate. For the last twenty-five years, he has been researching the historical origins of prosperity, poverty, and the effects of new technologies on economic growth, employment, and inequality. He is an author (with James Robinson) of The Narrow Corridor and the New York Times bestseller Why Nations Fail. Twitter: @NarrowCorridor Further reading: Trio of professors win Nobel economics prize for work on post-colonial wealth Democracy is in a ‘tough stretch.’ New Nobel winners explain how to strengthen it Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics Substack: The Pitch
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    54 mins
  • Stop the Steal: Revisiting Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America (with Brendan Ballou)

    Stop the Steal: Revisiting Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America (with Brendan Ballou)
    Oct 15 2024
    Private equity is looting America by exploiting vulnerable companies and extracting profits at the expense of workers, communities, and the broader economy. They've been buying up companies in every industry in the U.S. Economy and stripping them for parts. These massive firms have vast holdings across critical industries essential to the health and well-being of everyday people. Some recent examples include private equity's role in education, utilities, housing, and even in the healthcare sector, which led to the closure of hospitals and nursing homes, endangering public health. We thought it would be a good time to revisit this episode from 2023 with Brendan Ballou, a federal prosecutor and the author of Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America. In this episode, he explains how we can stop private equity’s plan to pillage America. This episode originally aired on July 25, 2023. Brendan Ballou is a federal prosecutor and served as Special Counsel for Private Equity in the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. Previously, he worked in private practice, and before that, in the National Security Division of the Justice Department, where he advised the White House on counterterrorism and other policies. Twitter: @brendanballou Further reading: Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America The Guardian - Slash and burn: is private equity out of control? Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics Substack: The Pitch
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    34 mins
  • Sometimes You Just Have to Ignore the Economists (with Zephyr Teachout)

    Sometimes You Just Have to Ignore the Economists (with Zephyr Teachout)
    Oct 8 2024
    This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout, who explains the urgent need for federal action on corporate price-gouging. Professor Teachout identifies misconceptions about price controls and highlights the failure of mainstream economists to recognize that price-gouging is a common practice, especially in light of skyrocketing corporate profit margins during the pandemic. Their conversation also unpacks the need for stronger antitrust enforcement, decreased market concentration, and more regulations aimed at protecting consumers in times of crisis. Zephyr Teachout is a Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, where she focuses on the intersection of corporate and political power. She is also the author of multiple books, including Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United and Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money. Twitter: @ZephyrTeachout Further reading: The Atlantic - Sometimes You Just Have to Ignore the Economists More Perfect Union - Why Are Diaper Prices Up 184 Percent? Two Corporations are Preying on Parents The New Republic - A Very Good Sign: Kamala Harris Is Going Right at Corporate Greed Find out if your state has a price gouging law here: NCSL Price Gouging State Statutes Books By Professor Teachout: Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics Substack: The Pitch
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    43 mins
  • Coming of Age in American Poverty (with Nikhil Goyal)

    Coming of Age in American Poverty (with Nikhil Goyal)
    Oct 1 2024
    This week, Nick and Goldy welcome sociologist Nikhil Goyal to discuss his new book, Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty, which highlights the deep-rooted effects of generational poverty in America by focusing on the experiences of three young people in Kensington, Philadelphia. Their stories illustrate how systemic inequality and poor economic policies perpetuate a cycle of despair and intergenerational poverty. Goyal explains the limitations of traditional anti-poverty solutions like promoting higher educational attainment. Instead, he spotlights the need for direct cash transfers, robust public goods, and a public option for programs like healthcare, affordable housing, or even publicly owned grocery stores that directly address the causes of poverty. Nikhil Goyal is a sociologist and former senior policy advisor on education and children for Senator Bernie Sanders on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Committee on the Budget. He also developed a tuition-free college program for incarcerated people and correctional workers in Vermont. He is the author of the book LIVE TO SEE THE DAY: Coming of Age in American Poverty. Twitter: @drgoyalnikhil Further reading: LIVE TO SEE THE DAY: Coming of Age in American Poverty Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics Substack: The Pitch
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    39 mins