Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Every company you can think of has benefitted from a public investment. Whether it’s direct handouts through the tax code, government research efforts, or employee reliance on programs like EITC or TANF, taxpayers are subsidizing wildly profitable companies. David Dayen, the executive editor of The American Prospect, and Financial Times associate editor Rana Foroohar join Nick and Zach to explain how we let corporate parasites get so out of control—and what we can do about it. This episode was originally recorded and released in January 2020. Rana Foroohar is Global Business Columnist and an Associate Editor at the Financial Times. She is also CNN’s global economic analyst. She is the author of Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business and Don’t Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles and All of Us.Twitter: @RanaForooharDavid Dayen is the executive editor of The American Prospect. He is the author of Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power and Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud. Twitter: @ddayenConfronting the parasite economy: https://prospect.org/labor/confronting-parasite-economy/Makers and Takers: https://www.ranaforoohar.com/makersandtakersHow to Cure Corporate America’s Selfishness: https://newrepublic.com/article/150695/cure-corporate-americas-selfishnessWebsite: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

We know that the tax system is set up to advantage people with money. And we know that in the U.S., people with money are disproportionately white. But what many people don’t realize is that the tax system actively advantages white families. Tax law professor Dorothy Brown explains how racial inequality is baked into tax policy in non-obvious ways, and how that affects wealth-building. Dorothy A. Brown is professor of law at Emory University School of Law. She is a nationally recognized scholar in tax policy, race, and class and has published extensively on the racial implications of federal tax policy. She is the author of The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans — And How We Can Fix It. Twitter: @DorothyABrownThe Whiteness of Wealth: https://bookshop.org/books/the-whiteness-of-wealth-how-the-tax-system-impoverishes-black-americans-and-how-we-can-fix-it/9780525577324 Black families pay significantly higher property taxes than white families, new analysis shows: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/02/black-property-tax/ Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

The opioid crisis in the United States is a textbook example of free market economics. The powerful lie, manipulate, and skirt regulations to make buckets of money, while innocent people suffer. Journalist Sam Quinones joins Goldy and Paul to unpack the economics behind the opioid crisis, and the new threat of synthetic opioids like fentanyl.Sam Quinones is a journalist best known for his reporting in Mexico and on Mexicans in the United States. He is the author of the award-winning Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic. His new book, The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth, is out today.Twitter: @samquinones7The Least of Us: https://bookshop.org/books/the-least-of-us-true-tales-of-america-and-hope-in-the-time-of-fentanyl-and-meth/9781635574357What did the Sacklers know? https://newrepublic.com/article/162148/sacklers-know-patrick-radden-keefe-purdue-opioid-crisis-review The 'Secret History' Of The Sackler Family & The Opioid Crisis: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/987195464/the-secret-history-of-the-sackler-family-the-opioid-crisis State-Level Economic Costs of Opioid Use Disorder and Fatal Opioid Overdose: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7015a1.htm Massive Costs of the US Opioid Epidemic in Lives and Dollars: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2780313 Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Behind every aspect of the voting system that makes it harder to vote, there’s a policy that made it that way. Andrea Hailey, the CEO of Vote.org, joins Nick and Goldy to explain how voter suppression happens, and what reforms would help ensure a truly inclusive democracy.Andrea Hailey is the CEO of Vote.org, the nation’s largest nonpartisan digital voter engagement organization. Twitter: @AndreaEHaileyVote.org: https://www.vote.org/  Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

It’s been a little over a month since the unemployment benefits programs that were established by the CARES Act expired, so we’re taking a look at how well they worked. Washington Post writer Amy Goldstein and Elliott Morris, a data journalist at The Economist, deliver the facts to Jessyn and Paul. Amy Goldstein is a staff writer at The Washington Post, where much of her work has focused on social policy. She is the author of Janesville: An American Story. Twitter: @goldsteinamyElliott Morris is a data journalist at The Economist. Twitter: @gelliottmorrisFurther reading:Poverty fell overall in 2020 as result of massive stimulus checks and unemployment aid, Census Bureau says: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/09/14/us-census-poverty-health-insurance-2020/ Welfare rolls decline during the pandemic despite economic upheaval: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/08/01/welfare-roles-during-the-pandemic/Why now is the time to fix the UI system: https://www.epi.org/publication/introduction-why-now-is-the-time-to-fix-the-ui-system/ The racial disparity in unemployment benefits: https://www.rand.org/blog/2020/07/the-racial-disparity-in-unemployment-benefits.html Unpacking Inequities in Unemployment Insurance: https://www.newamerica.org/pit/reports/unpacking-inequities-unemployment-insurance/introduction/ Ending pandemic unemployment aid has not yielded extra jobs—yet: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/08/28/ending-pandemic-unemployment-aid-has-not-yielded-extra-jobs-yet  Janesville: An American Story: https://bookshop.org/books/janesville-an-american-story-9781508283966/9781501102264 Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Anti-monopoly and pro-local advocate Stacy Mitchell joins the show to talk about small business, big business, and decentralizing economic power. Stacy Mitchell is the co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. She directs ILSR’s Independent Business Initiative, which produces research and analysis and partners with a broad range of allies to design and implement policies to reverse corporate concentration and strengthen local enterprise. Twitter: @stacyfmitchellFurther reading: Small Business Rising: https://www.smallbusinessrising.net/Institute for Local Self-Reliance: https://ilsr.org/ Senate Testimony: Concentration is at the Root of Rural Distress: https://ilsr.org/stacy-mitchells-senate-testimony-on-state-of-rural-economy/ As Amazon rises, so does the opposition: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/technology/athena-mitchell-amazon.html Why the left should ally with small business: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/democrats-labor-business-monopoly/ Report: Amazon’s stranglehold: How the company’s tightening grip on the economy is stifling competition, eroding jobs, and threatening communities: https://ilsr.org/amazon-stranglehold/ Don’t let Amazon get any bigger: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/opinion/amazon-antitrust.html Amazon doesn’t just want to dominate the market - it wants to become the market: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/amazon-doesnt-just-want-to-dominate-the-market-it-wants-to-become-the-market/ The rise and fall of the word ‘monopoly’ in American life: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/06/word-monopoly-antitrust/530169/ Big box swindle: https://stacymitchell.com/front-page/ Voters want to curb the influence of big tech companies: https://www.wsj.com/articles/voters-want-to-curb-the-influence-of-big-tech-companies-new-poll-shows-11632405601  Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Few books have shaken the philanthropy world more than ‘Winners Take All’, Anand Giridharadas’s blistering critique of wealthy do-gooders. Global elites who ostentatiously give away hundreds of millions of dollars, he argues, are actually just preserving the status quo that grants them power in the first place. On this episode, originally recorded and released in October 2019, Anand joins Nick and Goldy to explain how do-gooding can perpetuate inequality. Anand Giridharadas is a writer. His most recent book, ‘Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World,’ is a national bestseller. He is an editor-at-large for TIME, an on-air political analyst for MSNBC, and a visiting scholar at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. Twitter: @AnandWritesFurther reading: Winners Take All: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/539747/winners-take-all-by-anand-giridharadas/9780451493248Beware Rich People Who Say They Want to Change the World: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/opinion/sunday/wealth-philanthropy-fake-change.html Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Who are the winners and losers in our skill development system? How can we move the onus of skill further into the purview of employers and away from our education system? UNC Professor Nichola Lowe talks to Goldy about the future of “skill” as we know it in the economy, and what’s at stake if we get it wrong. Nichola Lowe is a professor in City and Regional Planning at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her work focuses on the institutional arrangements that lead to more inclusive forms of urban and regional economic development. Twitter: @lowe_nicholaPutting Skill to Work: How to Create Good Jobs in Uncertain Times: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/putting-skill-work  Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Contrary to popular belief, Nordic countries aren’t actually socialist! No, friends, the Nords are capitalists—but they pull it off much better than we do. To help re-imagine American capitalism, writers Anu Partanen and Trevor Corson join us this week all the way from Finland. This episode was originally recorded and posted in February 2020.Anu Partanen is a journalist and the author of The Nordic Theory of Everything. The book debunks some of the most common myths about Nordic societies and discusses what the United States might be able to borrow from aspects of Nordic success in the twenty-first century. She has written for The New York Times and The Atlantic.Twitter: @anupartanenTrevor Corson is an award-winning author and editor. His articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and many more. Twitter: @TrevorCorsonFurther reading: The Nordic Theory of Everything: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062316547Finland Is a Capitalist Paradise: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/07/opinion/sunday/finland-socialism-capitalism.htmlWhat Americans Don’t Get About Nordic Countries: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/bernie-sanders-nordic-countries/473385/Capitalism Redefined: https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/31/capitalism-redefined/Safe, happy and free: does Finland have all the answers? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/safe-happy-and-free-does-finland-have-all-the-answersWebsite: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Right-to-work laws, which make unionizing more difficult in 28 states, could more accurately be referred to as right-to-work… for less. Why? On average, worker pay drops 3.1% when right-to-work laws are passed. Shane Larson from CWA, the largest communications and media labor union in the U.S., joins Goldy to explain why right-to-work laws are so harmful, how they came to be, and why it’s so important to pass the PRO Act to fight for workers’ rights.  Shane Larson is the Senior Director for Government Affairs and Policy for the Communications Workers of America. Twitter: @ShaneLarsonCWA @CWAUnionhttps://www.epi.org/publication/so-called-right-to-work-is-wrong-for-montana/ https://aflcio.org/issues/right-work https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/04/24/the-right-to-work-really-means-the-right-to-work-for-less/ Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/Twitter: @PitchforkEconInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsNick’s twitter: @NickHanauer