Optimist Economy
Kathryn Anne Edwards and Robin Rauzi
Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and co-host editor Robin Rauzi talk about the fundamentals of the U.S. economy and how to build a better future one problem and solution at a time. Our premise is that the United States has remarkable economy — and yet for tens of millions of Americans it is not performing up to its potential. It could be more open to aspiring workers, less hostile to change, safer for workers, less risky for retirees, and so on.✨ Support the podcast at: optimisteconomy.com ✨Ask questions or share your economic worries with us at: optimist.economy@gmail.com
Episodes
Mentioned books
10 snips
Mar 24, 2026 • 42min
Corporate Profits Are Up. Their Tax Bill Should Be Too.
A lively dive into how 2017 tax changes shrank corporate tax bills while after-tax profits hit historic highs. They explore who actually pays corporate taxes and whether higher rates would chase companies away. Research on tax incentives, relocation claims, and the big dollar gap between corporate gains and workers' share gets spotlighted.
10 snips
Mar 17, 2026 • 51min
If AI Gets Hired, America Can Handle It
A conversation about how AI-driven job changes mirror past tech shifts and take years to reshape the workforce. A case for rebuilding unemployment systems to triage short-term jobseekers and people needing career pivots. Discussion of training limits, the need for health coverage and apprenticeships, and which sectors will still need workers. Practical policy ideas to reduce stigma and support transitions.
Mar 10, 2026 • 50min
Boomers Didn’t Ruin Everything. Really.
They question the narrative that baby boomers alone caused today’s economic problems. They unpack how generational labels are made and misused. They explore who actually benefits from blaming a whole generation. They highlight racial and income differences within the boomer cohort and why perceived wealth can be misleading.
10 snips
Mar 3, 2026 • 49min
Can $1,000 at Birth Make Us a Country of Savers?
A deep dive into newly created $1,000 child investment accounts and how they work. A history of asset-building ideas and experiments that shaped the policy. Evidence from state pilots showing automatic enrollment drives participation. Debates about who benefits, contribution rules, and ways to design the program for equity and long-term savings culture.
11 snips
Feb 24, 2026 • 58min
Social Security Upgrades for Retirement's Realities
They pitch four big upgrades to Social Security: caregiver credits that count per year, temporary partial claiming for people still working, a sliding full-retirement age tied to years worked, and a tax on companies that overuse 1099 contractors. They also discuss why adjusting Social Security now matters and how these changes could reshape retirement paths and worker protections.
22 snips
Feb 17, 2026 • 53min
What The Actual Fed.
They walk through why the Federal Reserve is suddenly front-page news, including leadership fights and legal challenges. They explain how the Fed was created to stop bank panics and what tools like the discount window and Fed Notes actually do. They trace major shifts from Glass-Steagall to quantitative easing and conclude with recent pandemic-era policy, inflation responses, and political pressure on central-bank independence.
10 snips
Feb 10, 2026 • 45min
We Don't Have a Housing Shortage. We Have a Paycheck Shortage.
A fast-paced discussion about whether housing unaffordability is really about paychecks, not a unit shortage. They question supply-only fixes and critique 50-year mortgages and deregulation as bandaids. The conversation highlights wage stagnation, mismatches between built housing and workers’ earnings, and why government intervention and higher wages matter for affordability.
21 snips
Feb 3, 2026 • 48min
Affordability vs. the Poverty Line
They debate a viral claim that a family needs $140,000 to get by and why that number stirred controversy. They explain how official poverty measures were created and why those rules miss today’s affordability crisis. They explore benefit phase-outs, administrative hurdles, and how rising costs squeeze many households beyond the traditional poverty line.
Jan 27, 2026 • 49min
$79 Trillion Worth of Income Inequality
They unpack the $79 trillion claim and where that striking headline came from. They walk through measurement choices like top-coding, IRS data, and the GDP counterfactual. The conversation covers who lost the most income by race, education, gender, and location. They end on why inequality climbed recently and how clearer diagnosis opens paths to policy solutions.
Jan 20, 2026 • 55sec
We're Back with a Backlog of Optimism
Hey optimists! Season two of Optimist Economy is finally here. New episodes coming on Tuesdays starting January 27. More at www.optimisteconomy.com
