Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

We're bringing you something new from the Pitchfork universe!

Today, we're sharing the debut episode of Pitchfork Politics, a new podcast hosted by Civic Ventures President Zach Silk and Middle Out Center Executive Director Richard Trent, exploring how to run and win on the economy.

In this first episode, Zach and Richard ask a question that could reshape how we think about American elections: Who are the new swing voters?

Today's most politically volatile voters are increasingly working-class Americans who want to know whether their paychecks can keep up with the cost of living.

From Alaska and Texas to Kansas and Maine, Zach and Richard explore what decades of political realignment can tell us about the coming election, why economic dissatisfaction keeps reshaping the electorate, and what it takes to turn electoral victories into lasting political power.

Enjoy this special preview, and be sure to follow Pitchfork Politics wherever you get your podcasts for more conversations about the economic ideas, messages, and campaigns shaping American politics.

You got a raise. So why does it feel like you’re still struggling?

New research finds that rising debt payments have swallowed more than half of real income gains for a typical one-earner household since late 2022. Angela Hanks of The Century Foundation joins Goldy and Paul to explain how debt is deepening America's affordability crisis, trapping workers in bad jobs, and weakening their bargaining power. And why fixing the problem requires more than just getting people out of debt.

Angela Hanks is Chief of Policy Programs at The Century Foundation and a coauthor of the report: Half of Every Dollar: How Household Debt Eats Into Workers’ Income Gains.

Social Media:

@angelanhanks.bsky.social

@AngelaHanks

@TCFdotorg

@tcfdotorg.bsky.social

Further reading:

Half of Every Dollar: How Household Debt Eats Into Workers’ Income Gains

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

Sam Vimes ‘Boots’ Theory of Socio-Economic Unfairness

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What happens to democracy when people can no longer afford the basics of everyday life?

Economist Isabella Weber argues that the affordability crisis isn't just an economic problem—it's a threat to democracy itself. Drawing on her new book, Anti-Fascist Economics, she joins Nick and Goldy to explore how inflation, austerity, and corporate profiteering fuel the rise of the far right, and why protecting democracy requires more than defending its institutions. From housing and groceries to energy and healthcare, Weber makes the case for an economy that puts people's livelihoods, dignity, and democratic power ahead of corporate profits.

Isabella Weber is an associate professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and founding director of Essential Economics. Her research focuses on inflation, corporate pricing power, and economic policy. She is the author of Anti-Fascist Economics: In Defense of Affordability, Dignity, and Democracy and How China Escaped Shock Therapy.

Social Media:

@isabellamweber.bsky.social

@isabella_m_weber

@IsabellaMWeber

www.isabellaweber.com

Further reading:

Anti-Fascist Economics: In Defense of Affordability, Dignity, and Democracy

Best of Times, Worst of Times: Record Fossil-Fuel Profits, Inflation and Inequality

How China Escaped Shock Therapy

The Wall Street Journal - America Made Me Very Rich. There's a Pro-Market Way to Give Back.

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Facebook: Pitchfork Economics Podcast

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LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer

Substack: The Pitch

Nick’s Substack: NickHanauer.Substack.com

Housing is still ridiculously expensive, and building more housing is absolutely part of the solution. But supply alone won’t fix a system where landlords have the power to jack up rents with the assistance of algorithms, and developers make more money building for the wealthiest in the market, rather than building homes a typical family can afford.

In this 2024 conversation, Brian Callaci and Sandeep Vaheesan join Nick and Goldy to explain why America’s housing crisis is about more than a shortage of homes. They dig into landlord power, RealPage and algorithmic rent-setting, tenant protections, rent stabilization, and why relying on private developers alone won’t produce enough housing that working- and middle-class families can actually afford.

They also make the case for a bigger public role in housing—including social housing and other public options that can create affordable homes without requiring every project to maximize private returns.

This episode originally aired December 10, 2024.

Brian Callaci is the Campaigns Director at the Strategic Organizing Center and the former chief economist at the Open Markets Institute. He is also the author of Chains of Command: The Rise and Cruel Reign of the Franchise Economy.

Sandeep Vaheesan is Legal Director at the Open Markets Institute, where he leads the organization’s legal advocacy and research, including its amicus program. His work focuses on antitrust, monopoly power, labor markets, and fair competition.

Further reading:

“The Market Alone Can’t Fix the U.S. Housing Crisis”

“Deconstructing Housing”

“Supply and the Housing Crisis: A Debate”

U.S. v. RealPage

Social Media:

@briancallaci.bsky.social

@brian_callaci

@sandeepvaheesan

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com

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Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer

Substack: The Pitch

Nick’s Substack: NickHanauer.Substack.com

Industrial policy is back at the center of the economic debate. But tariffs, factories, and reshoring are only part of the story. In this 2023 conversation, development economist Isabel Estevez joins Nick and Goldy to argue that industrial policy is ultimately about choices: what we produce, how we produce it, and who benefits. She explains why a smart industrial strategy has to look beyond manufacturing output to workers, communities, climate, public investment, and the broader public good.

Because the real debate isn’t whether the government shapes markets. It already does. The question is what—and who—we’re shaping them for.

This episode originally aired August 1, 2023.

Isabel Estevez is an institutional and development economist and Co-Executive Director of i3T—Industry, Infrastructures and Innovation for Strategic Transformation. She previously served as Deputy Director of Industrial Policy and Trade at the Roosevelt Institute and as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Sierra Club.

Further reading:

Using Industrial Policy for Productive Transformation: Three Lessons from Development Economics for US Industrial Strategy

How Can (Green) Industrial Policy Serve Human and Natural Flourishing?

Global Green Industrial Policy: Navigating Power Dynamics for a Pro-Working-Class, Pro-Development Green Transformation

The New Economics of Industrial Policy

Social Media:

@isabel_estevez_

isaestevez.com

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com

Facebook: Pitchfork Economics Podcast

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Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer

Substack: The Pitch

Nick’s Substack: NickHanauer.Substack.com