Avsnitt

  • It’s our 300th episode! To mark this milestone, we’ve gathered some of the most thoughtful and inspiring answers to one of our favorite questions: Why do you do this work? Plus, Nick and Goldy share what keeps them in the fight for a better economy. We're deeply grateful for the wisdom of our incredible guests and, most of all, for YOU—our listeners—who’ve supported us along the way. Here’s to many more conversations unpacking who gets what and why in our economy, and how to build the economy from the middle out. 

    Love what you’re hearing on the pod? Follow us on social media using the links below for updates and spicy takes on the economy! And if you haven’t already, make sure to follow the show so you never miss an episode. While you’re at it, give us a rating and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts—it helps us reach more people interested in rethinking or better understanding the economy and want to build a better future. Thanks for listening! 

    Guests Featured: 

    Jared Bernstein - Chair, White House Council of Economic Advisors

    Reshma Saujani - Founder, Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Moms

    Mark Blyth - Political Economist and author of Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation

    Rohit Chopra - Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

    Joseph Stiglitz (3-time guest) - Economist and author of The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society 

    Caitlin Myers - Professor of Economics at Middlebury College and Co-Director of the Middlebury Initiative for Data and Digital Methods.

    Kim Stanley Robinson - American Science Fiction writer and author of The Ministry for the Future

    Marshall Steinbaum (2-time guest) - Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Utah and a Senior Fellow in Higher Education Finance at Jain Family Institute.

    Elizabeth Anderson - Professor of Public Philosophy at the University of Michigan and author of Hijacked: How Neoliberalism Turned the Work Ethic against Workers and How Workers Can Take It Back

    Bharat Ramamurti - Former Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council

    Elizabeth Wilkins - Senior Fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project and former Director of the Office of Policy and Planning at the Federal Trade Commission

    Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
    Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
    Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
    Threads: pitchforkeconomics
    YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
    Substack: The Pitch

  • This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by MIT economist Anna Stansbury to discuss the troubling lack of socioeconomic diversity within the economics profession. Stansbury discusses her research from a paper she co-authored with Robert Schultz titled “The Economics Profession’s Socioeconomic Diversity Problem”, which reveals that a strikingly low percentage of economists come from less-advantaged backgrounds. They have a thoughtful discussion about how that lack of diversity affects the profession's ability to address issues of power, inequality, and social problems, and they highlight the need for more diverse perspectives in the profession to ensure a more inclusive and equitable approach to economic analysis. They also point out that diversifying the field is not just a matter of equity but is crucial for fostering innovative solutions to economic challenges.

    Anna Stansbury is an economist and Assistant Professor of Work and Organization Studies at MIT Sloan School of Management. She is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Her research primarily focuses on labor economics, with a particular emphasis on wage inequality, labor market power, and the dynamics of worker power within organizations. She recently co-authored a paper with Robert Schutls, “Socioeconomic Diversity of Economics Ph.Ds,” published by the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

    Twitter: @annastansbury

    Further reading: Socioeconomic Diversity of Economics PhDs

    Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
    Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
    Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
    Threads: pitchforkeconomics
    YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
    Substack: The Pitch

  • Saknas det avsnitt?

    Klicka här för att uppdatera flödet manuellt.

  • This week, Nick and Goldy talk to esteemed economist Colin Mayer, author of the book Capitalism and Crises: How to Fix Them, to explore the deep-seated issues plaguing modern capitalism, including rising inequality and environmental degradation. Mayer argues that the current profit-driven mindset of corporations often leads to societal harm, and he advocates for a paradigm shift towards a model where businesses profit by solving real human problems rather than creating them. Their conversation dissects the historical evolution of corporate responsibility, critiques neoliberal economics, and proposes solutions that redirect corporate focus toward societal benefit, and the urgent need for a more equitable economic structure that uplifts the middle class.

    Colin Mayer is a distinguished academic in the field of finance and economics. He is the Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. With a background in economics and finance, Mayer has conducted extensive research on corporate finance, governance, and the role of business in society. His work has been widely published in academic journals, and he is the author of several books, including "Capitalism and Crises." 

    Further reading: Capitalism and Crises: How to Fix Them

    Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
    Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
    Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
    Threads: pitchforkeconomics
    YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
    Substack: The Pitch

  • In the wake of the Democratic National Convention, Nick and Goldy take a close look at how middle-out economics has become the new center of the Democratic Party's economic policies, championing a new era of economic thinking that puts workers, families and taking on corporate power at the center, and breaking away from decades of top-down, trickle-down approaches. With echoes of President Joe Biden’s—and now former President Bill Clinton’s—call to build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, Vice President Harris is seizing the middle-out mantle by declaring that building the middle class will be a defining goal of her presidency because in her words, “When our middle class is strong, America is strong.” Join us as we discuss how invigorating it was to see the Democratic Party coalescing around the idea that their economic policies should benefit the vast majority of working people in order to grow the economy.

    Further reading:

    The New Kamala - The American Prospect 

    Kamala Harris and the New Democratic Economic Paradigm - The New Yorker

    Say It to My Face -The American Prospect 

    Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
    Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
    Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
    Threads: pitchforkeconomics
    YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
    Substack: The Pitch

  • Over ten years ago, activists and civic leaders ignited the Fight for $15, a movement that was once seen as radical—even Forbes labeled Nick's support for a $15 minimum wage as “near-insane.” Today, the movement's achievements are undeniable: Higher wages for millions of workers, increased union membership, reducing the racial wealth gap, and now raising the federal minimum wage to $15/ hr is one of the central issues in the 2024 presidential campaign, with two-thirds of voters in support. We thought it would be a good time to revisit this episode from 2023, where Yannet Lathrop and Dr. T. William Lester discuss their report from the National Economic Law Project examining the legacy of the movement and all it has accomplished over the last decade. 

    This episode originally aired on January 24, 2023.

    Yannet Lathrop is a Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst for the National Employment Law Project.

    Dr. T. William Lester is Professor and Acting Chair of Urban and Regional Planning at San José State University and Research Professor at UNC Chapel Hill.

    Twitter: @NELPnews

    Further reading:

    Ten-Year Legacy of the Fight for $15 and a Union Movement 

    Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
    Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
    Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
    Threads: pitchforkeconomics
    YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
    Substack: The Pitch

  • Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, joins Nick and Goldy to discuss his new book, "The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism." They explore the important-yet-fragile connection between capitalism and democracy, particularly in the context of rising inequality and political instability. Wolf articulates how the perceived success of democratic capitalism has begun to falter under the onslaught of economic policies favoring the wealthy and eroding the middle class. Ultimately, Wolf advocates for stronger social safety nets to ensure that democratic systems, as well as working and middle-class families, can thrive in an era dominated by economic upheaval.

    Martin Wolf is the chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, known for his incisive analyses and authoritative perspectives on global economics and policy. With a distinguished career spanning several decades, Wolf has shaped public discourse on economic matters through his insightful columns and books. His latest book, "The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism," details how and why the marriage between democracy and capitalism is coming undone and what can be done to reverse this terrifying dynamic.

    Twitter: @martinwolf_

    Further reading: The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

    Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
    Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
    Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
    Threads: pitchforkeconomics
    YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
    Substack: The Pitch

  • This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by Michael Graetz to discuss his new book, "The Power to Destroy: How the Anti-Tax Movement Hijacked America.” Graetz asserts that while the anti-tax movement is often overlooked, it has shaped policy by intertwining with issues of race and economic ideology, diverging from Keynesian economics in favor of neoliberal supply-side economics that results in extreme wealth accumulation at the top. He argues for major tax reforms, including a carbon tax and the implementation of a value-added tax, as potential solutions to creating a more equitable and sustainable tax code that would benefit the middle class. Their conversation also revisits the historical origins of the anti-tax movement in the United States and highlights how tax policy is not just shaped by economic theory— it’s also shaped by cultural and social differences.

    Michael Graetz is a professor emeritus at Columbia Law School and Yale Law School and a leading authority on tax politics and policy. He served in the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy and is the author and co-author of many books, including Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Fight over Taxing Inherited Wealth and The Burger Court and the Rise of the Judicial Right.

    Further reading: 

    The Power to Destroy: How the Antitax Movement Hijacked America

    The Graetz Competitive Tax Plan, Updated for 2022

    Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Fight over Taxing Inherited Wealth

    Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
    Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
    Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
    Threads: pitchforkeconomics
    YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
    Substack: The Pitch

  • It’s Paul and Goldy’s summer reading list! In this week’s special episode, Civic Ventures Senior Fellow David “Goldy” Goldstein and Civic Ventures Writer Paul Constant recommend some of the hottest new economic and political books for your beach reading pleasure. 

    We want to know what you’re reading, too. Leave us a comment on Instagram, Twitter, Threads or YouTube! 

    Remember to shop local and small when you can, or order from IndieBound or Bookshop.org—both of which support independent bookstores! All of these books are also likely available through your local library.

    Every book mentioned in this episode:
    In This Economy?: How Money & Markets Really Work - Kyla Scanlon

    End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration - Peter Turchin

    The Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism - Sebastian Edwards

    Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary - Timothy Snyder

    Growth: A History and a Reckoning - Daniel Susskind

    Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline - Darrell Bricker & John Ibbitson 

    A Fabulous Failure: The Clinton Presidency and the Transformation of American Capitalism - Nelson Lichtenstein & Judith Stein

    The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York - Robert A. Caro

    The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society - Joseph E. Stiglitz

    Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy - Teresa Ghilarducci

    New Nigeria County - Clare Brown

    Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens - David Mitchell

    Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
    Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
    Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
    Threads: pitchforkeconomics
    YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
    Substack: The Pitch

  • This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by Lindsay Owens, Executive Director of the Groundwork Collaborative, to discuss Groundwork’s recent reports on corporate profiteering and price gouging during and after the pandemic. Owens attributes the record increases in corporate profits in the last few years to growing corporate concentration and lack of competition. She argues that these two factors gave companies an unprecedented level of market power, and therefore pricing power, which allowed them to exploit the supply chain crisis caused by COVID to drastically raise prices. Owens stresses the need for policy interventions to promote competition, transparency, and fair pricing in the market to ensure a more competitive and consumer-friendly economy.

    Lindsay Owens is the Executive Director of the Groundwork Collaborative, known for her expertise in economic policymaking and her work on exposing corporate profiteering in price increases. She leads the organization's mission to create a more equitable economy, providing media commentary and advising policymakers such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal.

    Twitter: @owenslindsay1

    Further reading: 

    New Groundwork Report Finds Corporate Profits Driving More Than Half of Inflation

    Inflation Revelation: How Outsized Corporate Profits Drive Rising Costs

    Big Profits in Small Packages

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

  • This week Nick & Goldy are joined by Heather Boushey, Chief Economist for President Biden's Invest in America Cabinet, for a deep dive into the transformative economic policies of the Biden administration. Boushey discusses the paradigm shift towards a middle-out economic approach to crafting economic policy and the impact of legislation like the American Rescue Plan, CHIPS Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Inflation Reduction Act. Their conversation explores the importance of investing in infrastructure, clean energy, and manufacturing to drive growth and create good jobs. They also discuss the challenges of implementation, the success of the administration’s industrial policy, and its remarkable economic outcomes including record low Black unemployment, high new business applications, and equitable wage growth.

    Even though this episode was recorded before President Biden announced he was withdrawing from the presidential campaign and endorsing Vice President Harris, this wide-ranging conversation offers plenty of valuable insight into the past, present, and future of middle-out economics.

    Heather Boushey is a distinguished American economist who specializes in economic inequality and public policy. She serves on President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers and is the Chief Economist for the Invest in America Cabinet. Before joining the Biden Administration, she was the co-founder and President of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a research organization dedicated to advancing evidence-backed ideas and policies that promote economic growth and reduce inequality.

    Twitter: @HBoushey

    Further reading: 

    Invest.gov

    The Productivity–Pay Gap

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

  • Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz joins Nick and Goldy to talk about his new book, "The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society.” Stiglitz challenges the orthodox economic theories that have shaped our understanding of capitalism and argues for a new approach called progressive capitalism. Stiglitz also discusses the flaws of neoliberalism, popular misconceptions about freedom, and the widespread benefits of addressing issues like climate change and inequality. He shares insights on the need for a broader set of economic policies that prioritize the well-being of all people, not just the wealthy. Their discussion sheds light on the evolving landscape of economic thought and the hope for a more equitable and sustainable future.

    Joseph Stiglitz is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and the best-selling author of multiple books on economics. He was also chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton and chief economist of the World Bank. He now teaches at Columbia University and is chief economist of the Roosevelt Institute. His latest book, The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society, delves into the failures of the neoliberal economic model and presents a comprehensive critique of how "free" markets have led to various crises, including financial instability, inequality, and social unrest.

    Twitter: @JosephEStiglitz

    Further reading: 

    The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society

    More from Joseph Stiglitz: 

    People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent

    For Good Measure: An Agenda for Moving Beyond GDP

    Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump

    The Price of Inequality

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

  • This week, Nick and Goldy talk to Doyne Farmer, a renowned physicist and mathematician, to discuss his new book, "Making Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World." Farmer, who is a professor at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, challenges traditional orthodox economic frameworks by applying complex systems theory. Their conversation explores the limitations of mainstream economic models, the importance of incorporating uncertainty into economic thinking, and the potential for complexity economics to provide better guidance for policymakers in addressing pressing issues like climate change and inequality. It’s a thoughtful discussion that explores more effective approaches to understanding and managing complex economic systems.

    Doyne Farmer is a renowned physicist and mathematician who is currently a Professor at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the University of Oxford and the Director of the Complexity Economics program. He is also an author known for his groundbreaking work in the field of complex systems and chaos theory. His recent book, "Making Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World," delves into how chaos theory can be applied to understand and address the complexities of modern economic systems.

    Twitter: @doyne_farmer

    Further reading: 
    Making Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World

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

  • This week, Nick and Goldy talk to Katharina Pistor, a legal scholar and professor at Columbia Law School, about her book "The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality.” Pistor sheds light on how the law shapes the distribution of power and wealth in society. They explore the way that law's prioritization of capital has changed over time and its contribution to rising economic inequality within and between nations. Pistor also explains how we can reconfigure the legal playing field to address economic inequality.

    Katharina Pistor is a legal scholar and author known for her expertise in the fields of law and finance. She is currently the Edwin B. Parker Professor of Comparative Law at Columbia Law School, where she also serves as the Director of the Center on Global Legal Transformation. Pistor has published extensively on topics such as property rights, financial regulation, and the role of law in shaping economic systems.

    Her most recent book, "The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality," explores the ways in which legal systems around the world have been designed to benefit capital owners and perpetuate wealth inequality.

    Further reading: 

    The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality

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

  • This week, Goldy and Paul talk to Chandra Childers, a senior policy and economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute and author of their recent report on the Southern economic development model. Although the Southern economic development model is touted as a business-friendly strategy, it has devastating consequences for workers and families in Southern states. Childers explains how this economic model is rooted in racism and economic exploitation and has led to lower wages, weaker safety nets, and fewer opportunities for workers. They also discuss how some Southern states are bucking this trend and attempting to adopt more progressive policies, as well as the potential impact of renewed unionization efforts in the region.

    Chandra Childers is a senior policy and economic analyst with the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) at the Economic Policy Institute. Her work is primarily focused on supporting EARN’s state and local policy research and advocacy network in the Southern United States. Before joining the EARN team at EPI, Childers was a Study Director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

    Twitter: @ChandraChilders

    Further reading: 

    Breaking down the South’s economic underperformance

    The evolution of the Southern economic development strategy

    Rooted in racism and economic exploitation

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

  • This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by political scientist Brian Judge, author of "Democracy in Default: Finance and the Rise of Neoliberalism in America." They delve into the historical roots of our current democratic crisis, exploring the role of liberalism in depoliticizing distributive conflicts and paving the way for the rise of neoliberalism. Judge sheds light on the impact of neoliberal ideologies on American policymaking and how liberalism's attempts to manage distributive conflict through the market have shaped our economic and political landscape—which gave leaders the opportunity to use the economic slowdown of the 1970s to install neoliberal policies that enriched the wealthy few for decades. 

    Brian Judge is an author and policy fellow at the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence and the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is recognized for his recently published book, "Democracy in Default: Finance and the Rise of Neoliberalism in America," which delves into the intricate relationship between finance and politics in shaping the neoliberal economic landscape in the United States

    Twitter: @realbrianjudge

    Further reading: 

    Democracy in Default: Finance and the Rise of Neoliberalism in America

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

  • After decades of slow and cautious movement, the Federal Trade Commission has suddenly kicked into overdrive. You’ve likely seen headlines about the FTC challenging corporate mergers and monopolies, loosening Big Tech’s chokehold on our digital lives, and fighting power imbalances that favor big corporations over American consumers. Elizabeth Wilkins, former Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Policy and Planning at the FTC, joins Nick and Goldy to give a status update on the FTC's renewed focus on competition and broader antitrust enforcement, and to explain how the historical evolution of the agency has led to a lack of regulation and oversight in maintaining fair competition and consumer protection. 

    Elizabeth Wilkins is an expert in consumer protection and competition policy and a newly minted Senior Fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project. Previously, she was the Chief of Staff to the Chair and Director of the Office of Policy and Planning at the Federal Trade Commission. Before joining the FTC, Wilkins served as Senior Advisor to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. 

    Twitter: @ewwilkins

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

  • This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist David Leonhardt to discuss his latest book, Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream. They discuss the relationship between academic economics and the forces that sought to dismantle the mid-century consensus that promoted shared economic growth in the post-World War II era. Leonhardt shares anecdotes from his extensive research, highlighting what lessons from the past could guide us toward a more equitable future.

    David Leonhardt is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist for The New York Times, where he writes its flagship newsletter, “The Morning.” He has also been the newspaper’s Washington bureau chief, an op-ed columnist, a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, and the founding editor of “The Upshot.”

    Twitter: @DLeonhardt

    Further reading: 
    Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream
    New York Times: Why Are Republican Presidents So Bad for the Economy?
    The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics

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

  • This week, Nick and Goldy have a wide-ranging conversation with Jason Furman, who served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama. Furman brings a wealth of experience to the discussion, which covers America’s post-pandemic recovery, the global inflation crisis, and reviving industrial policy. He also provides insight into the overall impact of President Biden's policies on the broader economic landscape. 

    Jason Furman is a prominent economist who served as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama from 2013 to 2017. He is currently a Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Furman is known for his expertise in economic policy, particularly in the areas of tax policy, healthcare, and labor markets.

    Twitter: @jasonfurman

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

  • This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by Whitney Airgood-Obrycki from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University to discuss the urgent issue of housing affordability in the United States. Despite its status as the wealthiest country in the world, America is grappling with a housing crisis, marked by record-high levels of homelessness and a growing number of individuals spending between 30% to 50% or more of their income on rent. Together, they unpack the housing affordability crisis, discuss how it contributes to the perception of a struggling economy, and explore the innovative solutions local governments are proposing to address it.

    Whitney Airgood-Obrycki is a Senior Research Associate at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. She conducts research on affordable rental housing for low-income households and served as the project manager and lead author of their recent report on America’s Rental Housing. Dr. Airgood-Obrycki's latest research includes affordable housing policy, housing affordability measures, rental housing markets, and suburban neighborhood change.

    Twitter: @airbrycki, @Harvard_JCHS

    America’s Rental Housing 2024 
    Montgomery County has found a way to reinvigorate public housing in America
    What if public housing were for everyone?

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

  • This week, Nick and Goldy sit down with Rohit Chopra, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to explore the agency's efforts to lower financial costs for working Americans. From cracking down on credit card late fees to tackling medical debt on credit reports and regulating bank overdraft charges, Director Chopra sheds light on the CFPB's various initiatives to promote transparency and competition in financial products and services. Chopra argues that by advocating for consumer rights and protections, the CFPB is shaping a more equitable economic landscape for all Americans.

    UPDATE: This episode was recorded before yesterday’s breaking news that a Texas judge issued a last-minute order temporarily blocking the CFPB’s plan to cap credit card late fees. Find more information about the injunction, and the Chamber of Commerce’s case against the cap, here: https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/11/business/credit-card-late-fees-regulation-cfpb/index.html

    Rohit Chopra is the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency dedicated to protecting consumers in the financial marketplace. Prior to leading the CFPB, he served as a Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, where he focused on promoting fair competition and protecting consumers from deceptive practices.

    Twitter: @chopracfpb, @CFPB

    Further reading: 
    www.consumerfinance.gov 
    Submit a complaint about a financial product or service
    CFPB Bans Excessive Credit Card Late Fees, Lowers Typical Fee from $32 to $8

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