Optimist Economy
PodcastGouvernementAnglais

Optimist Economy

par Kathryn Anne Edwards and Robin Rauzi

NouveauAmericans Feel Awful About the Economy20 octobre 2026 · 48 min
Épisodes
69
Parution
hebdomadaire
Dernier épisode
20 Oct 2026
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À propos du podcast

Optimist Economy is the anti-doomscroll economics podcast. Work rules, tax fairness, healthcare, housing costs, retirement security — the economic forces shaping American life have real problems. But also real solutions. Each week, economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and editor Robin Rauzi break down one problem and solution with data, history, humor, and a belief that tools to build a better economy exist. We just haven't tried them. New episodes on Tuesdays.

✨ Support the podcast at: optimisteconomy.com ✨

Ask questions or share your economic worries with us at: [email protected]

Épisodes 69

  1. Americans Feel Awful About the Economy

    48 minSaison 2 · Épisode 30

    The Consumer Sentiment Index has tracked how Americans experience the U.S. economy through bouts of runaway inflation, a mortgage crisis, stock market bubbles, and six recessions. And yet the scores right now …

    Notes de l’épisode

    The Consumer Sentiment Index has tracked how Americans experience the U.S. economy through bouts of runaway inflation, a mortgage crisis, stock market bubbles, and six recessions. And yet the scores right now are lower than at any of those moments. After nearly 50 years of tracking by the University of Michigan, Consumer Sentiment has broken through the basement. Beneath the five index questions are some clues as to why: Since 2008, the number of people who say the government is doing a poor job has grown from about a third to about three-quarters. This dissatisfaction has been a slow burn — and it’s also evidence that Americans are ready for bold, non-incremental economic change.


    0:00 — Opening

    6:25 — Retcon: Vacation Days & Moral Hazard in Healthcare

    11:18 — Terms & Conditions: Likert Scale

    14:24 — The Big Pilcrow: What’s Consumer Sentiment Telling Us?

    17:20 — Record Lows: Sentiment Breaks From the Other Economic Metrics

    20:54 — The Five Index Questions: Take Consumer Sentiment Survey Yourself!

    26:55 — How’s the Government Doing Managing the Economy? Survey says…Poor

    29:39 — It's the Economy, Stupid

    31:16 — Partisanship Cancels Itself Out

    33:11 — Why This Isn't the Same as What Happened to Biden

    35:25 — Who Does Feel Good?

    36:07 — Low Sentiment Deserves Big Policy

    38:07 — Executive Orders: Hold the reservation. Too many eggs.

    41:52 — Spiritual Sponsors: So, so many

    47:17 — Credits


  2. The U.S. is in the Hole. Will We Stop Digging?

    52 min

    (Originally aired June 10, 2025) The national debt is $36 trillion. That could be a panic-inducing big number. So maybe it will help to understand how we ran up that debt. We've blown 37% of it on tax cuts …

    Notes de l’épisode

    (Originally aired June 10, 2025) The national debt is $36 trillion. That could be a panic-inducing big number. So maybe it will help to understand how we ran up that debt. We've blown 37% of it on tax cuts, with precious little to show for that. But 28% went to stabilize the economy during two major crises (in ‘08-’09 and during the COVID pandemic), which is when you do want the federal government to pull out its credit card. Good news is we don’t have to get the debt to zero. We just need to get it moving in that direction. And for listeners waiting for MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) to make a cameo, that moment has arrived.

    Support Optimist Economy by becoming a paid Substack subscriber here, or by making a contribution at https://buymeacoffee.com/optimisteconomy

    Complete show notes with links to articles and data at optimisteconomy.com.

    You can also find Optimist Economy on:

    Read more:

  3. Occupy! An Unfinished Uprising: The Invitation (Ep. 1)

    38 min

    Optimist Economy is on break this month, but we know that optimist listeners are interested in tales of economic history, issues of inequality and movements for change. So we thought some of you might enjoy …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Optimist Economy is on break this month, but we know that optimist listeners are interested in tales of economic history, issues of inequality and movements for change. So we thought some of you might enjoy "Occupy!" a six-part narrative series about Occupy Wall Street, the 2011 protest village that lasted nearly two months and turned a spotlight on systemic economic inequality in the U.S.

    ---

    EPISODE 1: An Invitation

    In 2011, a handful of skeptical New Yorkers answer a call to Occupy Wall Street. What they find feels less like a protest and more like a glimpse of a different world—one where people openly share stories of debt, hardship, and frustration. They start to build an anti-capitalist village in a tiny Manhattan park — under the watchful eyes of police. This is the first episode of Future Hindsight’s brand new 6-part series, OCCUPY! An Unfinished Uprising. Subscribe to Future Hindsight wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss a single episode!

    Want to dive deeper? Listen to these episodes of Future Hindsight:

    • For a conversation on activism with a co-founder of Occupy Wall Street, tune in to this episode with Micah White: https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/episode/micah-white
    • For a recap of how American capitalism evolved into what it is today, listen to this episode with Kurt Andersen: https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/episode/americas-evil-geniuses-kurt-andersen
    • On solidarity and mutual aid, listen to this conversation with Manuel Pastor: https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/episode/solidarity-and-mutuality-manuel-pastor

    Credits:

    • Host / Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
    • Producer / Writer: Maria Luisa Tucker
    • Audio Producer: Zack Travis
    • Additional production help: Mia Warren, Erika Gjada, Megan Detrie, Lizzie Jacobs, and Ilya Magazanin
    • Archival research: Marisa Holmes
    • Archival material courtesy of: Occupy Wall Street Media Working Group.
    • Original music: Rude Mechanical Orchestra and Puge Ruhe

    Special thanks to T.J. Raphael, Lauren Passell, Arielle Nissenblatt, and Kate Blumenfeld for being our first listeners and sounding boards, and to Tom Koenig for his support.

    Distributed by PRX.

  4. Stop Donating Your Vacation Days to Your Boss

    50 minSaison 2 · Épisode 28

    Nearly 90% of private-sector workers get paid vacation days from their job, but a Pew survey found 46% leave at least some of it on the table. Government survey data also show that the share of workers who are …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Nearly 90% of private-sector workers get paid vacation days from their job, but a Pew survey found 46% leave at least some of it on the table. Government survey data also show that the share of workers who are on vacation in any given week has fall by about half between 1980 and 2022. Blame thin staffing, guilt culture, and “PTO bundles” that push people to ration days between vacation days and sick leave. The fix exists elsewhere: the European Union, for instance, guarantees 20 paid days a year. If a Costco cashier is able to vacation in Europe twice, so should you.


    Chapters:

    0:52 Announcements

    2:53 Retcon Marathon

    11:01 Terms & Conditions: Statutory Leave

    12:04 Big Pilcrow: Vacation Days

    14:03 Why Do We Think We Can't Take Time Off?

    16:01 No Staffing Slack in the Office

    16:51 Vacation Guilt is a Real Thing

    18:51 What's Worker Power Got to Do With It?

    20:20 Decline in Days Off: What the Data Says

    21:17 Vague Numbers of Vacation Days

    24:23 Cost of Travel is Up

    24:56 Statutory Leave Could Create Jobs

    26:28 What are Workers Leaving on the Table?

    28:48 How Much Does Vacation Time Cost Employers?

    31:08 Vacation Marxist Economics-Style

    34:40 The Curse of the Long-Weekend Vacation

    38:21 Could the Government Mandate Vacation Time?

    42:46 Executive Orders: ACFC wins and Americans with Children Act

    46:23 Spiritual Sponsors: Lizards!



  5. The Government is Already Paying for Your Health Insurance, Buddy

    48 minSaison 2 · Épisode 27

    About 18% of U.S. GDP every year gets spent on health care. Half of that, 9%, is coming from the government, which is about the whole cost of other countries’ public health programs. In other words, for what …

    Notes de l’épisode

    About 18% of U.S. GDP every year gets spent on health care. Half of that, 9%, is coming from the government, which is about the whole cost of other countries’ public health programs. In other words, for what the U.S. spends on Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, VA benefits, and the tax write-off for employer-sponsored plans, we could have free basic health insurance for everyone. This is why the co-authors of the 2023 book “We’ve Got You Covered” describe the current health insurance system as a total tear-down. We could have universal insurance coverage for all with no tax hike if we started building from the ground up.

    Chapters:

    0:00 Announcements

    0:58 Retcon — Costco cashier's $33/hr job and career security

    2:49 Terms & Conditions — Political economy, Cost Sharing, Gatekeeping

    7:45 The Big Pilcrow: “Americare… Just Enough”

    8:08 Healthcare vs. health insurance — why this is really an insurance/payer fight

    12:53 We have 5+ public health programs already

    17:07 Health economist Amy Finkelstein's research: "It's a tear-down, not a fixer-upper"

    19:55 The proposed system — universal basic coverage + letting “rich people rich" without letting them opt out

    28:11What Americans would love or hate

    40:44 This health world changed a lot since Obamacare

    43:20 Executive Orders — Airport boarding pass warnings, living-roof bus stops

    45:20 Spiritual Sponsors — Resurrection fern, Aunt Fern

    46:42 Credits


  6. Mr. Justin Time Sets a Cruel Work Schedule

    49 minSaison 2 · Épisode 26

    Just-in-time scheduling lets an algorithm decide when — and whether — millions of people work. Surveys find 40% of shift workers (mostly in retail and food service) don’t know their schedule a week in advance …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Just-in-time scheduling lets an algorithm decide when — and whether — millions of people work. Surveys find 40% of shift workers (mostly in retail and food service) don’t know their schedule a week in advance. They can also get sent home mid-shift or asked to be on call, unpaid. Studies show that more than 50% of hourly workers’ income swings up to 30% month-to-month, making it hard to budget for rent, qualify for benefits, or plan. A landmark study done at The Gap a decade ago proved stable schedules boost not only morale, but sales, so this isn't even bad for business. We already have fair workweek laws in many big cities, but this is a no-brainer for an update to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

    Chapters:

    1:01 Announcements — Review shoutouts, Benevity donor thanks.

    2:15 Retcon — July 4th recap, AI job-loss predictions walked back.

    7:29 Terms & Conditions — Just In Time scheduling and clopening.

    10:21 The Big Pilcrow: Underwork — Why part-time and shift workers get scheduled unfairly.

    13:50 How the BLS tracks part-time hours by industry.

    17:05 Economic vs. non-economic part-time reasons.

    25:05 The Gap Study — Predictive scheduling boosted sales 7%.

    28:22 Consequences — Income volatility and benefits fraud traps.

    32:06 Fair workweek law and bills

    35:20 Labor market regulation as low-cost policy.

    41:59 Executive Orders — Credit card charge names, smaller jar lids.

    43:52 Spiritual Sponsors — WaPo editorial takedown, new yoga studio.

    48:12 Credits



  7. Young Americans Should Be Raising Hell About Social Security

    44 minSaison 2 · Épisode 25

    Nobody has more riding on any changes to Social Security than people under 40. The trust fund is currently projected to run dry in the fourth quarter of 2032, but it could be sooner. Every election, starting in …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Nobody has more riding on any changes to Social Security than people under 40. The trust fund is currently projected to run dry in the fourth quarter of 2032, but it could be sooner. Every election, starting in November, selects the lawmakers who will shape the program’s future. Neglecting to fix its finances will mean an automatic 22% cut to everyone's benefit. But for Millennials and Zoomers, what’s at stake isn't your elders’ monthly check — it’s the only life insurance, disability insurance, and old-age poverty insurance guaranteed to follow you through every job you'll ever have.


    Chapters:

    1:21 Announcements — Unbleeped feed, subscribe reminders.

    2:23 Retcon — Seed OK savings accounts follow-up.

    4:36 Terms & Conditions — Social insurance vs. private insurance.

    8:42 Big Pilcrow — Under 40? Time to tune in to the Social Security debate.

    11:51 Youth Skepticism — Why young people have always doubted Social Security, and how that's politically exploited.

    16:56 OBBA Impact — How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut Social Security's revenue.

    18:37 Immigration Trends — Deportations and lower immigration also hurt.

    21:11 Elections Have Begun — Social Security as a live political battleground.

    22:35 First Beneficiaries — What studies of early recipients tell us.

    30:36 Otherwise Uninsurable Risks — Death, disability, savings, longevity, inflation.

    33:17 Paid Family Leave — Could Social Security's model extend to paid leave?

    34:21 Claim Ownership — Youth should own this program.

    37:08 Cuts by Geography — Rural states will get hit hardest if cuts come.

    38:27 Executive Orders — Casting ages, cosmetic disclosure.

    40:22 Spiritual Sponsors — World Cup, Jeopardy! triumph.



    Got economic questions, concerns, or executive orders? Send them to [email protected]

  8. Simple Immigration Economics: Bigger is Better

    52 min

    (Originally aired 6/24/2025) One in five workers in the United States was born in another country. Without them, the country’s prime-age workforce would be shrinking, and thus so would our economy. So the …

    Notes de l’épisode

    (Originally aired 6/24/2025) One in five workers in the United States was born in another country. Without them, the country’s prime-age workforce would be shrinking, and thus so would our economy. So the calumny (Terms & Conditions) directed at immigrants is at odds with the basic fact that the U.S. needs them. What about depressing wages? Research finds such a mixed bag of results that the overall effect is about zero. Indeed, if the goal is to save “American jobs” or help American workers, there are a lot more effective ways to spend $185 billion than on a massive crackdown on immigration rules.

    Chapters:

    00:02:34 Announcements
    00:05:55 Retcon

    00:10:43 Terms & Conditions

    00:12:21 Big Pilcrow

    00:43:07 Executive Orders

    00:49:12 Spiritual Sponsors

  9. America at 250: Case for the Defense

    53 minSaison 2 · Épisode 23

    It’s the United States’ semiquincentennial … and one of us is not feeling it. The other is literally carrying a flag in her bag — and that’s just her road flag. Kathryn Anne Edwards makes her case for optimism …

    Notes de l’épisode

    It’s the United States’ semiquincentennial … and one of us is not feeling it. The other is literally carrying a flag in her bag — and that’s just her road flag. Kathryn Anne Edwards makes her case for optimism right now: The U.S. is undergoing one of the most dramatic demographic and cultural shifts of any industrialized nation. Americans agree that Congress is broken. And the people's agenda on wages, childcare, money in politics, and Social Security polls above 80%. Maybe this isn’t a backslide. It's just what clearing the air looks like.

    Chapters:

    00:01:21 Announcements

    00:04:10 Retcon: More on the national anthem

    00:06:36 Terms & Conditions: Origin of "the melting pot"

    00:08:01 Big Pilcrow: Make Robin Optimistic about America

    00:48:17 Executive Orders: End gerrymandering; mandatory hearings on supermajority issues

    00:50:03 Spiritual Sponsors: Knicks celebrations; bourbon in Louisville


  10. Optimist Q&A: The AI Bubble, the Rapture, and Free Lunch

    52 minSaison 2 · Épisode 22

    We can’t give financial advice. Or feedback on your 20-page tax proposal. But economist Kathryn Edwards did take a run at nearly 20 listener questions in under 60 minutes. Among them: Why care about birth rates …

    Notes de l’épisode

    We can’t give financial advice. Or feedback on your 20-page tax proposal. But economist Kathryn Edwards did take a run at nearly 20 listener questions in under 60 minutes. Among them: Why care about birth rates if robots are taking all the jobs? What happens if the AI bubble bursts? Will the dollar collapse? Can the bond market sway the White House? Plus: Why the minimum wage matters even if it doesn’t alleviate most poverty and how to argue for universal free school lunch.


    Chapters:

    1:43 — AI & birth rates
    2:57 — AI & birth rates (cont.)
    5:43 — AI bubble burst
    8:11 — The experience of inflation
    11:20 — Minimum wage & poverty
    13:55 — Job loss after 50
    17:30 — Productivity squeeze
    21:00 — CEO pay ratio cap
    21:49 — Could the dollar collapse?
    26:59 — Bonds & the Fed
    28:35 — Debt ceiling fix
    31:12 — Trump Accounts vs 401k
    34:42 — Tax dollar waste myth
    36:46 — Universal school meals
    40:11 — Part-time for new parents
    42:28 — Fighting monopolies
    44:14 — Policy ideas for Texas
    47:34 — Mamdani goes federal?

    50:43 — Top 1% wealth myth


  11. Inflation Risk is the Wrong Recession Lesson

    50 minSaison 2 · Épisode 21

    This might be the most dangerous economic assertion circulating today: the high inflation from 2021-2023 was caused by government stimulus. The talking point on the right goes: the third COVID-era stimulus …

    Notes de l’épisode

    This might be the most dangerous economic assertion circulating today: the high inflation from 2021-2023 was caused by government stimulus. The talking point on the right goes: the third COVID-era stimulus checks landed in March 2021, prices took off, case closed. Of course reality is more nuanced. And most serious estimates pin only a point or two of the inflation peak on the bill; the rest was supply chain chaos, a global chip shortage, and the Ukraine war. The pandemic caused the worst job loss on record — and the response produced the fastest labor-market recovery we've ever had, because policymakers went big. The danger is that they remember the inflation and forget the recovery.

    Chapters:

    00:01:14 Announcements

    00:03:24 Retcon: Q1 GDP Revised

    00:04:50 Terms & Conditions: Output Gap, NAIRU, "The Long Depression"

    00:11:49 Big Pilcrow: Is Recession Recovery Getting Blamed for Inflation?

    00:42:14 Executive Orders: Parallel parking licenses, FIFA ticketing ban

    00:45:52 Spiritual Sponsors: Small hardware stores, handwritten letter to OE

  12. Make the Economy Work for Freelancers, Too (#askingforafriend)

    48 minSaison 2 · Épisode 20

    Thirty million Americans, more or less, work for themselves. They freelance, do gig work, have solo LLCs, or — as a certain economist says — participate in “ non-employee employment.” The economics of their …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Thirty million Americans, more or less, work for themselves. They freelance, do gig work, have solo LLCs, or — as a certain economist says — participate in “ non-employee employment.” The economics of their situation is harder than it needs to be. Making self-employment more viable is good for everyone in the labor market, because when workers have options, they also have more power. Plus: Kathryn Anne Edwards testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, and a congressman implied she wasn't a real American. She has thoughts.

    Chapters:

    0:00 — Start/Announcements

    1:21 — Retcon: Bad banks, good overtime, and testifying before Congress (again)

    18:17 — Big Pilcrow: Freelancers & non-employer businesses

    44:42 — Executive orders: national anthem singing rules, Congressional attendance policy

    47:20 — Spiritual sponsors: Supportive listeners and horchada + cold brew coffee

    49:01 — Credits

  13. About That College Grad Who Can’t Find a Job…

    59 minSaison 2 · Épisode 19

    (Originally aired 7/1/2025) Newly minted college graduates are having a harder time landing that first job than in recent years. Is it AI? Is college useless? Is it a crisis? (No. No. And not yet…) College …

    Notes de l’épisode

    (Originally aired 7/1/2025) Newly minted college graduates are having a harder time landing that first job than in recent years. Is it AI? Is college useless? Is it a crisis? (No. No. And not yet…) College graduates under 27 still have significantly lower unemployment rates (5.8%) than high school graduates of the same age (6.9%). What economist Kathryn Edwards finds worrying is that these new workers, who are typically a lagging economic indicator, may in this case be a bellwether of a weakening economy.

    Support the Optimist Economy podcast by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack, or donating at https://buymeacoffee.com/optimisteconomy

    Complete show notes with links to articles and data at optimisteconomy.com.

    You can also find Optimist Economy on:

    --------

    Read More:

  14. Should We Cherish the Ultra-Wealthy? (a.k.a. ‘The Cornfield’)

    43 minSaison 2 · Épisode 18

    A certain kind of wealthy American has been griping out loud lately — about taxes, about progressive cities, about how unappreciated they are for the jobs they create, the stuff they buy, and the tips they hand …

    Notes de l’épisode

    A certain kind of wealthy American has been griping out loud lately — about taxes, about progressive cities, about how unappreciated they are for the jobs they create, the stuff they buy, and the tips they hand out. A narrative is coalescing around them too: that the top 10% of earners now do so much of the spending, the U.S. economy relies on them. But an economy that depends so much on the people at the top isn't the healthy one the country deserves — it’s just wearing a nice suit.

    Chapters:

    00:00:56 Announcements: Q&A episode questions wanted
    00:01:18 Retcon: The 86 debate; FDR's full "calamity howling executives" quote 00:05:32 Terms & Conditions: Wealth Effect and Zugzwang
    00:09:26 Big Pilcrow: Should we cherish the ultra-wealthy?
    00:36:41 Executive Orders: Retire "mummies"; union credits on red carpets 00:39:34 Spiritual Sponsors: Mellow Cello podcast; enormous floral arrangements

    Further Reading

    Moody's claim that the top 10% of earners now drive nearly half of consumer spending in the WSJ:
    https://www.wsj.com/economy/consumers/us-economy-strength-rich-spending-2c34a571

    The Minneapolis Fed on what the underlying data actually shows. https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2026/have-us-consumers-gone-k-shaped-a-review-of-the-data

    Wealthy part-time New Yorkers reacting to a proposed pied-à-terre tax in the Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/3283eaab-e9cf-41e6-a028-5a02fb6f4615

    The Wall Street Journal on second-home taxes spreading from New York City to other states, including the San Diego homeowner who'd like to be cherished. https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/taxes-on-second-homes-are-springing-up-across-america-93a64448

    Full reading list at https://optimisteconomy.substack.com

    Got economic questions, concerns, or executive orders? Send them to [email protected]

  15. No Overtime for the Supervisor of Sandwiches

    49 minSaison 2 · Épisode 17

    It wasn’t just hourly factory jobs that were supposed to come with a 40-hour workweek. Even salaried jobs were supposed to get overtime pay, though very few do do anymore. Overtime protections are the only …

    Notes de l’épisode

    It wasn’t just hourly factory jobs that were supposed to come with a 40-hour workweek. Even salaried jobs were supposed to get overtime pay, though very few do do anymore. Overtime protections are the only legal mechanism enforcing work-hour limits, and for 50 years, the salary threshold that determines who qualifies to receive overtime has been left to erode. Employers found another workaround too: just call the sandwich maker a "sandwich manager." Now, the new no-tax-on-overtime deduction isn't protecting workers — it's rewarding the kind of overwork it was overtime was originally designed to punish. Fixing the law governing overtime would be a huge and instant boost not just to the U.S. economy, but to our work-life balance.


    Chapters:
    00:01:43 Announcements
    00:02:32 Retcon: Economic data reliability
    00:05:54 Terms & Conditions: Tenterhooks; Perquisite
    00:08:23 Big Pilcrow: Overtime
    00:45:27 Executive Orders: Badge of shame for working past 40 hours; more colorful cars
    00:46:52 Spiritual Sponsors: Awesome first bosses; Faraday e-bike

    Got economic questions, concerns, or executive orders? Send them to [email protected]

  16. Can the U.S. Go ‘Cashless?’

    44 minSaison 2 · Épisode 16

    Cash is dirty, inconvenient, and so last century. Some 70% of Americans under age 50 think its days are numbered. But we still need those greenbacks, if as an alternative to banks. More than 4% of households …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Cash is dirty, inconvenient, and so last century. Some 70% of Americans under age 50 think its days are numbered. But we still need those greenbacks, if as an alternative to banks. More than 4% of households are “unbanked,” and three times as many are “underbanked,” meaning bank services mostly don’t work for them, so rely on services like check cashers or payday lenders. And that's before you get to the racial disparities in who banks approve for credit. Reviving banking services at the post office might be one way to help the unbanked and keep from handing yet more power to the finance sector.


    Chapters:

    00:00:48 Announcements

    00:02:30 Retcon: Semiquincentennia

    00:03:35 Terms & Conditions: ChexSystems, Unbanked

    00:05:46 Big Pilcrow: What’s keeping the U.S. from going cashless?

    00:38:28 Executive Orders: Regulate youth sports schedules; Airline baggage fees by weight.

    00:40:56 Spiritual Sponsors: Artemis splashdown; Friends with season tickets.

    Have a questions for our next Q&A? Send it to [email protected]

  17. The 2026 Economy: Make it Make Sense

    58 minSaison 2 · Épisode 15

    Consumer sentiment is in the basement. Jobs aren't being added. Prices keep climbing. GDP barely grew at the end of 2025, and a ‘meh’ 2% last quarter. Shouldn’t this be a recession? Not so far. Economist …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Consumer sentiment is in the basement. Jobs aren't being added. Prices keep climbing. GDP barely grew at the end of 2025, and a ‘meh’ 2% last quarter. Shouldn’t this be a recession? Not so far. Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards walks through the clear cause of each bad number: Tariffs explain the prices and foul mood. Mass deportations explain the jobs. The government shutdown explained last quarter. Still, knowing the passing reasons for economic pain doesn't make it hurt less. And none of it changes the long-term economic reforms we still need.

    Chapters:

    00:01:06 Announcements

    00:01:57 Retcon: Wealth at retirement

    00:03:52 Terms & Conditions: Recession, Slack, Tight, Loose, Goodflation/Badflation

    00:09:10 Centerpiece: What is going on with the U.S. Economy right now? The vibe is don’t panic. But don’t not panic.

    00:53:38 Executive Orders: Free work parking. Legislators do their own taxes.

    00:55:00 Spiritual Sponsors: Genre-specific bookstores and great newstands


    Send us your economic questions and concerns at [email protected]

  18. Progress is a Long Game

    50 minSaison 2 · Épisode 14

    (Originally aired 5/06/25) What sparks progress? The right political conditions? Social pressure? Economic upheaval? In response to two listeners’ questions, we say… both none of those and all of the above. As …

    Notes de l’épisode

    (Originally aired 5/06/25) What sparks progress? The right political conditions? Social pressure? Economic upheaval? In response to two listeners’ questions, we say… both none of those and all of the above. As an example, we talk through just one bit of the New Deal in the 1930s, which was the law to limit child labor. That movement started decades earlier, and continued decades afterward. For those keeping score at home, this a sneaky third installment of Kathryn’s 68-part series on the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

    Chapters:

    00:01:08 Announcements

    00:01:43 Retcon

    00:03:58 Terms & Conditions

    00:07:03 Centerpiece

    00:42:56 Executive Orders

    00:46:25 Spiritual Sponsors


  19. The Great Wage Stagnation

    47 minSaison 2 · Épisode 13

    Average U.S. wages have barely budged since the early '80s — and if you account for today's labor force being older and more college-educated, wage growth basically disappears. Economists have cycled through …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Average U.S. wages have barely budged since the early '80s — and if you account for today's labor force being older and more college-educated, wage growth basically disappears. Economists have cycled through explanations: workers lacked technical skills, then couldn't compete with global labor, then lost the policies that once lifted paychecks, like strong unions and a meaningful minimum wage. The latest chapter is monopsony — the idea that as employers consolidate, people have fewer choices of where to work, and fewer places to land if they lose a job. Fix the market, and the paychecks follow.

    Chapters:

    00:00:45 Announcements

    00:01:01 Retcon: Double Taxation and Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act

    00:03:10 Terms & Conditions: Monopsony, Septel

    00:07:07 Big Pilcrow: Why Aren’t Wages Growing?

    00:40:37 Executive Orders: Reverse Billing, Leaked Chat Table Readings

    00:42:49 Spiritual Sponsors: Dole Whip, Sad Songs, Being Recognized in the Wild

  20. Tax Reform Gone Wild

    46 minSaison 2 · Épisode 12

    From California to Washington to New York, states are trying to tax the very rich. The press keeps rehashing whether millionaires and billionaires will flee those states. Wrong question. The more important one …

    Notes de l’épisode

    From California to Washington to New York, states are trying to tax the very rich. The press keeps rehashing whether millionaires and billionaires will flee those states. Wrong question. The more important one is why we’re improvising tax policy state to state when it’s the federal government that should be dealing with health care, child care and affordability—all of which are national problems. Meanwhile, some Senate Democrats are proposing to take even more people out of the tax system entirely. None of these specific proposals make income taxes simpler or fairer, but they do suggest there’s an appetite for reform.

    ---

    Chapters:

    00:01:18 Announcements

    00:02:33 Retcon: Occupational Licenses

    00:06:16 Terms & Conditions: Progressive

    00:07:59 Big Pilcrow: Everyone Wants to Tax Millionaires

    00:38:23 Executive Orders: Unreadable Menus and Tax Complainer Merch

    00:41:42 Spiritual Sponsors: Dream Robin & the Nobel Laureate’s WNBA Contract

    Got economics questions, anxieties, or executive orders? Send them to [email protected]

  21. Nobody's Pulling Up Stakes Anymore

    46 minSaison 2 · Épisode 11

    Americans used to move a lot in search of opportunity. But in 2024, the share of Americans who moved at all hit a 76-year low. Barely 2% of us moved across state lines. Some of that is by choice: people are …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Americans used to move a lot in search of opportunity. But in 2024, the share of Americans who moved at all hit a 76-year low. Barely 2% of us moved across state lines. Some of that is by choice: people are more rooted, and that's not nothing. But when workers stop moving, rich cities pull further away from poor ones, wages stagnate, and the gaps between thriving labor markets and struggling ones get harder to close. And when there’s a shock to a local labor market, moving is an important release valve. Fixing a fraction of this worker mobility breakdown could improve the labor market for everyone.

    Chapters:

    00:00:33 Opening

    00:01:45 Retcon: Trump Accounts & Career Pivots

    00:07:27 Terms & Conditions: Spatial Equilibrium

    00:09:55 Big Pilcrow: Does it Matter to the U.S. Economy if We Don’t Move from Place to Place?

    00:39:10 Executive Orders: Frances Perkins miniseries; Sleep Shaming; Election Day Weekend

    00:43:07 Spiritual Sponsors: The National Consumers League motto ("Investigate, Agitate, Legislate"); ACFC’s winning start

    READ MORE:

    The increasingly mobile US is a myth that needs to move on | Aeon Essays

    Who Moves? Who Stays Put? Where’s Home? | Pew Research Center

    Job Changing and the Decline in Long-Distance Migration in the United States | Demography | Duke University Press

    The Economics of Internal Migration: Advances and Policy Questions

    Population & Migration | Economic Research Service

    Stranded! How Rising Inequality Suppressed US Migration and Hurt Those Left Behind


  22. The Optimists Have Questions…

    54 minSaison 2 · Épisode 10

    Fourteen questions. Zero softballs. Listeners from Tacoma to Montreal wrote in to ask about retirement savings, taxing capital gains, home-buyer assistance programs, corporate profits in the tariffs era, what …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Fourteen questions. Zero softballs. Listeners from Tacoma to Montreal wrote in to ask about retirement savings, taxing capital gains, home-buyer assistance programs, corporate profits in the tariffs era, what one state employee can or cannot accomplish, and whether meaningful economic reform will arrive before Millennials drop dead. And more. The inbox did not disappoint.


    00:00 Announcements

    01:59 Is a retirement savings crisis brewing?

    04:32 Tax credits for first-time home buyers… good idea?

    08:10 What if tax breaks for capital gains only applied to new investments?

    13:39 Explain the $1,700 tax credit scholarship program in OBBA?

    16:23 Are institutional investors wrecking the housing market?

    21:37 What quick policy moves could reverse worsening inequality?

    27:32 Will meaningful reform arrive before Millennials retire?

    30:56 Is a hotel tax the right way to fund a stadium?

    33:05 Can I move the needle on labor policy from inside the system?

    35:08 Why has the responsibility and risk for employment shifted onto workers?

    37:50 Is fixing the care economy easier than we think?

    40:47 Do rent caps work?

    44:50 Can we prevent price gouging by companies?

    47:53 If states roll out good policies, does the federal government need to do it too?

    There’s a t-shirt in your size here.
    https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy

  23. Corporate Profits Are Up. Their Tax Bill Should Be Too.

    42 minSaison 2 · Épisode 9

    The corporate income tax rate got hacked nearly in half by the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act. So nine years later, how’s that working out? Corporations’ effective tax rate (about 9%) is lower than what the average …

    Notes de l’épisode

    The corporate income tax rate got hacked nearly in half by the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act. So nine years later, how’s that working out? Corporations’ effective tax rate (about 9%) is lower than what the average American household pays (about 14.5%). After-tax corporate profits have hit record highs for the last four years — about 9% of GDP, a figure not hit since 1929. Workers' share of total national income, by contrast, is at a 70-year low. If corporate taxes go back up, some companies may threaten to reincorporate somewhere cheaper. Call that bluff. Someone else will deliver the toilet paper and make the coffee.

    Got economic questions, concerns, or executive orders? Send them to [email protected]

  24. If AI Gets Hired, America Can Handle It

    51 minSaison 2 · Épisode 8

    Switchboard operators. Typists. Secretaries. Lots of factory workers. The economy has a long history of technology slowly eliminating not just jobs but entire occupations. The U.S. also has a long history of …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Switchboard operators. Typists. Secretaries. Lots of factory workers. The economy has a long history of technology slowly eliminating not just jobs but entire occupations. The U.S. also has a long history of not doing a lot to help those thrown out of work by major economic shifts. Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards, who literally wrote her dissertation on unemployment insurance (her professional assessment: "it sucks"), makes the case for a wholesale rebuild that triages joblessness, distinguishing between those who need time to job hunt and those who need to pivot to a new career.

    Send your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders to [email protected]

  25. Boomers Didn’t Ruin Everything. Really.

    50 minSaison 2 · Épisode 7

    The popular narrative is that baby boomers rode cheap houses and 401(k)s to wealth, dismantled the welfare state behind them, and left everyone else to fight over scraps. But conflating boomers and …

    Notes de l’épisode

    The popular narrative is that baby boomers rode cheap houses and 401(k)s to wealth, dismantled the welfare state behind them, and left everyone else to fight over scraps. But conflating boomers and conservatives lets the latter off the hook for 25 years of tax cuts and disinvestment in children. It erases the Black boomers, poor boomers, and pensionless workers who never got a slice of that wealth. And it lays the groundwork for the one policy outcome its loudest advocates actually want: gutting Social Security. Who really benefits when you decide your parents' generation is the enemy?


    Send your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders to [email protected]

  26. Can $1,000 at Birth Make Us a Country of Savers?

    49 minSaison 2 · Épisode 6

    “Trump Accounts” might evoke the president’s other side hustles, like gold-plated mobile phones or meme crypto coins. But these investment accounts for children are one of the actually beautiful things to come …

    Notes de l’épisode

    “Trump Accounts” might evoke the president’s other side hustles, like gold-plated mobile phones or meme crypto coins. But these investment accounts for children are one of the actually beautiful things to come out of the "One Big Beautiful Bill." More than 30 years in the making, these accounts have previously been pitched as KidSave, Baby Bonds, the ASPIRE Act, 401Kids. They’ve been proposed more than a dozen times by Democrats and Republicans alike. Economist Kathryn Edwards explains the long journey, what the research says about why auto-enrollment is everything, and why the name won't last but the policy should.


    Read more:


    Every child deserves a Trump Account: Here’s how to make it happen

    Op-ed by Ray Boshara and Michael Sherraden in The Hill [2026].


    “Check-the-Box” Enrollment Will Limit Participation in Trump Accounts: Lessons From Asset-Building Research — Center for Social Development at Washington University [2025]


    Why Automatic Enrollment Is Essential for the Success of Trump Accounts: Lessons from SEED OK — Center for Social Development at Washington University [2025]


    The (Unknown) Children’s Savings Accounts Federal Policy Landscape

    — Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis [2024]


    Send your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders to [email protected]

  27. Social Security Upgrades for Retirement's Realities

    58 minSaison 2 · Épisode 5

    Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards is a Social Security fan girl. Would it be possible for her to love it even more? Yes, if the old-age insurance program got some updates to handle the messy, gradual and …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards is a Social Security fan girl. Would it be possible for her to love it even more? Yes, if the old-age insurance program got some updates to handle the messy, gradual and interrupted way that retirement truly transpires. Her four blue-sky pitches: changing benefit calculations for caregivers, taking benefits temporarily, a sliding “full” retirement age based on years worked, and a tax on companies that abuse 1099 non-employee compensation. Plus: A big retcon segment including details from a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco that further explains why "more supply" isn't the whole answer to the housing affordability crisis.

    Send your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders to [email protected]

  28. What The Actual Fed.

    53 minSaison 2 · Épisode 4

    The Federal Reserve is in the news constantly these days. Beyond the regular will-they-or-won’t-they question on interest rates, there are multiple legal battles with implications for the central bank’s …

    Notes de l’épisode

    The Federal Reserve is in the news constantly these days. Beyond the regular will-they-or-won’t-they question on interest rates, there are multiple legal battles with implications for the central bank’s independence, President Trump’s nominee for chairman may (or may not) get a hearing in the Senate soon, and Jerome Powell's may (or may not) leave when his term as chair ends in May. So let’s try to demystify the Fed. How does it stop bank panics? How did it make the Great Depression worse? What is a Fed Note exactly? And is the discount window a metaphor? From Glass-Steagall to the dual mandate to quantitative easing, here’s a crash course.

    And send your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders to [email protected]

  29. We Don't Have a Housing Shortage. We Have a Paycheck Shortage.

    45 minSaison 2 · Épisode 3

    Recent polls show 54% now consider housing unaffordable and the cost of homeownership dominates Americans’ economic anxieties. The popular “abundance” narrative says there’s a housing shortage and suggests …

    Notes de l’épisode

    Recent polls show 54% now consider housing unaffordable and the cost of homeownership dominates Americans’ economic anxieties. The popular “abundance” narrative says there’s a housing shortage and suggests cutting zoning or environmental rules will let us build our way out of it. But we don’t have a simple net shortage of units—we have a deep mismatch between what gets built and what workers get paid. After 50 years of wage stagnation, the median mortgage payment is over $2,200 while median weekly earnings are $1,200. That’s a gap deregulation or more luxury condos won’t close. The solution isn’t to just build more. It’s also to pay people more.

    END NOTES:

    Watch video clips from this episode at the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠.

    Follow us on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy.

    Follow us on TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy.

    Read some stuff on our Substack.

    Consume leisure in an O.E. hat or shirt: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy

    Support us and our tireless editors and producers by donating: https://optimisteconomy.com

    And send your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders: [email protected]

  30. Affordability vs. the Poverty Line

    48 minSaison 2 · Épisode 2

    An essay went viral by claiming that $140,000 is what a family of four needs to just get by — a number higher than what 70% of American households earn. Conservative economists called it idiotic. Kathryn …

    Notes de l’épisode

    An essay went viral by claiming that $140,000 is what a family of four needs to just get by — a number higher than what 70% of American households earn. Conservative economists called it idiotic. Kathryn dismissed it and got a nasty DM. What’s the real controversy? It’s not that the poverty line is misleading. It's that we have no measure for our current affordability crisis. And the American mindset has been so warped by decades of bad economic policy that we think the only way to get help is to prove that we’re poor.


    END NOTES:



    Watch video clips from this episode at the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠.

    Follow us on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy.

    Follow us on TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy.

    Read some stuff on our Substack.

    Consume leisure in an O.E. hat or shirt: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy

    Support us and our tireless editors and producers by donating: https://optimisteconomy.com

    And send your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders: [email protected]

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