It’s never been clearer that the stock market is not the economy. It’s a playground for the ultra-rich. Economists call this the K-shaped economy: wealth at the top surges while everyone else falls behind.
Turns out the “rising tide lifts all boats” story was never true.
You’re probably already getting the fundraising texts and pundit hot takes explaining why James Talarico won the Texas Democratic primary.
The real answer is simple: his campaign focused on investing in people who earn paychecks — not people collecting capital gains.
Turns out that message wins.
If we agree there should be a floor beneath which no one falls, is it unreasonable to ask if there should also be a ceiling?
This week, we’re resharing a conversation with @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social on why placing limits at the top matter just as much as protections at the bottom.
buff.ly/2CO8ZfS
Denver’s biggest restaurant groups wrote a report that basically says servers should take a pay cut.
It's no surprise that when costs rise, profits get protected while wages get cut, but cutting wages doesn't just hurt workers; it pulls money right out of the local economy.
So many amazing ideas shared in this rapid-fire episode from @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social
Highly recommend!
#economics #affordability #taxes #income
https://player.fm/series/pitchfork-economics-with-nick-hanauer-2468847/live-from-dc-the-magic-wand-question-policy-pitches-for-working-people
We're currently updating the site to be consistent with our new branding. We should have all of the current episodes added and updated once the changes are complete.
Feel free to use pod.link/pitchforkeco... in the interim.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
The neoliberal playbook is clearly running out of road — but the replacement debate is just getting started.
Excited to see this conversation with @ericbeinhocker.bsky.social and @nickhanauer.bsky.social at @inetoxford.bsky.social on what a new economic paradigm could look like.
We are right to fear AI.
But the technology itself isn't the problem; it’s the neoliberal economic system behind it that has a 50-year history of hoarding the rewards of productivity gain for the ultra-wealthy.
David Autor explains 👇
🎧: buff.ly/25X3xOy
Had a little fun exercising my old fisking muscles in picking apart a ridiculous anti-minimum wage video from The Economist.
It’s incredible how hard orthodox economists will work to defend a theory that the real world has already debunked.
The data is in—raising the minimum wage has been hugely successful. And the costs from skeptics like those at The Economist? Well, you decide just how real they are ⬇️
Also, at the top of the episode, a little big idea from me: eliminate all federal income tax deductions but the standard deduction, and then quadruple it to $65k/individual, $130k/household.
AI is often framed as a threat to workers. But what if it could make skilled work more accessible & rebuild pathways into the middle class?
Our conversation with @davidautor.bsky.social explains why the future of AI depends less on the tech itself & more on how we choose to use it.
buff.ly/25X3xOy
9/9 Four in five Americans agree: tax the rich and make big corporations pay their share.
The mandate is there.
Now we find out who’s actually willing to govern like it. #PitchforkEconomics
8/9 The American people have already moved on from the economic ideas of the 1980s.
The question heading into 2026 and 2028 is whether our political leaders will.
7/9 The real divide in American politics isn’t left vs. right.
It’s the public vs. a policy consensus shaped by corporate lobbying, donor pressure, and decades of trickle-down economics.
6/9 That’s why even Republican voters now support taxing the rich more.
Because this isn’t ideological anymore — it’s experiential.
People live in this economy every day, and they know who it’s working for.
5/9 And here’s the part politicians still struggle to admit:
Voters didn’t suddenly become “radical.”
They adapted to reality.
When wages lag, and prices rise while CEOs cash out, people draw obvious conclusions.
4/9 For decades, politicians promised that cutting taxes for billionaires and corporations would lift everyone else.
Instead, we got:
• higher costs
• record corporate profits
• historic inequality
Turns out trickle-down worked exactly as designed — just not for you.
3/9 Navigator polling shows 79% support for higher taxes on the wealthy and big corporations across race and party.
Meanwhile, New York Times focus groups this week found voters saying the same thing: they want bold economic leadership.
This isn’t a messaging problem. It’s a governing problem.
2/9 Let’s be clear about what this means:
The economic consensus already exists — and it directly contradicts 40 years of trickle-down politics.
People know the system is rigged in favor of the wealthy.
1/9 🧵 Four out of five Americans support raising taxes on the rich and big corporations.
Not Democrats. Not progressives.
Americans.
Including majorities of independents and Republicans.
Lose your job. Have a child. Get sick. Fall behind.
Then, fight through paperwork just to get help.
That’s not dysfunction — it’s design. Trickle-down politicians replaced direct public services with bureaucracy and red tape.
The “annoyance economy” is a policy choice.
buff.ly/wGsxdqz
We support it!
If you could order a presidential administration to do ONE thing to improve the lives of working people — what would it be?
3-minute limit — big ideas, bold arguments, and no BS.
LIVE FROM DC: The Magic Wand Question —Policy Pitches for Working People
🎧: buff.ly/K6QS6oZ
7/7 Prosperity is built from the middle out, not the top down.
It’s time for our friends on the left to get as comfortable calling out the failures of neoliberalism as Oren Cass is.
The pitchforks are coming—and if we don't fix the "grift," we can’t say we weren't warned.
6/7 Neoliberalism was a choice to prioritize capital over people. It’s been a disaster.
When you refuse to call out the extraction machine, you leave the door wide open for others to do it for you.
5/7 Too many are still trapped in the failed logic of the last 50 years, tinkering at the edges of a system that is fundamentally designed to fail the middle class.
Economics isn't a weather pattern we have to endure; it’s a set of choices.
4/7 Here is the irony: while Cass and the "pro-worker" right are correctly identifying that neoliberalism has hollowed out our country, a big chunk of the Democratic party still can't bring themselves to grapple with the fact that neoliberal economics has failed.
3/7 The truth? These bankers aren't "investing" in a way that helps a middle-class family in Ohio.
They are extracting value from the real economy to pad the pockets of the wealthy, powerful, and well-connected.
2/7 In a @nytimesoped.bsky.social Oren Cass calls out the "financialization" of our economy for what it is: a grift.
He’s looking at Wall Street’s record bonuses and asking the right question: "What are these people actually contributing?"
