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Optimist Economy

Kathryn Anne Edwards and Robin Rauzi

71 episodes

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.

More about the show

✨ Support the podcast at: optimisteconomy.com ✨

Ask questions or share your economic worries with us at: optimist.economy@gmail.com

Episodes page 2 of 2

  1. A Million Reasons to Raise the Minimum Wage

    · 58 min · S1 E19

    The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour hasn’t been raised since the era of flip phones. Competing bills introduced in Congress recently would set it at $15 or $17. Is that high enough, and how can we ensure it…

  2. Collective Bargaining Without the Unionization Battles

    · 53 min · S1 E18 · Explicit

    Labor unions’ public approval has been increasing since 2009, and is now at levels not seen since the 1960s. And yet rates of union membership have been falling. Today just 10% of U.S. workers are represented by a…

  3. The Tax We’re 99.93% Sure That You Will Never Pay

    · 55 min · S1 E17 · Explicit

    The Estate Tax is one that half of Americans worry about, but that affects only the richest 0.07% after they die. For nearly 25 years, the U.S. has – through loopholes and ballooning exemptions – undercut a tax that…

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

    · 55 min · S1 E16 · Explicit

    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 much lower…

  5. Simple Immigration Economics: Bigger is Better

    · 51 min · S1 E15 · Explicit

    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…

  6. Work Requirements Don’t Work

    · 54 min · S1 E14 · Explicit

    Here’s what work requirements rarely accomplish: Getting more people to work or lifting them out of poverty. They are, however, very good at driving people off public benefit programs, which was their primary role…

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

    · 51 min · S1 E13 · Explicit

    The national debt is $36 trillion — a panic-inducing big number. So maybe it will help to understand how the U.S. ran up that debt. We’ve blown 37% of it on tax cuts, with precious little to show for that. But 28% went…

  8. College Rules! But Student Loans are a Hot Mess!

    · 59 min · S1 E12 · Explicit

    The U.S. government makes student loans because our economy benefits enormously: Improved human capital. Higher earnings for taxpayers. Innovation and productivity gains. (Side note: Education has also been a $50…

  9. OE Lightning Round: Kathryn Edwards Takes Your Economy Questions

    · 50 min · S1 E11 · Explicit

    Kathryn Edwards answers listeners’ economic questions, with her co-host's stopwatch running. In under an hour, we cover risks to U.S. economic data, college tuition, taxes, bonds, degrowth, mortgages, tariffs vs.…

  10. The Invisible Hand Doesn’t Want to Change Diapers

    · 59 min · S1 E10 · Explicit

    Child care is exhibit A that not everything can be solved by private marketplaces. It is too expensive and too scarce — and as Kathryn Edwards points out, nothing will change that fact. (Maybe you’ve heard someone say…

  11. A Family Bill for a Shrinking U.S.

    · 52 min · S1 E9 · Explicit

    The declining birth rate in the United States is often discussed not only as a major demographic shift, but as a looming economic disaster. Ideas being pitched to the White House include a $5,000 baby bonus for new…

  12. Progress is a Long Game

    · 51 min · S1 E8 · Explicit

    What sparks progress? The right political conditions? Social pressure? Economic upheaval? In response to two listeners’ questions, Kathryn Edwards says… both none of those and all of the above. (Also, "not a…

  13. Paid Sick Days for Lady Gaga (and Everyone Else Too)

    · 43 min · S1 E7 · Explicit

    In the category of low-hanging policy fruit, why won’t any politician pluck the ripe, juicy goodness of federally mandated paid sick leave? About 30 million American workers not only don’t get a paid day off when they…

  14. AI Suggested Five Horrible Titles for This Episode

    · 46 min · S1 E6 · Explicit

    A recent article in the Washington Post proposed that U.S. labor data has just started to show the bite artificial intelligence is taking out of U.S. jobs – in this case, for computer programmers. Is AI going to cause…

  15. Work Rules for the Modern World

    · 38 min · S1 E5

    Never heard of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938? It’s why there’s a minimum wage, overtime pay, and 12-year-olds can’t legally have a job. It’s also due for a 21st-century update. What would these “New Work…

  16. Robin Loves a Tax Story

    · 33 min · S1 E4

    The United States is more than 20 years into a tax experiment – an era of a cumulative $7 trillion in tax cuts. So, asks economist Kathryn Edwards, how’s that working out? Well, we have worsening income inequality and…

  17. Social Security Don’t Miss

    · 53 min · S1 E3

    What’s with the persistent narrative of Social Security's impending doom? Are the baby boomers draining the trust fund? Are Americans living too long? No and no. There are just two of the many misunderstandings people…

  18. Is This a Recession or Not?

    · 47 min · Bonus

    Wouldn’t it be funny if we launched a podcast called “Optimist Economy” at the very moment the economy started to slide? Nice timing, us! In this bonus episode we dive into the data that has folks spooked. We also talk…

  19. An Elegy for the DEI Boogeyman

    · 31 min · S1 E2

    Rapidly changed government and corporate policies mean the era of DEI is coming to a screeching halt. But gross racial discrimination in the U.S. labor market persists. Just one example: The black unemployment rate is…

  20. All We've Tried is Nothing!

    · 18 min · S1 E1

    Who are we and what in the world is an “optimist economy?” For our first show, we (economist Kathryn Edwards and editor Robin Rauzi) introduce ourselves, explain how we met, and lay out our goals for our new podcast.…

  21. Welcome to Optimist Economy

    · 1:05 · Trailer

    Here at Optimist Economy, we recognize that today’s economy isn’t great for a lot of Americans. That is exactly why now’s the time to talk about how it could be so much better — whether you’re hunting for a first job…

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