Why do you continue to do this work?

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. 

The Future of Bidenomics (with Jared Bernstein)

President Biden’s economic policies mark a paradigm shift away from the trickle-down economics that have held sway over Washington DC for the past 40 years. Bidenomics recognizes that a strong and inclusive economy grows from the middle class outwards, centering working Americans and their families rather than relying on a top-down approach that benefits the wealthy first and foremost. In this episode, President Biden’s chief economic advisor, Jared Bernstein, joins us to unpack the key ideas behind this middleout understanding of how the economy really works, and to explain how Bidenomics is reshaping the economy to truly work for all Americans—not just a wealthy few at the top. After helping to engineer a best-in-the-world economic recovery from the pandemic, Bernstein explains what’s next for Bidenomics and the American economy.

What can a board game teach us about capitalism? (with Jared Bernstein and Jonathan Tepper)

Monopoly and its equally evil twin monopsony are destroying competition, depressing wages, and slowing economic growth. Is market concentration an inevitable outcome of capitalism, or is there a smarter solution?nJared Bernstein: Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, former Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to VP Biden and Executive Director of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class, and author of ‘The Reconnection Agenda: Reuniting Growth and Prosperity’. nTwitter: @econjared nJonathan Tepper: Founder of Variant Perception, a macroeconomic research group that caters to asset managers. Author of ‘The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition’, ‘Endgame: The End of the Debt Supercycle’, and ‘Code Red’, a book on unconventional monetary policy. nTwitter: @jtepper2 nFurther reading: https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/51/progressive-labor-standards/