• 48 minutes 19 seconds
    The Government is Already Paying for Your Health Insurance, Buddy

    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


    28 July 2026, 8:30 am
  • 48 minutes 39 seconds
    Mr. Justin Time Sets a Cruel Work Schedule

    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



    21 July 2026, 8:30 am
  • 44 minutes 8 seconds
    Young Americans Should Be Raising Hell About Social Security

    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]

    14 July 2026, 8:30 am
  • 52 minutes 6 seconds
    Simple Immigration Economics: Bigger is Better

    (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

    7 July 2026, 8:30 am
  • 52 minutes 37 seconds
    America at 250: Case for the Defense

    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


    30 June 2026, 8:30 am
  • 52 minutes 18 seconds
    Optimist Q&A: The AI Bubble, the Rapture, and Free Lunch

    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


    23 June 2026, 8:30 am
  • 49 minutes 38 seconds
    Inflation Risk is the Wrong Recession Lesson

    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

    16 June 2026, 8:30 am
  • 48 minutes 9 seconds
    Make the Economy Work for Freelancers, Too (#askingforafriend)

    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

    9 June 2026, 8:30 am
  • 58 minutes 49 seconds
    About That College Grad Who Can’t Find a Job…

    (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:

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    2 June 2026, 8:30 am
  • 42 minutes 35 seconds
    Should We Cherish the Ultra-Wealthy? (a.k.a. ‘The Cornfield’)

    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]

    26 May 2026, 8:30 am
  • 48 minutes 53 seconds
    No Overtime for the Supervisor of Sandwiches

    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]

    19 May 2026, 8:30 am
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