This week, Nick and Goldy interview a Pitchfork Economics first: a sitting President of the United States. President Joe Biden joins the podcast for a conversation about the transformative economic vision at the heart of his presidency. Biden shares how his groundbreaking middle-out economic policies—investing in workers, rebuilding infrastructure, and revitalizing American industries—are reshaping the economy and creating a legacy of shared prosperity. From empowering unions to creating good-paying jobs and boosting wages, the President underscores why a thriving middle class isn’t just the foundation of a strong economy—it’s the engine that drives it. This is an insightful discussion with the leader who has helped turn the page on five decades of failed economic theory, breaking the suffocating DC economic consensus in favor of prioritizing working Americans.

Joseph R. Biden is the 46th President of the United States. 

Social Media:

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Further reading: 

President Biden in The American Prospect: From the Middle Out and Bottom Up

A New Economics Takes Hold

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This week, Nick and Goldy explore why the market alone can’t solve the U.S. housing crisis with Sandeep Vaheesan and Brian Callaci from the Open Markets Institute. The guests discuss their recent article in the Harvard Business Review, which explains how profit-driven private markets fail to address housing affordability, particularly for lower-income individuals. Their discussion underscores the drawbacks of deregulation and the need for strong antitrust enforcement, second-generation rent controls, enhanced tenant protections, and a public option for housing to ensure stability and affordability. Vaheesan and Callaci also stress the significance of understanding the interconnected issues of supply, demand, and the socioeconomic factors driving the crisis, arguing that without proactive governmental intervention the housing market cannot effectively meet the needs of those seeking affordable housing.

Sandeep Vaheesan is the legal director at the Open Markets Institute. He leads the institute’s legal advocacy and research on a range of anti-monopoly topics, including antitrust law’s role in structuring labor markets and promoting fair competition. Before working at the Open Markets Institute, he served as regulations counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he helped develop rules on payday and title lending and debt collection practices. 

Brian Callaci is the chief economist at the Open Markets Institute. He researches and writes about market structure, antitrust law, and their relationship to worker and employer power. In addition to peer-reviewed academic research, he publishes articles in news outlets such as The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, and The New Republic. Before working at the Open Markets Institute, he worked at the Strategic Organizing Center and Workers United/SEIU.

Social Media: 

Sandeep Vaheesan on Twitter: @sandeepvaheesan

Brian Callaci on Twitter: @brian_callaci

Open Markets Institute on BlueSky: @openmarkets.bsky.social

Open Markets Institute on Twitter: @openmarkets

Further reading: 

The Market Alone Can’t Fix the U.S. Housing Crisis

Zoning change: Upzonings, downzonings, and their impacts on residential construction,

housing costs, and neighborhood demographics

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This week, Gregg Colburn, co-author of "Homelessness is a Housing Problem," joins Nick and Goldy to dissect the complex factors fueling America’s homelessness crisis. Colburn presents compelling evidence that challenges common misconceptions around homelessness, revealing that it stems primarily from the rising costs of housing rather than issues like addiction or mental illness. He explains that evidence shows comprehensive strategies—combining affordable housing, rental assistance, and supportive services—can meaningfully reduce numbers in the unhoused population. While acknowledging the long-term nature of the challenge, Colburn reframes housing as essential infrastructure, calls for big investments in building more housing units, and offers a compelling, data-driven case for rethinking America’s approach to homelessness and housing affordability.

Gregg Colburn is an associate professor of real estate at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. He publishes research on topics related to housing and homelessness and is co-author of the book Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns. Professor Colburn is co-chair of the University of Washington’s Homelessness Research Initiative and is a member of the National Alliance to End Homelessness Research Council.

Further reading: 

Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns 

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This week, Nick and Goldy discuss the concept of social housing with Vox Policy Correspondent Rachel Cohen. They explore how local government investments in mixed-income housing can keep cities affordable for the middle class. Drawing from her reporting, Cohen spotlights the innovative social housing experiment in Montgomery County, Maryland, which demonstrates how well-designed public housing can rival private market options without falling prey to stigma or inefficiency. They also explore the financial benefits of publicly owned housing and its potential to alleviate the widespread housing crisis by providing a sustainable, scalable solution that benefits low- and middle-income earners by delivering lasting affordability.

Rachel Cohen is a policy correspondent for Vox Media. She focuses on U.S. social policy, covering issues such as education, abortion, economic policy, and housing. Rachel has been covering social policy issues for more than a decade, with her reporting published in more than two dozen national outlets, including the New York Times, the Atlantic, Bloomberg, the Daily Beast, and the Washington Post.

Social Media:

@rmc031

@rachelmcohen.bsky.social

Further reading: 

What if public housing were for everyone?

One possible housing crisis solution? A new kind of public housing for all income levels

An Innovative Financing Model for Affordable Housing

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This week, Nick And Goldy are joined by Faiz Shakir, Executive Director of A More Perfect Union, to discuss the shocking revelation of an international oil price-fixing conspiracy. Their conversation explores how the collusion between American oil companies and the foreign nations that make up OPEC significantly contributed to inflation, costing American families between $500 and $1,000 annually. Shakir explains how the Federal Trade Commission uncovered this conspiracy and highlights the urgent need for increased regulatory oversight and harsher penalties to protect consumers from corporate malpractice.

Faiz Shakir is the Executive Director of the nonprofit education, advocacy, and journalism organization, More Perfect Union, and former campaign manager of Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Presidential Campaign. Prior to his work with Senator Sanders, Shakir held various leadership positions within the Democratic Party and progressive organizations, working to advance social and economic justice issues.

Social Media: 

@faiz.bsky.social

@fshakir

@perfectunion

@moreperfectunion.bsky.social

@MorePerfectUS

Further reading: 

An Oil Price-Fixing Conspiracy Caused 27% of All Inflation Increases in 2021

A 2024 Timeline of Big Oil Greed 

House Democrats investigate whether Big Oil colluded with OPEC to inflate gas prices

The Truth Behind the Latest Oil Price-Fixing Scandal

Gas Price Fixing Scandal Grows as Another US Oil Exec 'Caught Colluding With OPEC'

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This week, Natalie Foster, co-founder of the Economic Security Project, joins Nick and Goldy to discuss her book The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America's Next Economy. Foster argues that as the world’s wealthiest nation, the U.S. can ensure a basic economic floor for all by guaranteeing essentials like housing, healthcare, higher education, family care, good jobs, and income, regardless of race, religion, or location. Foster explains how giving people money might just be the key to growing the economy for everyone. Their wide-ranging conversation covers topics including the wealth gap, housing affordability, baby bonds, and the political dynamics surrounding guarantee programs.

Natalie Foster is the president and co-founder of the Economic Security Project and author of the book The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy. Natalie previously founded the sharing economy community Peers, and co-founded Rebuild the Dream, and served as Digital Director for President Obama’s Organizing for America.

Twitter: @nataliefoster

Further reading:

The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy

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Voting is the cornerstone of a functioning democracy, yet access to the ballot is increasingly under threat in America. No matter who wins the Presidential race, it should be a priority to strengthen and expand accessible and secure voting. This election day, we’re revisiting a conversation we had in 2021 with Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org, where we unpack the ongoing fight for voting rights and discuss how restrictive policies disproportionately impact marginalized communities. Hailey shares insights into the tools and strategies we can all use to ensure that every American has an equal voice at the polls. She also explains why voting access matters more than ever and how we can stand up for democracy by defending the right to vote.

This episode originally aired on October 21, 2021.

Andrea Hailey is the CEO of Vote.org, the nation’s largest nonpartisan digital voter engagement organization.

Twitter: @votedotorg

See what’s on your ballot 

Sign up to get election reminders

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As Election Day approaches, Peggy Bailey from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities joins Paul and Goldy to discuss the devastating potential effects of the House Republican agenda and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. The proposals, supported by candidates who will be on your ballot this November, include a wholesale dismantling of federal government programs, cutting benefits, shifting costs to states, and penalizing working families in order to slash taxes for the rich. Bailey reveals the massive economic disinvestment and inherent racism and discrimination in the trickle-down agenda of Project 2025 and the House Republican agenda, even as she emphasizes the need for the federal government to revitalize the economy from the bottom up with investments in those who have been marginalized.

Peggy Bailey is the Executive Vice President of Policy and Program Development at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She previously served in the Biden-Harris Administration as the Senior Advisor on Rental Assistance to HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. She also served as the Director of Health and Housing Integration for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, where she focused on Medicaid expansion and finding sustainable funding sources for the services that people with histories of homelessness and chronic health conditions need to maintain their housing.

Twitter: @PeggyBaileyDC  @CenterOnBudget

Further reading: 

Report from the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities: House Republican Agendas and Project 2025 Would Increase Poverty and Hardship, Drive Up the Uninsured Rate, and Disinvest From People, Communities, and the Economy

Stop Project 2025 Comic Book 

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Since Daron Acemoglu just won the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences alongside MIT Sloan professor Simon Johnson and University of Chicago professor James Robinson, we’re revisiting  this powerful episode featuring Acemoglu’s insights from 2023. In his groundbreaking book Power and Progress, Acemoglu exposes how the elite have weaponized technology to tighten their grip on wealth and influence, and explains how we can ensure that technological progress works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.

This episode originally aired on August 22, 2023.

Daron Acemoglu is the Institute Professor of Economics at MIT, the university’s highest faculty honor, and a 2024 Nobel laureate. For the last twenty-five years, he has been researching the historical origins of prosperity, poverty, and the effects of new technologies on economic growth, employment, and inequality. He is an author (with James Robinson) of The Narrow Corridor and the New York Times bestseller Why Nations Fail.

Twitter: @NarrowCorridor

Further reading: 

Trio of professors win Nobel economics prize for work on post-colonial wealth

Democracy is in a ‘tough stretch.’ New Nobel winners explain how to strengthen it

Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity

The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty

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Private equity is looting America by exploiting vulnerable companies and extracting profits at the expense of workers, communities, and the broader economy. They've been buying up companies in every industry in the U.S. Economy and stripping them for parts. These massive firms have vast holdings across critical industries essential to the health and well-being of everyday people. Some recent examples include private equity's role in education, utilities, housing, and even in the healthcare sector, which led to the closure of hospitals and nursing homes, endangering public health. We thought it would be a good time to revisit this episode from 2023 with Brendan Ballou, a federal prosecutor and the author of Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America. In this episode, he explains how we can stop private equity’s plan to pillage America.

This episode originally aired on July 25, 2023.

Brendan Ballou is a federal prosecutor and served as Special Counsel for Private Equity in the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. Previously, he worked in private practice, and before that, in the National Security Division of the Justice Department, where he advised the White House on counterterrorism and other policies.

Twitter: @brendanballou

Further reading: 

Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America

The Guardian - Slash and burn: is private equity out of control?

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This week, Nick and Goldy are joined by Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout, who explains the urgent need for federal action on corporate price-gouging. Professor Teachout identifies misconceptions about price controls and highlights the failure of mainstream economists to recognize that price-gouging is a common practice, especially in light of skyrocketing corporate profit margins during the pandemic. Their conversation also unpacks the need for stronger antitrust enforcement, decreased market concentration, and more regulations aimed at protecting consumers in times of crisis.

Zephyr Teachout is a Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, where she focuses on the intersection of corporate and political power. She is also the author of multiple books, including Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United and Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money.

Twitter: @ZephyrTeachout

Further reading:

The Atlantic - Sometimes You Just Have to Ignore the Economists

More Perfect Union - Why Are Diaper Prices Up 184 Percent? Two Corporations are Preying on Parents

The New Republic - A Very Good Sign: Kamala Harris Is Going Right at Corporate Greed

Find out if your state has a price gouging law here: NCSL Price Gouging State Statutes

Books By Professor Teachout: 

Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money

Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United

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