Should We Cherish the Ultra-Wealthy? (a.k.a. ‘The Cornfield’)

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 [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 [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 [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 [https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/taxes-on-second-homes-are-springing-up-across-america-93a64448] Full reading list at https://optimisteconomy.substack.com * Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com [https://optimisteconomy.com] * Video-curious? Watch the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@optimist_economy]. We’re also on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.instagram.com/optimist_economy] or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.tiktok.com/@optimist_economy].  * Chat with other Optimists on Substack. [https://substack.com/chat/4604257?utm_source=pub-nav-bar] * Find utility with our merch: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy [https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy] Got economic questions, concerns, or executive orders?  Send them to optimist.economy@gmail.com [optimist.economy@gmail.com]

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 * Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com [https://optimisteconomy.com] * Video-curious? Watch clips on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@optimist_economy]. We’re also on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.instagram.com/optimist_economy] or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.tiktok.com/@optimist_economy].  * Chat with other Optimists on Substack. [https://substack.com/chat/4604257?utm_source=pub-nav-bar] * Find utility with our merch: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy [https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy] Got economic questions, concerns, or executive orders?  Send them to optimist.economy@gmail.com [optimist.economy@gmail.com]

Can the U.S. Go ‘Cashless?’

Cash is dirty, inconvenient, and so last century. Some 70% of Americans under age 50 think its days are numbered. But we still need those greenbacks, if as an alternative to banks. More than 4% of households are “unbanked,” and three times as many are “underbanked,” meaning bank services mostly don’t work for them, so rely on services like check cashers or payday lenders. And that's before you get to the racial disparities in who banks approve for credit. Reviving banking services at the post office might be one way to help the unbanked and keep from handing yet more power to the finance sector.  Chapters: 00:00:48 Announcements 00:02:30  Retcon: Semiquincentennia  00:03:35 Terms & Conditions: ChexSystems, Unbanked 00:05:46  Big Pilcrow: What’s keeping the U.S. from going cashless? 00:38:28  Executive Orders: Regulate youth sports schedules; Airline baggage fees by weight. 00:40:56  Spiritual Sponsors: Artemis splashdown; Friends with season tickets. * Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com [https://optimisteconomy.com] * Video clips available at the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@optimist_economy]. We’re also on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.instagram.com/optimist_economy] or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.tiktok.com/@optimist_economy]. You can also search for us on Facebook and chat with other Optimists on Substack. [https://substack.com/chat/4604257?utm_source=pub-nav-bar] * Consume leisure while donning Optimist merch: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy [https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy] Have a questions for our next Q&A? Send it to optimist.economy@gmail.com [optimist.economy@gmail.com]

The 2026 Economy: Make it Make Sense

Consumer sentiment is in the basement. Jobs aren't being added. Prices keep climbing. GDP barely grew at the end of 2025, and a ‘meh’ 2% last quarter. Shouldn’t this be a recession? Not so far. Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards walks through the clear cause of each bad number: Tariffs explain the prices and foul mood. Mass deportations explain the jobs. The government shutdown explained last quarter. Still, knowing the passing reasons for economic pain doesn't make it hurt less. And none of it changes the long-term economic reforms we still need. Chapters:  00:01:06 Announcements 00:01:57 Retcon: Wealth at retirement 00:03:52 Terms & Conditions: Recession, Slack, Tight, Loose, Goodflation/Badflation 00:09:10 Centerpiece: What is going on with the U.S. Economy right now? The vibe is don’t panic. But don’t not panic.  00:53:38 Executive Orders: Free work parking. Legislators do their own taxes. 00:55:00 Spiritual Sponsors: Genre-specific bookstores and great newstands * Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com [https://optimisteconomy.com] * Hey, we are on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/people/Optimist-Economy/61572035831413/]! Follow us! Or,  on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.instagram.com/optimist_economy] or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.tiktok.com/@optimist_economy]. Or on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@optimist_economy].  * Chat with other Optimists on Substack. [https://substack.com/chat/4604257?utm_source=pub-nav-bar] * You need this hat: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy [https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy] Send us your economic questions and concerns at optimist.economy@gmail.com [optimist.economy@gmail.com]

Progress is a Long Game

(Originally aired 5/06/25) What sparks progress? The right political conditions? Social pressure? Economic upheaval? In response to two listeners’ questions, we say… both none of those and all of the above. As an example, we talk through just one bit of the New Deal in the 1930s, which was the law to limit child labor. That movement started decades earlier, and continued decades afterward. For those keeping score at home, this a sneaky third installment of Kathryn’s 68-part series on the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.  Chapters:  00:01:08 Announcements 00:01:43 Retcon 00:03:58 Terms & Conditions 00:07:03 Centerpiece 00:42:56 Executive Orders 00:46:25 Spiritual Sponsors * Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com [https://optimisteconomy.com] * Follow us on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.instagram.com/optimist_economy] or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy [https://www.tiktok.com/@optimist_economy]. Or on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@optimist_economy].  * Chat with other Optimists on Substack. [https://substack.com/chat/4604257?utm_source=pub-nav-bar] * Shirts, caps and totes, oh my!: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy [https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy] * Reach us at optimist.economy@gmail.com [optimist.economy@gmail.com]