Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters (with Diane Coyle)

For nearly a century, GDP has been the world’s go-to measure of economic success—but what if it’s been telling us the wrong story? It treats cigarette sales and cancer treatments as equally “good” for the economy, while caring for your kids, volunteering, or creating art don’t count at all. This week, economist Diane Coyle joins Nick and Goldy to discuss her new book, The Measure of Progress, and explain why GDP increasingly fails to capture the reality of modern economies—and how we can measure real progress instead. Diane Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. She is also the Research Director at the Bennett School of Public Policy, a member of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Council, and author of the new book, The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters [https://bookshop.org/a/101360/9780691179025]. Social Media: @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/dianecoyle1859.bsky.social] @DianeCoyle1859 [https://x.com/dianecoyle1859?lang=en] Further reading:  The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters [https://bookshop.org/a/101360/9780691179025] Beyond GDP? Welfare across Countries and Time [http://klenow.com/Jones_Klenow.pdf] The Economics of Care with Nancy Folbre [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZEJV3kBQH0] Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com [http://pitchforkeconomics.com/] Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.instagram.com/pitchforkeconomics/?hl=en] Threads: pitchforkeconomics [https://www.threads.net/@pitchforkeconomics] Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social] Twitter: @PitchforkEcon [https://twitter.com/PitchforkEcon], @NickHanauer [https://twitter.com/nickhanauer?lang=en], @civicaction [https://twitter.com/civicaction] YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.youtube.com/@pitchforkeconomics] LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics [https://www.linkedin.com/company/pitchfork-economics/] Substack: The Pitch [https://civicventures.substack.com/]

Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud (with Ben McKenzie)

Actor and author Ben McKenzie didn’t set out to become one of crypto’s fiercest critics—but when the pandemic hit and Hollywood shut down, his curiosity turned into a full-blown investigation. The result was the bestselling book, Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud, a blistering exposé of the crypto craze as “casino capitalism” at its dumbest. In this episode, McKenzie joins Nick and Goldy to explain how the industry turned hype and libertarian fantasy into a trillion-dollar bubble, why the true believers won’t let go, and how fake “innovation” and corporate lobbying are putting the entire financial system at risk. They dig into the cult psychology of crypto, the rise of legalized gambling as an addiction economy, and why letting corporations issue their own “money” could end in disaster. Ben McKenzie is an actor, author, and director best known for his roles on The O.C., Southland, and Gotham. He holds a degree in economics and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. McKenzie has become one of the most prominent critics of the cryptocurrency industry, co-authoring the book Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud with journalist Jacob Silverman. The premiere of Everyone is Lying to You For Money [https://www.docnyc.net/film/everyone-is-lying-to-you-for-money/] is on Sunday, November 16, 2025, in New York City. Get tickets at DOCNYC.net [https://www.docnyc.net/film/everyone-is-lying-to-you-for-money/]. Social Media: @benmckenzie.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/benmckenzie.bsky.social] mrbenmckenzie [https://www.instagram.com/mrbenmckenzie/] @ben_mckenzie [https://x.com/ben_mckenzie?lang=en] Further reading:  Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud [https://bookshop.org/a/101360/9781419766404] When Prophecy Fails [https://bookshop.org/a/101360/9798880924769] Mistakes Were Made (but Not By Me) [https://bookshop.org/a/101360/9780358329619] New York Magazine: ⁠Congress Just Injected Crypto Directly Into the Most Stable Part of the Economy What could go wrong? [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/crypto-bill-stablecoins-treasuries-bitcoin-congress-tether-terra-circle.html] Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com [http://pitchforkeconomics.com/] Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.instagram.com/pitchforkeconomics/?hl=en] Threads: pitchforkeconomics [https://www.threads.net/@pitchforkeconomics] Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social] Twitter: @PitchforkEcon [https://twitter.com/PitchforkEcon], @NickHanauer [https://twitter.com/nickhanauer?lang=en] YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.youtube.com/@pitchforkeconomics] LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics [https://www.linkedin.com/company/pitchfork-economics/] Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠ [https://civicventures.substack.com/]

Stock Buybacks and the Trillion Dollar Heist (with Senator Cory Booker)

Corporations are on track to spend more than $1.3 trillion on stock buybacks this year—money that could have gone toward higher wages, innovation, or community investment. That’s the real-life Trillion Dollar Heist at the center of our new comic from Civic Ventures, which follows Marta, a janitor who interrupts a corporate board meeting just as executives plot their next billion-dollar buyback spree. This week, we’re resharing our 2019 conversation with Senator Cory Booker, who explains how stock buybacks went from illegal market manipulation to one of the biggest drivers of inequality.  Read the Trillion Dollar Heist Comic: https://bindings.app/read/7mINYO2H [https://bindings.app/read/7mINYO2H] This episode originally aired February 26, 2019.  Senator Cory Booker is a Democratic lawmaker from New Jersey who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2013. A Rhodes Scholar and Yale Law graduate, he began his career on the Newark City Council before serving as mayor from 2006 to 2013. In the Senate, Booker has focused on criminal justice reform, economic opportunity, climate action, and protecting civil and LGBTQ+ rights. Social Media: Marta  [https://www.instagram.com/marta_heist/] Paul Constant  [http://paulconstant.com/] Sarah Star Litt [https://www.instagram.com/sarahstarlitt] Alan Robinson [https://linktr.ee/alanrobinsonr]  Pippa Bowland [https://www.instagram.com/pippabowland] AndWorld Design [https://www.instagram.com/andworlddesign] Mary P. Traverse [https://www.instagram.com/maryptraverse] Further reading:  Trillion Dollar Heist Comic [https://bindings.app/read/7mINYO2H] Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com [http://pitchforkeconomics.com/] Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.instagram.com/pitchforkeconomics/?hl=en] Threads: pitchforkeconomics [https://www.threads.net/@pitchforkeconomics] Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social] Twitter: @PitchforkEcon [https://twitter.com/PitchforkEcon], @NickHanauer [https://twitter.com/nickhanauer?lang=en], @civicaction [https://twitter.com/civicaction] YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.youtube.com/@pitchforkeconomics] LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics [https://www.linkedin.com/company/pitchfork-economics/] Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠ [https://civicventures.substack.com/]

Competing Visions on Trade: A Race to the Bottom Vs. Building the Middle Class (with Thea Lee featuring Todd Tucker)

In the final episode of our Trade series, Nick and Goldy talk with Thea Lee, former Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor, to challenge the core assumption behind decades of U.S. trade policy: That trade is about efficiency, not power. Lee explains how past trade deals were written to protect capital while ignoring worker exploitation abroad—a model that suppressed wages overseas and undercut American workers at home. She also makes the case that worker-centered trade isn’t hypothetical anymore by pointing to the US–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), where labor rights were finally enforced with the same seriousness as intellectual property, resulting in real wage gains and democratic union elections in Mexico. This conversation lays out the choice clearly: Trade can strengthen middle classes, democracy, and supply chain resilience, or it can deepen inequality and instability. This episode makes the argument for choosing the first option on purpose, not by accident. Thea Lee is an economist and longtime advocate of pro-worker trade policy who most recently served as Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor,  where she focused on global labor protections, including enforcing labor rights under trade agreements and combating forced and child labor worldwide. Todd Tucker is a political scientist, author, and the Director of Industrial Policy and Trade at the Roosevelt Institute and Roosevelt Forward, where he leads work on how national and global institutions shape economic transformation. He’s the author of Judge Knot: Politics and Development in International Investment Law. Social Media: @theameilee.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/theameilee.bsky.social] @TheaMeiLee [https://x.com/TheaMeiLee] @toddntucker.com [https://bsky.app/profile/toddntucker.com] @toddntucker [https://x.com/toddntucker] Further reading:  The New US Trade Agenda: Institutionalizing Middle-Out Economics in Foreign Commercial Policy [https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/the-new-us-trade-agenda/] Judge Knot: Politics and Development in International Investment Law [https://bookshop.org/a/101360/9781783087914] Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com [http://pitchforkeconomics.com/] Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.instagram.com/pitchforkeconomics/?hl=en] Threads: pitchforkeconomics [https://www.threads.net/@pitchforkeconomics] Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social] Twitter: @PitchforkEcon [https://twitter.com/PitchforkEcon], @NickHanauer [https://twitter.com/nickhanauer?lang=en], @civicaction [https://twitter.com/civicaction] YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.youtube.com/@pitchforkeconomics] LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics [https://www.linkedin.com/company/pitchfork-economics/] Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠ [https://civicventures.substack.com/]

South of the Border: A Mexican Perspective on the Free Trade Era (with Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid)

In the sixth episode of our trade series, Pitchfork Economics producer Freddy Doss talks with Mexican economist Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid about how NAFTA — and now the USMCA — reshaped Mexico’s economy in ways that those of us north of the Rio Grande almost never hear about. Yes, exports skyrocketed. But wages stagnated, domestic industry hollowed out, and Mexico became structurally dependent on the United States — even as political rhetoric in the U.S. grew more hostile toward Mexican workers. Moreno-Brid explains why the promised “shared prosperity” never arrived, why Mexico got stuck in an export-without-development trap, and what a truly fair and resilient U.S.–Mexico trade relationship would actually require. It’s a perspective rarely heard in Washington, and an essential one for understanding the real stakes of North American trade. Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid is a professor of economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and one of Latin America’s leading experts on trade, industrial policy, and economic development. A former Deputy Director of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) office in Mexico, he has spent decades analyzing the impacts of NAFTA and Mexico’s transition to an export-led model. His research focuses on inequality, industrialization, and the structural challenges facing emerging economies. Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com [http://pitchforkeconomics.com/] Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.instagram.com/pitchforkeconomics/?hl=en] Threads: pitchforkeconomics [https://www.threads.net/@pitchforkeconomics] Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social] TikTok: @pitchfork_econ [https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchfork_econ] Twitter: @PitchforkEcon [https://twitter.com/PitchforkEcon], @NickHanauer [https://twitter.com/nickhanauer?lang=en], @civicaction [https://twitter.com/civicaction] YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics [https://www.youtube.com/@pitchforkeconomics] LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics [https://www.linkedin.com/company/pitchfork-economics/] Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠ [https://civicventures.substack.com/]