Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

When you walk into a McDonald’s, it looks like one company. But legally, the person making your fries probably doesn’t work for McDonald’s at all. Brian Callaci, Chief Economist at the Open Markets Institute and author of Chains of Command, joins Nick and Goldy to explain how franchising became a blueprint for corporate control without responsibility — shifting risk, liability, and labor costs onto franchisees and workers while profits flow upward.

Brian Callaci is the chief economist at the Open Markets Institute and author of Chains of Command: The Rise and Cruel Reign of the Franchise Economy.

Social Media:

@briancallaci.bsky.social

@brian_callaci

briancallaci.com

Further reading:

Chains of Command: The Rise and Cruel Reign of the Franchise Economy

Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America by Marcia Chatelain

Sectoral bargaining FAQ: Collective bargaining, sectoral wage and standards boards, and worker power

The Founder (2016)

Continental T.V., Inc. v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 433 U.S. 36 (1977)

Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust & Monopoly Hearing on Distribution problems affecting small business. Part 1: franchising agreements, March (1965)

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Most personal finance advice starts with the same basic premise: you’re doing money wrong. But Carrie Joy Grimes, founder of WorkMoney and author of The Joy of Money, says that misses half the story.

Yes, people need real tools to budget, save, pay down debt, and plan for the future. But no amount of discipline can fix an economy where wages are too low, costs are too high, and working people have lost power over the rules that shape their lives. This week, Nick and Goldy talk with Grimes about why money is “math and feelings,” how shame keeps people stuck, why so much financial advice is written for people who already have money, and why the best thing we can do is not teach people to be better at being poor — but build an economy where fewer people are poor in the first place.

Carrie Joy Grimes is the founder and CEO of WorkMoney and author of The Joy of Money. Before founding WorkMoney, she spent two decades as a union organizer fighting for higher wages, better benefits, and stronger worker power.

Social Media:

Carrie Joy Grimes

Instagram

TikTok

YouTube

Work Money

Instagram

TikTok

YouTube

Twitter

Further reading:

The Joy of Money: How to Do More With and Feel Better About Your Money—No Matter How Much You Have

WorkMoney - Provides free tools, tips, and resources to help people lower their living costs, find financial assistance, and increase their overall income.

MoneyFinder - A bill-negotiation service launched by WorkMoney.

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Nobel Prize-winning MIT economist Daron Acemoglu joins Nick and Goldy to discuss his new book, What Happened to Liberal Democracy? Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity. They explore why so many people have lost faith in democracy, how inequality and weakened worker power have reshaped politics, and why democracy has to deliver in people’s daily lives. They also dig into AI, automation, and whether new technology will concentrate even more wealth and power — or help build a more prosperous, democratic future.

Daron Acemoglu is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and Institute Professor at MIT. He is one of the world’s leading thinkers on political economy, institutions, inequality, technology, and the relationship between democracy and shared prosperity. His books include Why Nations Fail, The Narrow Corridor, and Power and Progress. His new book is What Happened to Liberal Democracy? Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity.

Social Media:

@dacemoglumit.bsky.social

@DAcemogluMIT

Further reading:

What Happened to Liberal Democracy? Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity

New York Times - Nearly 200 Economists and Tech Leaders Warn of A.I. Threats

NBER - Automation and Repression

Check out THE BILLIONAIRE AGE on IDEAS

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Paramount Skydance wants to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery in a $111 billion deal that would put even more of Hollywood—and two major newsrooms—under one corporate roof.

Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown joins Nick and Goldy to explain why a coalition of states is suing to stop it, how they forced Paramount to pause the merger, and why state attorneys general are increasingly stepping in as the federal government retreats from antitrust enforcement. They also discuss the successful fights against Live Nation–Ticketmaster and Kroger–Albertsons—and what happens when corporations become powerful enough to escape competition.

Nick Brown is the Attorney General of Washington State

Social Media:

@atg.wa.gov

@AGOWA

Further reading:

Washington Post - Washington state is suing Paramount. Here’s why.

Washington State Office of the Attorney General

Check out THE BILLIONAIRE AGE on IDEAS

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What is the economy for — GDP, corporate profits, or people?

This week, Nick and Goldy talk with Elizabeth Wilkins, President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, about Roosevelt’s new Good Life Agenda and why so many old assumptions about markets, government, and growth are suddenly up for grabs. It’s a conversation about human flourishing, public power, and what democracy has to deliver if people are going to believe in it again.

Elizabeth Wilkins is the President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute.She previously served as Chief of Staff to the Chair and Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission. She has also held senior roles in the White House and the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, clerked for Justice Elena Kagan and then-Judge Merrick Garland. She began her career as a labor organizer with SEIU 32BJ. She is one of the authors of Roosevelt’s new report, The Good Life: An Agenda for Fuller Lives, a Stronger Economy, and Renewed Trust.

Social Media:

@elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social

@ewwilkins

Further reading:

The Good Life: An Agenda for Fuller Lives, a Stronger Economy, and Renewed Trust.

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