Podcast Episodes
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A Million Reasons to Raise the Minimum Wage
Season 1 Episode 19
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour hasn’t been raised since the era of flip phones. Competing bills introduced in Congress recently would set …
11 months, 1 week ago
Collective Bargaining Without the Unionization Battles
Season 1 Episode 18
Labor unions’ public approval has been increasing since 2009, and is now at levels not seen since the 1960s. And yet rates of union membership have b…
11 months, 2 weeks ago
The Tax We’re 99.93% Sure That You Will Never Pay
Season 1 Episode 17
The Estate Tax is one that half of Americans worry about, but that affects only the richest 0.07% after they die. For nearly 25 years, the U.S. has –…
11 months, 3 weeks ago
About That College Grad Who Can’t Find a Job…
Season 1 Episode 16
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? (N…
11 months, 4 weeks ago
Simple Immigration Economics: Bigger is Better
Season 1 Episode 15
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…
1 year ago
Work Requirements Don’t Work
Season 1 Episode 14
Here’s what work requirements rarely accomplish: Getting more people to work or lifting them out of poverty. They are, however, very good at driving …
1 year ago
The U.S. is in the Hole. Will We Stop Digging?
Season 1 Episode 13
The national debt is $36 trillion — a panic-inducing big number. So maybe it will help to understand how the U.S. ran up that debt. We’ve blown 37% o…
1 year ago
College Rules! But Student Loans are a Hot Mess!
Season 1 Episode 12
The U.S. government makes student loans because our economy benefits enormously: Improved human capital. Higher earnings for taxpayers. Innovation an…
1 year ago
OE Lightning Round: Kathryn Edwards Takes Your Economy Questions
Season 1 Episode 11
Kathryn Edwards answers listeners’ economic questions, with her co-host's stopwatch running. In under an hour, we cover risks to U.S. economic data, …
1 year, 1 month ago
The Invisible Hand Doesn’t Want to Change Diapers
Season 1 Episode 10
Child care is exhibit A that not everything can be solved by private marketplaces. It is too expensive and too scarce — and as Kathryn Edwards points…
1 year, 1 month ago