Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Americans are told Social Security is in trouble because there are more retirees and fewer workers to support them. But that story leaves out a major part of the problem: how much income now sits outside the system that funds Social Security.

Roosevelt Institute’s Rey Fuentes joins Nick and Goldy to explain how rising inequality, stagnant wages, and an outdated payroll-tax structure helped create Social Security’s looming shortfall — and why benefit cuts are far from inevitable. Plus, Nick puts forward a different way to think about fixing the system — one that starts with a basic question: why should some kinds of income count toward Social Security while others don’t?

Rey Fuentes is Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Roosevelt Institute.

The $29 trillion figure in this episode’s title refers to Social Security’s projected 75-year unfunded obligation. According to the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report, the combined retirement, survivor, and disability programs are projected to have a $29.3 trillion financing shortfall, measured in present-value dollars, between 2026 and 2100. That is not $29 trillion that comes due when the retirement trust fund is projected to deplete its reserves in 2032.

Read the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report Summary

Social Media:

@rooseveltinstitute.org

@rooseveltinst

@therooseveltinstitute

Further reading:

Social Security Doesn’t Need Cuts. The Fiscal Panic Is Missing Where the Money Is

1983 v. 2032: The Economics of the Last and Next Social Security Reform

What’s Actually Behind Social Security’s Trust Fund Shortfall

“Will Social Security Run Out?” Is the Wrong Question: How Lawmakers Can Protect Beneficiaries and Strengthen OASI

“Sound, Needy, and Patriotic Legislation”: Preserving the Fundamental Promises of the Social Security System

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Why do so many Americans feel powerless, lonely, and disconnected — and what does that have to do with our economy?

Senator Chris Murphy joins Nick and Goldy to discuss his new book, Crisis of the Common Good, which makes the case that America’s political crisis is inseparable from a deeper collapse of power, connection, and shared purpose.

They dig into the “cult of profit,” Market Humanism, AI, scarcity, corruption, and the limits of an economy organized around efficiency and extraction. It’s a conversation about what happens when profit becomes the highest measure of success, and what it would mean to build an economy rooted in dignity, connection, and the common good.

Senator Chris Murphy is the junior United States Senator for Connecticut

Social Media:

@chrismurphyct.bsky.social

@ChrisMurphyCT

Further reading:

Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America

Watch Nick Debate Obama Admin Economist Jason Furman: NickHanauer.Substack.com

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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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