Optimist Economy Podcast By Kathryn Anne Edwards and Robin Rauzi cover art

Optimist Economy

Optimist Economy

By: Kathryn Anne Edwards and Robin Rauzi
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Optimist Economy is the anti-doomscroll economics podcast. Work rules, tax fairness, healthcare, housing costs, retirement security — the economic forces shaping American life have real problems. But also real solutions. Each week, economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and editor Robin Rauzi break down one problem and solution with data, history, humor, and a belief that tools to build a better economy exist. We just haven't tried them. New episodes on Tuesdays.

✨ Support the podcast at: optimisteconomy.com

Ask questions or share your economic worries with us at: optimist.economy@gmail.com

Optimist Economy 2026
Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Tax Reform Gone Wild
    Apr 14 2026

    From California to Washington to New York, states are trying to tax the very rich. The press keeps rehashing whether millionaires and billionaires will flee those states. Wrong question. The more important one is why we’re improvising tax policy state to state when it’s the federal government that should be dealing with health care, child care and affordability—all of which are national problems. Meanwhile, some Senate Democrats are proposing to take even more people out of the tax system entirely. None of these specific proposals make income taxes simpler or fairer, but they do suggest there’s an appetite for reform.

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    Chapters:

    00:01:18 Announcements

    00:02:33 Retcon: Occupational Licenses

    00:06:16 Terms & Conditions: Progressive

    00:07:59 Big Pilcrow: Everyone Wants to Tax Millionaires

    00:38:23 Executive Orders: Unreadable Menus and Tax Complainer Merch

    00:41:42 Spiritual Sponsors: Dream Robin & the Nobel Laureate’s WNBA Contract

    • Make Optimist Economy economically viable: https://optimisteconomy.com
    • We have faces on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠. We’re also on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy.
    • The party is at the Substack chatroom.
    • In lieu of a “I’m better than you… because I pay taxes” T-shirt, can we offer you an Optimist Economy one?: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy

    Got economics questions, anxieties, or executive orders? Send them to optimist.economy@gmail.com

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    46 mins
  • Nobody's Pulling Up Stakes Anymore
    Apr 7 2026

    Americans used to move a lot in search of opportunity. But in 2024, the share of Americans who moved at all hit a 76-year low. Barely 2% of us moved across state lines. Some of that is by choice: people are more rooted, and that's not nothing. But when workers stop moving, rich cities pull further away from poor ones, wages stagnate, and the gaps between thriving labor markets and struggling ones get harder to close. And when there’s a shock to a local labor market, moving is an important release valve. Fixing a fraction of this worker mobility breakdown could improve the labor market for everyone.

    Chapters:

    00:00:33 Opening

    00:01:45 Retcon: Trump Accounts & Career Pivots

    00:07:27 Terms & Conditions: Spatial Equilibrium

    00:09:55 Big Pilcrow: Does it Matter to the U.S. Economy if We Don’t Move from Place to Place?

    00:39:10 Executive Orders: Frances Perkins miniseries; Sleep Shaming; Election Day Weekend

    00:43:07 Spiritual Sponsors: The National Consumers League motto ("Investigate, Agitate, Legislate"); ACFC’s winning start

    READ MORE:

    The increasingly mobile US is a myth that needs to move on | Aeon Essays

    Who Moves? Who Stays Put? Where’s Home? | Pew Research Center

    Job Changing and the Decline in Long-Distance Migration in the United States | Demography | Duke University Press

    The Economics of Internal Migration: Advances and Policy Questions

    Population & Migration | Economic Research Service

    Stranded! How Rising Inequality Suppressed US Migration and Hurt Those Left Behind


    • Invest in Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com
    • Faces visible on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠. We’re also on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy.
    • Where’s the party? On our Substack chat.
    • Represent your optimist side: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy
    • Email your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders to optimist.economy@gmail.com
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    46 mins
  • The Optimists Have Questions…
    Mar 31 2026

    Fourteen questions. Zero softballs. Listeners from Tacoma to Montreal wrote in to ask about retirement savings, taxing capital gains, home-buyer assistance programs, corporate profits in the tariffs era, what one state employee can or cannot accomplish, and whether meaningful economic reform will arrive before Millennials drop dead. And more. The inbox did not disappoint.


    00:00 Announcements

    01:59 Is a retirement savings crisis brewing?

    04:32 Tax credits for first-time home buyers… good idea?

    08:10 What if tax breaks for capital gains only applied to new investments?

    13:39 Explain the $1,700 tax credit scholarship program in OBBA?

    16:23 Are institutional investors wrecking the housing market?

    21:37 What quick policy moves could reverse worsening inequality?

    27:32 Will meaningful reform arrive before Millennials retire?

    30:56 Is a hotel tax the right way to fund a stadium?

    33:05 Can I move the needle on labor policy from inside the system?

    35:08 Why has the responsibility and risk for employment shifted onto workers?

    37:50 Is fixing the care economy easier than we think?

    40:47 Do rent caps work?

    44:50 Can we prevent price gouging by companies?

    47:53 If states roll out good policies, does the federal government need to do it too?

    • Still have questions, concerns, or worries? Send them to optimist.economy@gmail.com
    • Keep Optimist Economy podcasting: https://optimisteconomy.com
    • See our faces on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠.
    • Commune with fellow Optimists on our Substack chat.
    • We’re on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy.

    There’s a t-shirt in your size here.
    https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy

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    54 mins
All stars
Most relevant
The hosts are great with wonderful energy and fun banter. You learn so much from each episode, and yes it makes you feel more optimistic after listening. It is refreshing content that is still immensely entertaining. Keep up the good work!!

Excellent topics, well researched, very relevant

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You should definitely listen to this podcast to laugh, learn something, and feel better about our economy.

This is great

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Awesome convos about a wide variety of Econ topics, where the host bring their expertise and elaborate in a manner both educational and accessible. Loving it!

Great podcast

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These ladies are hilarious and I learn a ton. Please keep on keeping on.... but also, please continue making tiktoks Keds!

love Keds, need more

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