Episodes

The United States ranks alongside a long list of nations that have taken on enormous debt to fight wars, pandemics, and fuel future economic growth. How have nations resolved their debts, and what does this tell us about the future of the United States? Barry Eichengreen of UC Berkeley joins me in...

In the conversation around the US national debt, the process around what the government spends money on and how is often crowded out by conversations around what spending programs we should add. For Maya MacGuinaes of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the current process is one that...

As a year, 2020 was a decade in and of itself. What began with wildfires in Australia and a near war with Iran and ended with an American president refuting the results of an election for the first time in history contained a pandemic that changed how we work, educate our children, and communicate,...

The recent vote against unionization by workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama has brought the conversation on the role of organized labor back to the forefront. Once 25% of all workers in the United States, union members now comprise just over 10% of the total workforce - a trend that...

Since World War 2, the US has operated under the mantle of being a champion and protector of democratic values. At the same time, its policy in the Middle East has involved close relationships with autocratic regimes, and military engagements more reflective of an imperial power than a defender of...

If the riot at the Capitol was a signal of the populist right's mistrust and discontent with the establishment, the recent run up in the price of GameStop's stock by a mob of Redditor's at the expense of hedge funds might be the populist left's. Since September 2020, a group of average investors on...

Of the pandemic's many casualties, the fiscal state of America's cities and towns has been chief among them. In a report put out by the National League of Cities last year, cities, towns, and villages across America are predicted to see a collective budget shortfall of over $200 billion over the...

A recurring theme in the last two presidential election cycles has been the concept of bringing America back to a former state of greatness that has since been lost. Whether in Trump's "Make America Great Again" or Biden's much less catchy "Build Back Better" (sorry - but Trump, for his faults,...

Liam O'Mara is not your typical anything. Growing up in a working class, union household, Liam worked jobs such as a longshoreman and a fry cook in his 20s before deciding, at age 30, to be the first person in his family to go to college, and then deciding to go on to earn his PhD in history and...