The U.S. is in the Hole. Will We Stop Digging?
Tue, 10 Jun 2025
The national debt is $36 trillion — a panic-inducing big number. So maybe it will help to understa...
College Rules! But Student Loans are a Hot Mess!
Tue, 03 Jun 2025
The U.S. government makes student loans because our economy benefits enormously: Improved human capi...
Optimist Lightning Round: The Economist Takes Your Questions
Tue, 27 May 2025
Kathryn answers listeners’ economic questions, with Robin’s stopwatch running. In under an hour,...
The Invisible Hand Doesn’t Want to Change Diapers
Tue, 20 May 2025
Child care is exhibit A that not everything can be solved by private marketplaces. It is too expensi...
A Family Bill for a Shrinking U.S.
Tue, 13 May 2025
The declining birth rate in the United States is often discussed not only as a major demographic shi...
Progress is a Long Game
Tue, 06 May 2025
What sparks progress? The right political conditions? Social pressure? Economic upheaval? In respons...
Paid Sick Days for Lady Gaga (and Everyone Else Too)
Tue, 29 Apr 2025
In the category of low-hanging policy fruit, why won’t any politician pluck the ripe, juicy goodne...
AI Suggested Five Horrible Titles for This Episode
Tue, 22 Apr 2025
A recent article in the Washington Post proposed that U.S. labor data has just started to show the b...
Work Rules for the Modern World
Tue, 15 Apr 2025
Never heard of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938? It’s why there’s a minimum wage, overtime p...
Robin Loves a Tax Story
Tue, 08 Apr 2025
The United States is more than 20 years into a tax experiment – an era of a cumulative $7 trillion...
Social Security Don’t Miss
Tue, 01 Apr 2025
What’s with the persistent narrative of Social Security's impending doom? Are the baby boomers dra...
Is This a Recession or Not?
Fri, 28 Mar 2025
Wouldn’t it be funny if we launched a podcast called “Optimist Economy” at the very moment the...
An Elegy for the DEI Boogeyman
Tue, 25 Mar 2025
Rapidly changed government and corporate policies mean the era of DEI is coming to a screeching halt...
All We've Tried is Nothing!
Tue, 18 Mar 2025
Who are we and what in the world is an “optimist economy?”For our first show, we (Kathryn and Ro...
Welcome to Optimist Economy
Mon, 17 Mar 2025
Here at Optimist Economy, we recognize that today’s economy isn’t great for a lot of Americans. ...