Optimist Economy

Optimist Economy breaks down the economy we have—and builds the case for the one we could have.

Each week on the podcast, economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and editor Robin Rauzi answer the question, “What would it take for the U.S. to have nice things?”

Like a minimum wage that prevents poverty? Paid sick days for everyone? Child care that doesn’t cost more than rent? Social Security that Gen Z can count on?

Optimist Economy in Action

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Tax Reform Gone Wild - Optimist Economy Podcast Episode
Apr 14, 2026

Tax Reform Gone Wild

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. ---Chapters:00:01:18 Announcements00:02:33 Retcon: Occupational Licenses00:06:16 Terms & Conditions: Progressive00:07:59  Big Pilcrow: Everyone Wants to Tax Millionaires00:38:23  Executive Orders: Unreadable Menus and Tax Complainer Merch00:41:42  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

Nobody's Pulling Up Stakes Anymore - Optimist Economy Podcast Episode
Apr 7, 2026

Nobody's Pulling Up Stakes Anymore

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  Opening00:01:45  Retcon: Trump Accounts & Career Pivots00:07:27  Terms & Conditions: Spatial Equilibrium00:09:55  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 Weekend00:43:07  Spiritual Sponsors: The National Consumers League motto ("Investigate, Agitate, Legislate"); ACFC’s winning startREAD MORE:The increasingly mobile US is a myth that needs to move on | Aeon EssaysWho Moves? Who Stays Put? Where’s Home? | Pew Research CenterJob Changing and the Decline in Long-Distance Migration in the United States | Demography | Duke University PressThe Economics of Internal Migration: Advances and Policy QuestionsPopulation & Migration | Economic Research ServiceStranded! 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

The Optimists Have Questions… - Optimist Economy Podcast Episode
Mar 31, 2026

The Optimists Have Questions…

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 Announcements01:59  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

What Listeners Are Saying About Optimist Economy

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This podcast breaks down economic issues and presents solutions backed with research and data.

Laufengirl

Apple Podcasts

October 23, 2025

Kathryn gives PhD level insights, complete with sources and a discussion of their accuracy, limitations, etc, in a way that even a knuckle-dragger like myself can easily understand.

Duffman11s

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September 10, 2025

She is INCREDIBLE at synthesizing complex economic information into both digestible and interesting ways.

flim.flamm

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April 8, 2025

Kathryn and Robin are the kind of hosts wish I could have coffee with—they're insightful, witty, and genuinely delightful.

Jay Rhody

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July 29, 2025

These two have figured out how make economics fun. They are truly a joy to listen to and cover interesting topics.

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August 22, 2025

I came because of having followed Kathryn on Substack but I stayed because of the Kathryn-Robin combo.

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The reference to hand stitching a 'Better than poor parents' sash and tiara for Manchin had me cackling in my car.

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Expert insight into complex economic issues delivered through a veil of sarcasm and self deprecating humor.

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October 18, 2025

Who knew data could be so much fun? Researched, witty, curious, principled, and human.

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September 23, 2025

I listen to Kathryn and Robin every week. Then I take everything I learned from them and excitedly regurgitate it all to my husband.

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September 11, 2025

In fact, if you had asked me before I listened to this podcast what my executive order would be, it would be to ban all podcasts.

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September 23, 2025

To explain why this podcast is so great, we need to go back to the War of the Roses...

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I get tired of bird's eye coverage of hot button issues and appreciate so much having a bit of history and economic theory applied...

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Robin and Kathryn are the perfect antidote to existential crisis. Plus, I appreciate the frequent snickering.

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September 18, 2025

Shows over and over again that we have the choice and ability to solve our problems but just don't.

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I feel like I am more informed in a way that gives me a sense of what to look for, what to ask for from my political representatives, and what actually to be worried about.

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I appreciate how you present a challenge then present a viable, actionable solution.

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May 22, 2025

Optimist Economy Starter Kit

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Aren’t Free School Meals a Conservative's Dream Policy? - Optimist Economy Podcast Episode
Sep 2, 2025

Aren’t Free School Meals a Conservative's Dream Policy?

Free breakfast and lunch for every public school student — an idea associated more with countries like Sweden and Finland — should instead be viewed as a truly American policy that liberals and conservatives can both love. Want complete meritocracy? Then you should be furious that some kids can't focus in class or during tests because they're hungry. Want to compete globally? Eating better raises student test scores. Want to make America healthy again? Professional kitchen staff serving nutritionally balanced meals to everyone actually beats harried parents trying to cobble together a lunch sack. Want less government interference? Universal programs eliminate the invasive bureaucratic hassle of asking every student’s family about their income. School meal programs have even been found to lower grocery prices in local communities. Nine states have made free meals universal, and others have expanded access, so this ball is rolling. Read more: Solutions: Free School Meals - by Kathryn Anne Edwards [2024] How Free School Meals Went Mainstream - The New York Times [2024] School Lunch Debt Statistics: Total + Costs per Student [2025] Brown paper bags and ketchup as a Vegetable A story too good to check: Paul Ryan and the tale of the brown paper bag - The Washington Post [2014] Why Michelle Obama Is Wrong on School Lunches | The Heritage Foundation [2014] U.S. Holds The Ketchup In Schools - The Washington Post [1981] U.S. Federal Register from 1981 [see page 49]

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About Optimist Economy

Optimist Economy explores the fundamentals of the economy and the future that the U.S. can build, one problem and solution at a time. The United States has a remarkable economy — and yet for tens of millions of Americans it is not performing up to its potential. There is a long list of good ideas that could make our economy more open to aspiring workers, less hostile to change, safer for workers, less risky for retirees, and so on. We just haven't tried them.

The good news is that we can. Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and editor Robin Rauzi tackle these questions on the podcast, in our newsletter, and across all our content.

To stay connected with Optimist Economy, subscribe to the podcast and join our newsletter to get the latest episodes and insights delivered directly to you.

The Hosts

Kathryn Anne Edwards

Kathryn Anne Edwards, a.k.a. keds_economist

Kathryn is a Ph.D. economist who wears a lot of hats. For many years she worked at RAND, which is a research institution that is hired to solve public policy problems. A few years ago she started her own policy and research business, and she's proud to run her own shop.

She's also a working writer and columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and has one foot in the Bloomberg media ecosystem, sometimes appearing on radio, TV, or live data releases to comment on economic news. But you probably know her as keds_economist, the handle she uses to make videos and posts for social media explaining the economy and policy.

Robin Rauzi

Robin Rauzi, editor

Robin is an editor who specializes in op-eds, commentary, essays and other forms of nonfiction. She was on the staff and a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times for many years. As an articles editor for the Op-Ed page, her job was collaborating with activists, academics, politicians and other subject matter experts to craft lively and convincing opinion essays. She started her freelance editing business, Get Rauzi Editorial Services, in 2009.

When she's not editing for clients, who run the gamut from major orchestras to venture capital firms, she runs an online program for personal writing called 40 Days + 40 Writes.

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Tax Reform Gone Wild