Optimist Economy
Today: #15 in Government on our combined chart.
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Ranking history
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| Date | Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | #15 | #16 |
About the show
Latest episodes
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The U.S. is in the Hole. Will We Stop Digging?
September 1, 2026 · 52 min(Originally aired June 10, 2025) The national debt is $36 trillion. That could be a panic-inducing big number. So maybe it will help to understand how we ran up that debt. We've blown 37% of it on tax cuts, with precious little to show for…
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Occupy! An Unfinished Uprising: The Invitation (Ep. 1)
August 11, 2026 · 38 minOptimist Economy is on break this month, but we know that optimist listeners are interested in tales of economic history, issues of inequality and movements for change. So we thought some of you might enjoy "Occupy!" a six-part narrative…
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Stop Donating Your Vacation Days to Your Boss
August 4, 2026 · 50 minNearly 90% of private-sector workers get paid vacation days from their job, but a Pew survey found 46% leave at least some of it on the table. Government survey data also show that the share of workers who are on vacation in any given week…
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The Government is Already Paying for Your Health Insurance, Buddy
July 28, 2026 · 48 minAbout 18% of U.S. GDP every year gets spent on health care. Half of that, 9%, is coming from the government, which is about the whole cost of other countries’ public health programs. In other words, for what the U.S. spends on Medicare…
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Mr. Justin Time Sets a Cruel Work Schedule
July 21, 2026 · 49 minJust-in-time scheduling lets an algorithm decide when — and whether — millions of people work. Surveys find 40% of shift workers (mostly in retail and food service) don’t know their schedule a week in advance. They can also get sent home…
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Young Americans Should Be Raising Hell About Social Security
July 14, 2026 · 44 minNobody has more riding on any changes to Social Security than people under 40. The trust fund is currently projected to run dry in the fourth quarter of 2032, but it could be sooner. Every election, starting in November, selects the…
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Simple Immigration Economics: Bigger is Better
July 7, 2026 · 52 min(Originally aired 6/24/2025) One in five workers in the United States was born in another country. Without them, the country’s prime-age workforce would be shrinking, and thus so would our economy. So the calumny (Terms & Conditions)…
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America at 250: Case for the Defense
June 30, 2026 · 53 minIt’s the United States’ semiquincentennial … and one of us is not feeling it. The other is literally carrying a flag in her bag — and that’s just her road flag. Kathryn Anne Edwards makes her case for optimism right now: The U.S. is…