Okay. We're doing this?

Are you asking me?

Yeah, I was asking you if we're doing this.

Let's go. Let's do it.

Let's go.

Hello, and welcome to the optimist economy. I'm Catherine.

I'm Robin.

And on this show, we believe the U.S. economy can be better,

and we talk about how to get there one problem and solution at a time.

Okay, so, Robin, what are we doing?

Well, apparently in this episode, you explained to me that we need to introduce what we're doing and why we're doing it and let people in on our little backstory, who we are, what we're about, why the optimist economy.

Why the optimist economy and why we're starting a podcast.

You know, I like to get in at things like after they've

peaked. Like this is this is actually very right on brand for me, newspaper, you know,

podcasts. I'm getting in on the ground floor. I've read. Okay, well, all right, well then we'll

introduce ourselves. I am Catherine Ann Edwards. I'm an economist.

I'm a writer.

You probably know me better as Keds.

On social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram and Twitter and Blue Sky and all the other things that we have to do to be on social media, I am Keds economist.

I do have a PhD.

I went to the University of Wisconsin.

I'm a research economist, but I'm also, you know, a public-facing communicator of economic issues. And I do that in formal ways, like having a weekly column at Bloomberg News and testifying in front of Congress. But then in informal ways, too, as a, I think, one of the first economics influencers and now podcaster.

...