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Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

LIVE FROM DC: Abundance and Social Democracy: Enemies or Allies?

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Civic Ventures

News, Business, Government, Politics

4.71.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Can we build an economy that delivers abundance without abandoning democratic accountability and economic equity? Recorded live at Democracy Journal’s “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” conference, this episode features a wide-ranging panel discussion on one of the most consequential debates shaping today’s political economy: whether abundance and social democracy are in tension—or whether they’re mutually reinforcing. Moderated by Ed Luce of the Financial Times, the panel brings together Baillee Brown (Inclusive Abundance), Jerusalem Demsas (The Argument), Mike Konczal (Economic Security Project), and Sandeep Vaheesan (Open Markets Institute) to wrestle with what it actually takes to deliver housing, clean energy, and public goods at scale—without ceding power to concentrated markets or hollowing out democratic governance. At a moment of deep political discontent and institutional distrust, this conversation helps clarify the real choices facing policymakers—and why getting this balance right is essential to rebuilding public faith in government. Ed Luce (moderator) is the U.S. national editor and a columnist at the Financial Times, where he writes on American politics, democracy, and global political economy. Baillee Brown (panelist) is a policy advocate and the founder of Inclusive Abundance, where she works with lawmakers to advance a pro-building, outcomes-focused approach to delivering housing, clean energy, and public goods. Jerusalem Demsas (panelist) is founder and Editor in Chief of The Argument a publication and podcast covering housing, economic policy, and the politics of affordability. Mike Konczal (panelist) is the Senior Director of Policy and Research at the Economic Security Project, where he focuses on inequality, housing, industrial policy, and the political economy of growth. Sandeep Vaheesan (panelist) is the legal director at the Open Markets Institute and a leading voice on antitrust, corporate power, and the role of public authority in building a more equitable economy. Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Facebook: Pitchfork Economics Podcast Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics TikTok: @pitchfork_econ YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0

The rising inequality and growing political instability that we see today are the direct result of decades of bad economic theory.

0:10.9

The last five decades of trickle-down economics haven't worked.

0:14.7

But what's the alternative?

0:16.3

Middle-out economics is the answer.

0:18.6

Because the middle class is the source of growth, not its consequence.

0:23.1

That's right.

0:28.7

This is pitchfork economics with Nick Hanauer, a podcast about how to build the economy from the middle out.

0:36.9

Welcome to the show.

0:43.1

Hey, pitchfork listeners, Goldie here. A couple weeks ago, Nick and I had the pleasure of

0:49.0

attending a conference in the other Washington, because, you know, we here in Seattle, we live in the real one.

0:55.9

Anyway, it was a conference in which our friends at Democracy Journal packed some of our

1:00.6

nation's leading progressive thinkers into a room to ask them the important question,

1:06.4

can't we all just get along?

1:08.6

Well, at least on that day, we did. And one of the more interesting

1:12.8

sessions was a panel titled Abundance and Social Democracy, Enemies or Allies, to which I ask,

1:21.3

Can it be both? Anyway, we hope you enjoy.

1:29.5

If everyone's ready, welcome to the next panel on social democracy and abundance

1:36.4

and whether they're opposites or whether they can be combined.

1:39.3

A very, very important question.

1:42.0

I have to say, I'm extremely grateful to Mike Tamasky for asking me to

1:46.4

moderate this, because one of the effects of Trump is that he imposes an opportunity cost on

1:53.7

what your mind focuses on. And as I was doing a bit more speed reading of this wonderful panel's

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