What pandemic recovery should look like

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2021

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Vox's Emily Stewart talks with Janelle Jones, chief economist at the Labor Department, about what's actually going on with the US economy — and who are the workers most dramatically affected by the pandemic. They discuss the tasks ahead in an economic recovery, who should receive the most help, and how to put policies in place that do more than just return to the status quo. Host: Emily Stewart (@EmilyStewartM), Senior Reporter, Vox Guest: Janelle Jones (@janellecj), Chief Economist, Department of Labor References: “U.S. Labor Shortage? Unlikely. Here’s Why” by Heidi Shierholz (May 4, The Commons blog, Initiative for Public Discourse) “Lumber mania is sweeping North America” by Emily Stewart (May 3, Vox) “Black workers have made no progress in closing earning gaps with white men since 2000” by Elise Gould, Janelle Jones, and Zane Mokhiber (Sept. 12, 2018, Working Economics Blog) “The U.S. economy could use some ‘overheating’” by Josh Bivens (Jan. 14, Working Economics Blog) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Get Disney Plus in Hulu in a brand new bundle.
0:03.5	Better together for only $9.99 a month.
0:06.0	Offer valid for eligible subscribers only, terms apply.
0:08.8	See Disney Bundle dot com for details.
0:30.5	It's always hard to tackle questions about what's actually going on in the economy.
0:36.0	In large part because the answer really depends on who we're talking about.
0:41.0	The pandemic made this hyper clear.
0:43.1	For a lot of white color workers, the transition to working from home was relatively seamless.
0:48.9	Well off people have saved money by not going on vacation or going out to eat, and many
0:53.8	of them have even made money on the stock market.
0:57.2	For other people though, it's like they were living in a completely different world.
1:01.0	Blue color workers were laid off or deemed essential and had to keep going into work
1:05.2	despite the danger.
1:07.2	Many people's lives were tossed into chaos and uncertainty.
1:11.4	Janelle Jones is one of the people tasked with sorting all of this out.
1:15.3	She's the chief economist at the Department of Labor and a really smart and really unique
1:19.0	voice in economics.
1:20.6	She's the first black woman in her post at the DOL and she's just in her 30s.
1:25.1	She coined the phrase black women best.
1:27.8	It's an idea that centering black women in economic policy is a way to benefit everybody.
1:33.2	I wanted to talk to Janelle because I think that as the economy recovers, there's going
1:37.2	to be a real impetus to declare that everything's okay now and it's time to move on.
	...

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