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Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Why Flying Is Miserable And How to Fix It (with Ganesh Sitaraman)

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Civic Ventures

Business, Government, News, Politics

4.81.5K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ganesh Sitaraman joins us today to discuss his new book, Why Flying Is Miserable And How to Fix It. Air travel has become an increasingly frustrating experience, with countless horror stories of cancellations, delays, lost baggage, cramped seats, and poor service. For most of the 20th century flying was luxurious and fun, so it’s especially baffling that air travel is plagued by these problems in the 21st century. Sitaraman delves into the reasons behind this dismal state of affairs, tracing it back to a deliberate choice made by elected leaders in the 1970s to roll back regulations, supposedly in order to increase competition and improve the experience of flying for everyone. After enduring half a century of turbulence caused by deregulation, people are fed up with the state of air travel, and Sitaraman gives us some insight into how we can begin to fix it. Ganesh Sitaraman is a law professor and the director of the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator for Political Economy and Regulation. He was previously a senior advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren on her presidential campaign and is a member of the Administrative Conference of the United States and the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. Sitaraman is the author of several influential books, including "The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution," "The Public Option: How to Expand Freedom, Increase Opportunity, and Promote Equality," and his most recent book, “Why Flying Is Miserable And How to Fix It.” Twitter: @GaneshSitaraman Why Flying Is Miserable And How to Fix It https://bookshop.org/a/101360/9798987053584 Book Website https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/why-flying-is-miserable/ More from Ganesh Sitaraman: The Atlantic - Airlines Are Just Banks Now https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/airlines-banks-mileage-programs/675374/ The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution https://bookshop.org/a/101360/9781101973455 Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

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.

0:10.0

It's time to build our economy from the bottom up and from the middle out, not the top down.

0:15.5

Middle out economics is the answer.

0:17.8

Because Wall Street didn't build this country.

0:20.1

Great middle class built this country.

0:22.2

The more the middle class thrives, the better the economy from the middle out.

0:42.0

Welcome to the show.

0:44.0

So I got to

0:50.0

So I got to admit Nick that when you first asked me to come work for you I was a little

0:57.2

wary of whether you'd be just another narcissistic arrogant billionaire.

1:06.9

And, you know, I don't want to compliment you too much,

1:09.6

but I was pleasantly surprised.

1:11.6

You turned out to be incredibly well read, well informed, curious, flexible,

1:20.6

and just a much better thought partner than I could have hoped for.

1:25.0

And that is why today I am so excited to finally talk about something

1:31.0

that you know nothing about.

1:33.0

And that is the misery of flying commercial.

1:38.0

Yeah, there you go.

1:40.0

Happily or sadly, I don't, I don't have to do much of that anymore.

1:43.0

No you don't and and no.

1:45.0

I do occasionally though.

1:47.0

Yeah in first class what international which is yes still a surface eye. when was the last time you flew economy on a

...

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