Optimist Economy

Cash is dirty, inconvenient, and so last century. Some 70% of Americans under age 50 think its days are numbered. But we still need those greenbacks, if as an alternative to banks. More than 4% of households are “unbanked,” and three times as many are “underbanked,” meaning bank services mostly don’t work for them, so rely on services like check cashers or payday lenders. And that's before you get to the racial disparities in who banks approve for credit. Reviving banking services at the post office might be one way to help the unbanked and keep from handing yet more power to the finance sector. 

Chapters:
00:00:48 Announcements
00:02:30  Retcon: Semiquincentennia 
00:03:35 Terms & Conditions: ChexSystems, Unbanked
00:05:46  Big Pilcrow: What’s keeping the U.S. from going cashless?
00:38:28  Executive Orders: Regulate youth sports schedules; Airline baggage fees by weight.
00:40:56  Spiritual Sponsors: Artemis splashdown; Friends with season tickets.

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Consumer sentiment is in the basement. Jobs aren't being added. Prices keep climbing. GDP barely grew at the end of 2025, and a ‘meh’ 2% last quarter. Shouldn’t this be a recession? Not so far. Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards walks through the clear cause of each bad number: Tariffs explain the prices and foul mood. Mass deportations explain the jobs. The government shutdown explained last quarter. Still, knowing the passing reasons for economic pain doesn't make it hurt less. And none of it changes the long-term economic reforms we still need.

Chapters: 
00:01:06 Announcements
00:01:57 Retcon: Wealth at retirement
00:03:52 Terms & Conditions: Recession, Slack, Tight, Loose, Goodflation/Badflation
00:09:10 Centerpiece: What is going on with the U.S. Economy right now? The vibe is don’t panic. But don’t not panic. 
00:53:38 Executive Orders: Free work parking. Legislators do their own taxes.
00:55:00 Spiritual Sponsors: Genre-specific bookstores and great newstands

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(Originally aired 5/06/25) What sparks progress? The right political conditions? Social pressure? Economic upheaval? In response to two listeners’ questions, we say… both none of those and all of the above. As an example, we talk through just one bit of the New Deal in the 1930s, which was the law to limit child labor. That movement started decades earlier, and continued decades afterward. For those keeping score at home, this a sneaky third installment of Kathryn’s 68-part series on the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. 
Chapters: 
00:01:08 Announcements
00:01:43 Retcon
00:03:58 Terms & Conditions
00:07:03 Centerpiece
00:42:56 Executive Orders
00:46:25 Spiritual Sponsors

Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com

Follow us on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy. Or on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠. 

Chat with other Optimists on Substack.

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Average U.S. wages have barely budged since the early '80s — and if you account for today's labor force being older and more college-educated, wage growth basically disappears. Economists have cycled through explanations: workers lacked technical skills, then couldn't compete with global labor, then lost the policies that once lifted paychecks, like strong unions and a meaningful minimum wage. The latest chapter is monopsony — the idea that as employers consolidate, people have fewer choices of where to work, and fewer places to land if they lose a job. Fix the market, and the paychecks follow.

Chapters:
00:00:45 Announcements
00:01:01  Retcon: Double Taxation and Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act
00:03:10 Terms & Conditions: Monopsony, Septel
00:07:07  Big Pilcrow: Why Aren’t Wages Growing?
00:40:37  Executive Orders: Reverse Billing, Leaked Chat Table Readings
00:42:49  Spiritual Sponsors: Dole Whip, Sad Songs, Being Recognized in the Wild

Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com

Follow us on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy. Chat with other Optimists on Substack.

Andy says look at the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠. 

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Got economic anxieties, executive orders or spiritual sponsors? Send them to [email protected]

From California to Washington to New York, states are trying to tax the very rich. The press keeps rehashing whether millionaires and billionaires will flee those states. Wrong question. The more important one is why we’re improvising tax policy state to state when it’s the federal government that should be dealing with health care, child care and affordability—all of which are national problems. Meanwhile, some Senate Democrats are proposing to take even more people out of the tax system entirely. None of these specific proposals make income taxes simpler or fairer, but they do suggest there’s an appetite for reform. 
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Chapters:
00:01:18 Announcements
00:02:33 Retcon: Occupational Licenses
00:06:16 Terms & Conditions: Progressive
00:07:59  Big Pilcrow: Everyone Wants to Tax Millionaires
00:38:23  Executive Orders: Unreadable Menus and Tax Complainer Merch
00:41:42  Spiritual Sponsors: Dream Robin & the Nobel Laureate’s WNBA Contract

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We have faces on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠. We’re also on Instagram at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠@optimist_economy. 

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Got economics questions, anxieties, or executive orders? Send them to [email protected]