# From Safety Net to Power Base: Reclaiming Economic Power for Working People (with Jamie Keene)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/pitchfork-economics-with-nick-hanauer-653707/from-safety-net-to-power-base-reclaiming-economic-power-for-working-people-with-jamie-keene
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/pitchfork-economics-with-nick-hanauer-653707/from-safety-net-to-power-base-reclaiming-economic-power-for-working-people-with-jamie-keene.md
Podcast: [Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer](https://stenobird.com/podcast/pitchfork-economics-with-nick-hanauer-653707)
Published: 2026-04-21T15:59:00+00:00
Episode link: https://chrt.fm/track/28EG51/traffic.megaphone.fm/PCHEC1637890432.mp3
Audio file: https://chrt.fm/track/28EG51/traffic.megaphone.fm/PCHEC1637890432.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2625

## Resource

The social safety net wasn’t supposed to work like this. Decades of neoliberal choices from politicians in both parties reshaped it—turning what was meant to support people into a system that often leaves them stuck. This week, Jamie Keene, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and former Biden White House policy advisor, joins us to break down how we got here—and why today’s anti-poverty system can actually reinforce the very conditions it’s meant to solve. From requirements that trap workers in low-wage jobs to public programs that quietly subsidize those business models, we unpack how the system evolved—and what it would take to turn it into a system that actually gives people power. Jamie Keene is a stratification economics fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and a former White House policy advisor on equality and opportunity. She is also the author of From Safety Net to Power Base: Reimagining, Not Restoring, the US Antipoverty System. Further reading: From Safety Net to Power Base: Reimagining, Not Restoring, the US Antipoverty System 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

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