{"podcast":{"title":"Optimist Economy","slug":"optimist-economy-7257068","podcast_index_feed_id":7257068,"rss_url":"https://publicfeeds.net/f/14811/feed-rss.xml","website_url":"https://optimisteconomy.com/","image_url":"https://f.prxu.org/14811/images/160bea8c-1709-420c-9302-11462f46d1b6/20250316_120343_934a657c8303c901ea17b8b7452ae07d.png","author":"Kathryn Anne Edwards and Robin Rauzi","episode_count":62,"summary":"Optimist Economy is the anti-doomscroll economics podcast. Work rules, tax fairness, healthcare, housing costs, retirement security — the economic forces shaping American life have real problems. But also real solutions. Each week, economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and editor Robin Rauzi break down one problem and solution with data, history, humor, and a belief that tools to build a better economy exist. We just haven't tried them. New episodes on Tuesdays. ✨ Support the podcast at: optimisteconomy.com ✨ Ask questions or share your economic worries with us at: optimist.economy@gmail.com","last_synced_at":"2026-07-07T18:17:17.071935+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068"},"episode":{"title":"The Great Wage Stagnation","slug":"the-great-wage-stagnation","published_at":"2026-04-21T08:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068/the-great-wage-stagnation","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068","url":"https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_14811_bdd2fe6e-4855-418c-b6e9-1df6dbb6baee&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F14811%2Ffeed-rss.xml","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/sblTq32fyWAjsHzze2LG/dovetail.prxu.org/14811/bdd2fe6e-4855-418c-b6e9-1df6dbb6baee/260421_OE_213_Wages_Final.mp3","summary":"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 . Get that excellent hat at: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy Got economic anxieties, executive orders or spiritual sponsors? Send them to optimist.economy@gmail.com","meta_description":"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…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2814,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/optimist-economy-7257068/episodes/the-great-wage-stagnation/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068/the-great-wage-stagnation.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}