Why Your Raise Doesn’t Feel Like a Raise (with Angela Hanks)

Hosts Paul and Goldie discuss a new report from the Century Foundation revealing that 52 cents of every dollar in recent real wage gains is consumed by consumer debt. They interview report author Angela Hanks, who explains how high debt payments disproportionately burden lower-income workers and Black women, effectively locking them into jobs and limiting economic mobility. The conversation highlights the disconnect between top-line economic metrics and lived financial realities, proposing debt cancellation and structural wage reforms as solutions.

Topics discussed

Introduction: Middle-out economics vs. trickle-down Hosts' backgrounds and personal debt experiences The nature of consumer debt and economic disconnect Declining real wages and the need for new data Introduction of Angela Hanks and the report Key findings: Debt impact on labor market 52 cents of every wage dollar goes to debt Income inequality: Debt burden by income tier Financial precarity and lack of safety nets Challenging the 'good debt' assumption: Auto loans Risks of long-term auto loans vs. historical norms Credit cards as a source of income for essentials The cycle of debt and stagnant wage growth Disproportionate impact on Black women Lost choices and impossible financial decisions Systemic failures: Healthcare, education, and labor Limitations of current economic data Proposing RIND: Real Income Net of Debt How debt reduces worker mobility and bargaining power Rebutting arguments that inequality is not a problem Evidence of household financial crunch Debt cancellation and wealth inequality in education Debt cancellation as an immediate economic boost Structural solutions: Wages, organizing, and discrimination Addressing high costs of healthcare and childcare Magic wand solution: Reversing wealth redistribution Personal reflections on widespread struggle Terry Pratchett's 'Boots' and the cost of poverty Why it is more expensive to be poor Adam Smith, power dynamics, and worker strikes Conclusion and show credits

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Why Your Raise Doesn’t Feel Like a Raise (with Angela Hanks)

Summary

Topics discussed