About this episode

The episode discusses the myth of austerity as a responsible economic policy and its implications in modern capitalism.

This week, we’re continuing our archive miniseries, Myths That Built Trickle-Down Economics, with the myth that austerity is responsible economic policy. We’re revisiting this conversation now because the austerity playbook is still very much alive. The Trump administration and DOGE have cut federal agencies, pushed out public servants, and treated public infrastructure like waste — even though those are the systems we need most during a crisis. And if the economy turns downward, politicians will almost certainly reach for the same old answer: slash public support, make working people pay the price, and call it responsibility. Nick and Goldy talk with professor and political economist Clara Mattei, author of The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism, about how austerity became one of the most powerful myths of modern capitalism, how economists helped sell it as common sense, and why it has always been about more than budgets. Clara Mattei is a professor of economics at the University of Tulsa, Founding President of FREE: Forum for Real Economic Emancipation, and author of The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the…

People in this episode

Host: Nick Hanauer

Guest: Clara Mattei

Topics covered

• austerity
• trickle-down economics
• economic policy
• political economy
• capitalism
• public infrastructure

Keywords

• austerity
• trickle-down economics
• economic policy
• Clara Mattei
• public support
• capitalism
• political economy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Civic Ventures

Books & works: The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention

More episodes of Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

• Myths That Built Trickle-Down Economics: Productivity Doesn’t Trickle Down (with Preston Mui) · July 21, 2026 · 37 min
• Myths That Built Trickle-Down Economics: Zombie Economics (with Paul Krugman) · July 7, 2026 · 45 min
• Myths That Built Trickle-Down Economics: Shareholder Value (with William Lazonick and Lenore Palladino) · June 30, 2026 · 48 min
• Myths That Built Trickle-Down Economics: Regulations Kill Growth (with Robert Reich) · June 23, 2026 · 39 min
• AI Job Loss Is Real. The Catastrophe Is Optional (with Kathryn Edwards) · June 16, 2026 · 39 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer podcast page.