Deconstructed Podcast: An Inflation Solution That Doesn’t Screw Workers

Today, we’re sharing an episode of the podcast Deconstructed from our friends over at The Intercept, an award-winning investigative news organization. 

Centrist and right-wing economists continue to advocate for laying off workers and engineering a recession to address inflation. But why not set price controls instead? This week on Deconstructed, host Ryan Grim is joined by James K. Galbraith, a professor of government and business relations at the University of Texas at Austin. Galbraith has an extensive history of working in government, including as executive director of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress and an economist for the House Banking Committee. 

Galbraith and Grim discuss the implementation of price controls by the U.S. government and how such measures bring down prices. They also explore how the Biden administration could expand its price control efforts, and how Galbraith’s father — economist and politician John Kenneth Galbraith — was instrumental in setting price controls during World War II.

If you like Lever Time with David Sirota, be sure to check out Deconstructed on all podcast platforms and subscribe.

A transcript of this episode is available here.