How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray (with Nat Dyer)
In the second episode of our Trade series, Nick and Goldy talk with author Nat Dyer about his book Ricardo’s Dream: How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray. Dyer reveals how David Ricardo’s famous theory of comparative advantage—long touted as proof that free trade is always a win-win—was built on unrealistic assumptions and a false history.
They trace how this elegant but misleading model fueled globalization, masked exploitation, and locked nations into centuries of stagnation. From Trump’s tariff tantrums to Biden’s “small yard, high fence” strategy, their conversation challenges the myths of free trade and asks: when does trade strengthen societies, and when does it doom them to decline?
Nat Dyer is a writer and researcher specializing in global political economy and author of the book Ricardo's Dream: How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray. He is a Fellow of the Schumacher Institute and the Royal Society of Arts. He has worked for Global Witness and for Promoting Economic Pluralism, and his stories have been reported on by the BBC, the New York Times, and Bloomberg.
Social Media:
@natjdyer.bsky.social
@natjdyer
Further reading:
Ricardo's Dream: How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray
Escape from Model Land: How Mathematical Models Can Lead Us Astray and What We Can Do about It
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Trade Wars, Class Wars & Globalization: Unpacking The Truth About Trade (featuring David Autor & Marc Palen)
In this kickoff to our special series on trade, Nick and Goldy unpack why trade policy isn’t just about tariffs and treaties—it’s about people, power, and priorities. For decades, the prevailing narrative has been that trade benefits everyone by lowering prices. But the real question is: who does it help, and who does it hurt? From the false promises of globalization to the overlooked damage in hollowed-out communities, this episode sets the stage for exploring a fresh way to think about trade—one grounded in power dynamics, democratic values, and middle-out economics.
David Autor is a labor economist and professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies how technological change and globalization affect workers. He is also co-director of the MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative and the National Bureau of Economic Research Labor Studies Program.
Marc-William Palen is a historian and senior lecturer at the University of Exeter, specializing in the history of international relations, U.S. foreign policy, and political economy. He is the author of Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World.
Social Media:
@davidautor.bsky.social
@davidautor
@mwpalen.bsky.social
@MWPalen
Further reading:
Places versus People: The Ins and Outs of Labor Market Adjustment to Globalization
Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World
Recovering the Left-Wing Free Trade Tradition
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Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers (with Mark Blyth)
Political economist Mark Blyth joins Nick and Goldy to unpack the myths and realities of rising prices, from pandemic supply shocks and corporate profiteering to central-bank missteps and decades of bad economic theory. Drawing from his new book Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers, Blyth explains why some narratives fall flat, why others reveal deeper truths about power and inequality, and what smarter, more equitable policies could look like in the future.
Mark Blyth is a political economist and professor of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, where he studies the political power of economic ideas. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea and Angrynomics, and most recently Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers.
Social Media:
@mkblyth.bsky.social
@MkBlyt
Further reading:
Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers
Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
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Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
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Back to Basics Series: Homo Economicus Must Die (with Samuel Bowles)
What if the relentless drive to maximize personal gain isn't human nature, but just a flawed model we built? In this Back-to-Basics episode, behavioral economist Samuel Bowles helps us lay homo economicus—the myth of the perfectly rational, self-interested actor—six feet under. He shows how this caricature not only misrepresents human behavior, but underpins an economic system that ignores cooperation, community, and ethics. If we're hoping to reclaim our society from greed-driven oligarchs and neoliberal policy, we need a better model—which starts with recognizing that humans are more than economic robots.
Samuel Bowles is an economist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, currently serving as Research Professor and Director of the Behavioral Sciences Program at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also the author of The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens.
This episode originally aired May 7, 2019.
Further reading:
The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens
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Back to Basics Series: Is the American Dream a Lie? (with Christian Cooper and Khiara Bridges)
The promise of the American Dream—work hard, play by the rules, and you’ll get ahead—is unraveling before our eyes.
In this Back-to-Basics episode, Christian H. Cooper and law professor Khiara Bridges join Nick and Goldy to posit whether economic mobility has ever truly existed, or if the system was rigged from the start. As wages stagnate, homeownership drifts out of reach, and inequality worsens, their conversation exposes how the American Dream has always been selectively granted and systematically denied.
Amid today’s debates over “competitiveness” and “opportunity,” this episode is a reminder: the American Dream didn’t disappear by accident—it’s been taken. Understanding how is the first step toward winning it back.
Christian Cooper is a derivatives trader, quantitative finance author, and commentator based in New York City. He directs Banking for a New Beginning, a collaboration between the Aspen Institute and the U.S. Department of State that connects central banks in emerging markets—such as Turkey, Tunisia, and Pakistan—with best practices to strengthen their financial systems
Khiara M. Bridges is an anthropologist and professor of law at UC Berkeley School of Law, specializing in race, class, reproductive rights, and constitutional law. She is the author of The Poverty of Privacy Rights.
Social Media:
@christiancooper
Further reading:
The Poverty of Privacy Rights
Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
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TikTok: @pitchfork_econ
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Substack: The Pitch
We are living through a paradigm shift from trickle-down neoliberalism to middle-out economics — a new understanding of who gets what and why. Join zillionaire class-traitor Nick Hanauer and some of the world’s leading economic and political thinkers as they explore the latest thinking on how the economy actually works.