Economic Futures
Building a movement–one story at a time
05. 30. 2025
Ask any young person if the economy is working for them, and odds are, you’ll get a resounding “no.” Homeownership is out of reach, student loan payments are back, and the cost of everyday necessities like groceries and prescription drugs are sky high; AI is breaking the bottom rung of their career ladders; so it’s no wonder more than 40% of Americans under 30 say they’re “barely getting by” financially.
People’s lived experience of the economy matters. In the last election, we saw a noticeable rightward shift among young voters, especially among Black and Latino men—a trend largely attributed to this generation’s frustration with decades of a rigged and broken economic system that has failed to deliver stability and economic opportunity. In the absence of a clear and compelling alternative, voters took their chances with a populist anecdote to the broken status quo.
The election exit polls corroborated research that ESP led on economic precarity and cash, in which we identified a large set of voters—“the young and anxious”—who are politically diverse, stressed about their economic future, and convinced the government is not doing enough to help.
This audience is primed to be the next generation of advocates for an inclusive economic agenda.
But reaching them where they are at requires new strategies. Our traditional playbook no longer works. Nearly half of TikTok users under 30 say they use the platform to stay up-to-date on politics and news, and one in five Americans now gets their news from social media influencers. Meanwhile, cable news continues to skew older and white, with the median viewer hovering around 70 years old.
At ESP, we are deploying new narrative strategies that will help people build agency, identity, and power in their own lives. That’s where POP! Economy and the Economic Futures Cohort come in. They’re two early examples of a broader strategy of investing in new voices and new messages, and will help establish feedback loops so we can constantly learn and iterate.
- POP! Economy is our new channel across Instagram and TikTok, designed to cut through the noise and bring an economic lens to people’s feeds. We’re using humor, pop culture, and storytelling to connect the dots between what people are feeling in their pocketbooks to the bigger picture, exposing how corporate greed, unfair tax policies, and decades of disinvestment in our healthcare, education, and housing have rigged the economy against working people, while also spotlighting bold solutions that solve the real problems in people’s lives. We’ve covered Katy Perry going to space and the billionaire roadshow, how dynamic pricing is preventing BeyHive fans from accessing Cowboy Carter tickets, and spotlighting innovative thinking like city-owned grocery stores. Our goal is to bring people into our economic vision in the ways they see, consume, and experience the economy. Watch POP! In action, and make sure to follow!
- Economic Futures Cohort is a group of trusted content creators and independent journalists, each reaching their own unique online communities with content that makes economic issues personal. They are connecting the dots across climate, care, labor, and more, surfacing the deeper truth of our economy and imagining what it would take to build one that truly works for everyone. We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with this talented pool of creators to test, learn, and refine our messaging in real time while making some compelling content on real pocketbook issues. The group spans across platforms, including thought leaders like TikTok pollster Joshua Doss, personal finance YouTuber Cara Nicole O’Malley, and IG climate communicator Michael Mezzatesta. Take a moment to check out our entire inaugural cohort (and follow them!) and read more about how they are an integral part of our new narrative strategy.
- This is about more than just creating content. It’s about investing in frontline communicators who’ve built real trust with their audiences, learning from how they reach people on our issues, and recognizing that there are many entry points into our movement. POP! and the Futures Cohort are just the beginning of our new strategy to reach new audiences and bring them into the fight to create an economy for all.
What Else We’ve Been Up To
Marketcrafters: Project 2029 for Democrats
ESP co-founder Chris Hughes has been on a national book tour for Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy. The book’s ideas are sparking major conversations! The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart called Marketcrafters “Project 2029 for Democrats,” a nod to the blueprint it lays out for how government can effectively build markets that deliver stability for all Americans. In an interview with Bloomberg, Chris highlighted a key example from the book: how Reagan-era leaders used marketcrafting to invest in semiconductor production, helping launch today’s booming U.S. tech industry.
On The Daily Show, Chris also discussed how marketcrafting could help solve today’s housing crisis. With housing costs consuming over 30% of many Americans’ paychecks, he outlines a plan for a new public institution that could stabilize prices, support construction, and prevent future instability.
For a compelling vision of how we can move beyond President Trump’s “marketcrashing” and design markets that deliver long-term prosperity and resilience, check out Marketcrafters.
ESP Welcomes New Fellows
We’re thrilled to announce a new cohort of fellows whose expertise in tech innovation, government, and economic policy will help us expand the ideas in our toolbox to build an economy that works for all of us. Our fellows bring deep public service experience and expertise to deliver solutions that meet the challenges Americans face in their daily lives. Please welcome:
- Jamie Keene, an expert on civil rights, economic inequality, and the social safety net, was most recently Special Assistant to the President for Equality and Opportunity at the White House. At ESP, Jamie will help inform a vision for a modern, trust-based income floor.
- Anisha Steephen has more than 15 years of expertise in public policies correcting structural inequality and was the first Senior Policy Advisor for Racial Equity at the US Department of the Treasury. Anisha will research how to redesign public investment to promote equity, redistribute power and build an inclusive, multiracial democracy.
- Vaishant Sharma, whose career is in venture philanthropy, business strategy and federal policy, was most recently Director of Economic Policy at the White House Economic Council. At ESP, Vaishant will create a roadmap rooted in the needs of working families and inclusive economic growth.
ICYMI: Our Picks
As we expand our narrative strategy, we’re also uplifting stories that resonated with us this month, including efforts in New York and Los Angeles to make life affordable for families, bold ideas like a city-owned grocery store, and powerful voices speaking up to demand a fair tax code for everyone.
- City-owned grocery stores show the power of public options
Venice is a historically Black community that has faced decades of disinvestment. For years, residents had to travel miles to access fresh food, but thanks to the Illinois Grocery Initiative, the city is opening a publicly owned grocery store.“People’s access to fresh food shouldn’t hinge on whether a corporation sees their town as ‘profitable.’” - What happens when community college students get $1,000 a month?
More than half of all 194,000 students in the Los Angeles Community College District live near or below the poverty line. BOOST is one of the nation’s first guaranteed income programs targeting community college students. For participant Adriana Orea, receiving the cash has made her laser-focused on her goals, “Having this opportunity made me take a hard look at myself and be like, ‘This is what you want. How are you going to get there? Take advantage that you have this.” - California is making moves to curb algorithmic price-fixing
Economic Security California Action is proudly co-sponsoring AB 325, which would ensure corporations cannot use algorithms to sidestep competition law, and it cleared a major hurdle earlier this month. “With smart policy like AB 325, we can stop algorithmic price-fixing, promote real competition, and build an economy that works for all Californians.” - A tale of two families
Conservatives’ new federal budget proposal will gut the very programs that keep working families afloat—while handing massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans. A new report from the California Budget and Policy Center makes the stakes painfully clear using the example of two California families. ESP President Natalie Foster breaks it down. “This is cruel and it’s bad for the American economy.” - Fighting for a fair tax deal
As Conservatives gather to slash healthcare and food assistance to pay for tax breaks for billionaires, Economic Security Project Action and allies gathered on Capitol Hill to speak out against the tax scam. “We are sending a clear message to Congress: ‘We need to fund families, not billionaires.’” - The Child Care Crisis Is Motivating These New York City Voters
With daycare in NYC costing $2,000 to $4,000 a month, over half of families with children age 4 and younger cannot afford to pay for it. In NYC’s mayoral election, parents are planning to cast their votes for a candidate who has “the vision to recognize that child care isn’t a family issue, it’s an economic issue.”