Nick Hanauer
Nick Hanauer is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author and civic leader whose work focuses on economic inequality, public policy and the future of capitalism. He is the founder of Civic Ventures, a public policy incubator dedicated to developing ideas and policies for a more inclusive and dynamic economy. He was an early investor in Amazon and has founded, financed or managed more than 40 companies across technology, media, aerospace, biotechnology and finance.
Hanauer has become a prominent critic of trickle-down economics and a leading advocate for policies that promote broad-based prosperity. He was an early campaigner for a $15 minimum wage and has argued that rising wages, strong public investment and a prosperous middle class are not obstacles to economic growth but important drivers of it.
With Oxford economist Eric Beinhocker, Hanauer has developed the concept of “Market Humanism”, a new economic paradigm that seeks to move beyond the assumptions of neoliberal economics. Their work argues that markets are human-created institutions and should be designed to promote human flourishing, democratic resilience and shared prosperity.
Hanauer is the author of The True Patriot, The Gardens of Democracy and Corporate Bullshit, and co-host of the podcast Pitchfork Economics. His work brings the perspective of an entrepreneur and investor to fundamental questions about how economies work, who they serve and what a more prosperous and equitable economic future might look like.
