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Episode 977

Facebook Co-Founder Chris Hughes on Marketcraft and the Future of the American Economy

May 19, 2025
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About the Guest

Chris Hughes

Co-Founder of Facebook, Co-Founder & Chair of The Economic Security Project
Chris Hughes is the co-founder of Facebook and former director of digital organizing for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. He is the Chair of the Economic Security Project and author of Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy. Hughes has worked in media, venture capital, and public policy, and is currently pursuing a PhD in economics at the Wharton School.

Episode Overview

“Marketcraft isn’t left or right—it’s a method,” says Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and author of Marketcrafters. In this episode, Hughes and host Peter High explore how governments have shaped U.S. markets over the past century.

They discuss economic history, policy strategy, and the role of institutions like the Federal Reserve and RFC in stabilizing the economy.

Key highlights include:

  • Why the Fed is an overlooked example of successful marketcraft

  • How the U.S. semiconductor industry was saved through coordinated policy

  • The structural failure of U.S. healthcare markets

  • Distinguishing industrial policy from broader economic strategy

  • Hughes’s call for expert-driven, stable institutions in a volatile era

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