Progressive politics should focus on immediate problems and material policy.

Work stuff! A shiny new episode of @epi.org's podcast is live, this time featuring @chloeneast.bsky.social, @aaronsojourner.org, and Erica Williams discussing "The Cost of DHS Attacks on Immigrants." Available wherever fine podcasts are downloaded. Also here: www.epi.org/podcast/

The currency in which traded goods are invoiced has a first-order implication for the short-run impact of tariffs on the economy, from Stéphane Auray, Michael B. Devereux, and Aurélien Eyquem www.nber.org/papers/w35398

New from the GC Wealth Project! Introducing a novel global database on the historical evolution of EIG taxes for more than 170 countries and all U.S. states (from 2006). Working paper by Twisha Asher, Luca Giangregorio, @morellisal.bsky.social, @schechtlm.eurosky.social & Francesca Subioli.

A new WP introduces the Wealth Inequality Trends Database of the GC Wealth Project to summarize the main findings on levels & trends in wealth inequality around the world using multiple data sources, & shows that wealth inequality has increased in about 60% of the countries analyzed. bit.ly/4vaa7Uz

This map is useful. Reductive online discourse will sometimes justify inequities in southern Republicans states, but are reluctant to maintain those positions when reminded that the populations being regressed upon are usually poor and Black.

Is recent economic data hiding long-term decline? In a @nytopinion.nytimes.com essay, @durlauf.bsky.social argues that Trump's policies undermine the critical investments in people, science, and innovation that drive long-run economic prosperity. Read the essay: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/o...

One thing I find helpful about spatial @claudia-sahm.bsky.social style rules is they're really useful for fiscal diagnostics at-a-glance. 1/n

The data paints a mixed picture because it’s still early days for the technology. There’s actually a fair bit of public data and researcher surveys but there could be more. Well worth a read -

There are endless ways to modify a @claudia-sahm.bsky.social style rule, each says something new about the #LaborMarket. The #JobsDay numbers on #Unemployment are reassuring in some ways, but @jaredb-econ.bsky.social is right to flag that people leaving the labor force. #EconSky #JobsDay

My Juneteenth interview with Alice Jackson-Jolley at @Forbes on the magnitude of, origins of, and policies to eliminate the racial wealth gap in the United States: www.forbes.com/sites/ali-ja...

It seems we are now entering a new phase of the rise of inequality in the US. It's not just wealth and billionaires — it's a broader acceleration. Here's who benefited from economic growth in 2025, according to the latest estimates available on realtimeinequality.org

'In this conversation, William Darity breaks down the racial wealth gap household by household, makes the case for why neither entrepreneurship nor baby bonds will close it alone, and explains what genuine economic freedom would actually require.' www.forbes.com/sites/ali-ja...

This Juneteenth, I want us to remember that freedom from enslavement meant freedom from men and women enslavers. Contrary to what economic historians have claimed, White women were extremely active in enslaving Black people. A 🧵 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

How does income inequality affect the economy? This paper shows rich and poor households save in different assets, affecting which firms get financing. More inequality means bank-dependent firms create fewer jobs. New paper by Doerr, Drechsel, and Lee: www.restud.com/income-inequ... #REStud

Via @shanegoldmacher.bsky.social (Gift link) A review of polling data on white working-class voters shows a big swing against Trump on his handling of the economy. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/13/u...

I'm very happy for Spike Lee, and all the longstanding Knicks fans.

I got like 6 copies, 1 from me, the rest as gifts.

With Elon Musk hitting trillionaire status, I’m revisiting this exchange with Prof. @jasonfurman.bsky.social When I raised Musk becoming a trillionaire in a CEO/median-worker pay debate, I was told it was tail risk. That tail risk arrived fast. We need better solutions—and new economic thinking.

The most ambitious crossover event in history: SHED data in FRED! news.research.stlouisfed.org/2026/06/fred...

With graduation season here, students are focused on their job prospects in the age of AI. @durlauf.bsky.social told @hechingerreport.org that AI's effects continue evolving and remain difficult to distinguish from the many economic disruptions of recent years. Read: bit.ly/4ejXK1L

The Econ team is hiring at the Center for American Progress! We're looking for a Policy Analyst with strong quantitative and writing skills; experience working with economic data; and an interest in compelling, evidence-based public policy arguments. [1/2] www.americanprogress.org/job/policy-a...

#econ_ra fall intern at AEI internships-aei.icims.com/jobs/2618/fa...

The re-acceleration in job growth this year is striking (and honestly surprising). Job growth has averaged 188k over the past three months; in December, the three-month average stood at -39k (yes, *negative*). #NumbersDay

ICYMI Alternative scenarios often proved more accurate than the baseline forecast. New #FEDSPaper catalogs 1,265 'what-if' exercises from 1968-2020, tracking how Fed staff prepared for demand shocks, supply disruptions, and financial crises. www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds...

The unemployment figures continue to strengthen. Modified @claudia-sahm.bsky.social rules by location and other metrics also show improvement. But similar to 1990, even as headline figures improve, oil shocks/affordability can keep people economically discontent. #EconSky #JobsDay #JobsReport

Love this explanation of where we’re at with synthetic control from @yiqingxu.bsky.social yiqingxu.substack.com/p/what-is-sy...

Creating @claudia-sahm.bsky.social rules by county shows unique local patterns. Typically lower-income areas are pro-cyclical and experience downturns sooner, with higher-income areas being slower/more accurate. The current moment has real regional weakness in the labor market. #SahmRule #EconSky

Our cast of thousands just published a new paper on structural racism, wealth, and health in a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation edited volume published by the Oxford University Press. Please see chapter 3: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Great example of the problems with a naïve AR forecast.

I appreciate this piece by @annielowrey.bsky.social But entire generations/communities exist in a near constant state of downward pressure, unable to find good enough jobs that can afford the most basic premises of a good life: a home and a family. GDP is growing, but the economy isn’t “good.”

These newsletters are a great idea for journals looking to expand their audience, but work on the cover design a bit.

Shout out to the #rstats {performance} package. Its check_model() function is super helpful for model evaluation. #statistics #STEM

Inequality is costing middle class households tens of thousands of dollars

GDP is growing —so is economic dissatisfaction. As @justinwolfers.bsky.social notes in @platypuseconomics.bsky.social, consumer sentiment is at an all-time low. The data shows an unequal economy, that is decoupling from aggregate measures of production. This is a growing depression. #EconSky

Incredible work by @benzipperer.org and @epi.org, very reminiscent of the new book by @arindube.bsky.social #EconSky

New for the Vibecession Debate. Working paper argues that using microdata to get household-specific inflation rates (rather than aggregating first like CPI), you find -lotta variation in household inflation -greater avg inflation during price upturns -lower real wages for lower income people

Creating income decile @claudia-sahm.bsky.social like rules, shows that in the lead up to many recessions lower-income workers experience downturns prior to the aggregate designation and long before higher-income counterparts. #EconSky #SahmRule #Recession #Inequality

📊 In @thecentersquare.bsky.social, Professor @durlauf.bsky.social of @ucstonecenter.bsky.social says the latest labor numbers point to “stasis” in the job market: unemployment remains steady and jobs are growing, but wage growth is weak and gains are uneven. https://har.rs/4tRfS9b

NYT Editorial: America Needs to Build More Housing Gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Sharp piece from @joeldodge07.bsky.social making the case for “public factories” as a response to monopoly power. When a few firms control production, supply gets squeezed, prices rise, and markets alone cannot correct themselves. But building out public industrial capacity can.

Two new facts stand out: 1. 85% of hallucinated citations in preprints are also in the subsequent journal version (thanks, peer review!) 2. Fake cites more likely to use the names of (male) scholars who are already highly cited, creating a fake-citation Matthew effect. arxiv.org/abs/2605.07723

Regardless of which president appointed them, federal judges — including multiple Trump appointees — are repeatedly ruling against Trump's cruel mass detention policy. They are defending the rule of law against a wannabe dictator's lawless crusade.

In a new post for Good Economics I discuss why the most important part of the new book by @arindube.bsky.social "The Wage Standard: What's Wrong in the Labor Market and How to Fix It" is precisely the "and How to Fix It" part. #EconSky

Americans are more productive than ever, but wages haven’t kept up—and the minimum wage has fallen far behind. It’s still $7.25, unchanged since 2009. Adjusted for inflation, it peaked in 1968. Meanwhile, tipped and exempt workers can still be paid poverty wages. #EconSky

So excited to see the Journal of Stratification Economics launch with an inaugural conference this month!

I wish I didn’t know as much about the end of Reconstruction as I do. If you understood what is being unleashed now, how it will touch every aspect of our civic life, and how difficult it will be to undo it, you wouldn’t be able to think about anything else.

As the Class of 2026 enters the labor market in coming weeks and months, college grads may feel their rising unemployment rate though they fare better than their noncollege counterparts. Economic weakness has impacted both groups in recent months and years. For more see: www.epi.org/blog/class-o...

Just reminding everyone that Black political representation has material effects on policy. It’s so effective that the last time Black politicians were run out of office (Reconstruction), it was with violent force. They paid with their lives for their success. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...