The Wealth of Two Nations, which documents the evolution of the racial wealth gap, is one of the most important papers in THE CENTURY.

Jackson, Mississippi, has the nation's highest homicide rate, more than 3 times the rate in DC

This week, I’ve been driving across the country as I am moving from my hometown of DC to LA to begin my PhD @priceschool.usc.edu. While I’ve been taking in the sights on my road trip, I’ve also been following along as Trump sics federal forces on the city I grew up in.

Grossly irresponsible of the Times to have this ludicrous credulous spin as the top story the morning after a president who rules by fiat proclaims a totally specious emergency to militarize the capital - an editorial insult to our intelligence and our democracy.

What to make of POTUS's attempt to fire the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)? Let's run down what knowledgable people are saying...

The very clear message is that the BLS head will be fired if they do not produce numbers that meet Trump's approval. In related news, these are the last set of BLS job numbers we can assume have not been doctored.

"This order does nothing to lower the cost of housing or help people make ends meet. The safest communities are those with the most housing and resources, not those that make it a crime to be poor or sick." Full statement at homelesslaw.org/statement724...

There is considerable evidence that housing first is the best way to address homelessness housingmatters.urban.org/feature/hous... Trump admin is already proposing massive cuts to HUD’s housing programs; now it wants to use an executive order to sweep people off the streets—but not give them homes.

⚠️ New timely WP ⚠️ Rising wealth inequality and democratic backsliding at the US state-level #EconSky #Sociology #PolicySky @stone-lis.bsky.social WP here: doi.org/10.31235/osf...

Please for the love of god get A’ja Wilson some help!!!

GOP reconciliation bill's effects: —Poorest 1/5 of earners: *declining* after-tax incomes —Those making >$3 m/year gain $118,000 —12 m people become uninsured —3.2 m people lose food stamps —US stops its efforts to combat climate change —$122 billion spent on deportation & concentration camps

"The minutiae of the Medicaid policy" - 16-17 million people will lose health insurance in a country where health care costs are ruinous. Many of these are exactly the people Vance claims to represent. But erecting a police state to deport foreigners is more important, I guess.

Increasing taxes on those likely struggling to make ends meet, all while stripping away the social safety net of Medicaid and SNAP. Inequitable, inefficient, bad economics, and just plain cruel. But hey, that tax cut for millionaires is going to drive growth, right? 🥴

the Mystics freaking rock

Exciting to be starting new research with the @financialequity.bsky.social on trust in banking! Stay tuned…nore updates and details to come.

So...yesterday, I found out that my #PhD funding from the government was terminated so money for survival is now in jeopardy. 🙃 If you know of ANY sources of funding, please let me know. #academicsky #academia #research #blackademics #econsky

Watching SGA play basketball just brings me so much joy. The way he moves on the floor 🤩🤧

Scoop: The federal government has lost so many lawyers at HUD that the housing agency is at risk of fraud, abuse and litigation, according to an internal report. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The House reconciliation bill would create tax-advantaged investment accounts for American children. The goal is to give more people a stake in financial markets, a key wealth-building mechanism. But there are some problems that the Senate could address in markups 🧵: www.urban.org/urban-wire/w...

Last week, Trump said he was considering taking Fannie and Freddie out of conservatorship. Luckily, Laurie Goodman has been ahead of the game. So if you’re newly curious about recapitalizing the GSEs, check out her assessment (+ some great webinars in related content): www.urban.org/research/pub...

Massively cutting Medicaid and SNAP isn’t the only way to find savings. We could just forgo tax cuts for Americans making over $500K instead. My @morningjoe-msnbc.bsky.social Chart

New, from me: Quick explainer on why the Supreme Court (likely) decision to overturn Humphrey's Executor and move toward unitary executive theory will undermine any future efforts to rebuild state capacity. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/why-the-su...

They blame pollution but cut the EPA and clean air and water regulations. They blame poor nutrition but cut SNAP and programs to bring local produce to schools. They blame increased screen time while destroying public infrastructure that connects people. All while they take millions off healthcare.

Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

This is what the House GOP has been working on—renaming “MAGA Accounts" to "Trump Accounts." While they’re stripping healthcare for millions, they’re pulling this shit.

The current structure of opportunity zones makes it a costly program, but it isn't moving the needle on development overall, and especially not in rural places or regions with lower incomes and lower levels of existing investment. www.urban.org/urban-wire/o...

House GOP reconciliation would renew opportunity zone program, which GOP claims increases housing supply by giving investors tax breaks. But our research @urbaninstitute.bsky.social shows that $100b in OZ tax breaks have not increased jobs or business—& concentrated spending in a few neighborhoods.

Responding to the mass cancellation of NSF grants, Fazio (@lkfazio.bsky.social), a researcher who studies misinformation: “What can US researchers do in this situation? One thing is clear: do not surrender to political pressure or abandon crucial research questions.”

This coalition is about using Jews to gain power, not about protecting Jews. bsky.app/profile/moir...

“Project Esther changed the paradigm by associating anyone who opposes Israeli policies with the ‘Hamas Support Network,’” said Jonathan Jacoby, the national director of the Nexus Project, a watchdog group that works to combat antisemitism and protect open debate. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/18/u...

This was VERY fun. HAPPY WNBA SEASON!!!

Happy 2025 WNBA Season Opening Day to all those who celebrate.

This is just not true. The majority view among researchers at this point is that work requirements do not work. There is a reason they do not cite a single study here.

This ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ Instead of betting on the “good faith” of billionaires to “give back” - let’s set up a system with appropriate taxation that better positions all of us to thrive, not just those whose work aligns with the whims of rich individuals

The sudden Chan Zuckerberg divestment from housing and racial justice organizations underscores the problem with a system based on philanthropy instead of progressive taxation. The better way: tax the hell out of billionaires and invest the revenue in communities.

For most voters, "the economy" doesn't mean the economy. It means: "my ability to afford the kind of life that was promised to me."

White men make up less than a third of the US population. They are vastly OVERrepresented at Harvard ... and the US government sees this as discrimination.

People really tried to argue, for years, that this is about economic anxiety and not white supremacy.

The MOU between IRS & ICE would reduce tax revenue, undermine privacy and effective governance, and worsen the well being of children and families across the country. None of us are better off when more households, regardless of immigration status, are fearful.

I assume we'll be hearing about this from the New York Times for four weeks straight, right?

it’s not a net loss. it’s the cost of a service. I don’t have a net loss with hulu. it costs something and I pay it.

Were you aware that Trump is destroying previous scientific research data? Not just discontinuing the funding of it. Not just hiding it from US. Literally DESTROYING IT. www.bbc.com/future/artic...

New research @urbaninstitute.bsky.social shows that GOP's plan to extend 2017 tax cuts & cut Medicaid/SNAP would: —Increase incomes by 4% for households with incomes >$200,000 —Reduce incomes for households making <$30,000—with a reduction of $15% for the poorest www.urban.org/research/pub...

The University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty senate voted this week in support of joining the Big 10 Mutual Defense Compact. www.wpr.org/news/uw-madi...

The US today: —Flying migrants to torture prisons in El Salvador & Libya, with no way out —President blatantly ignoring Supreme Court —Masked vigilante police kidnapping people from the street —Sending US citizen children overseas against families’ will —Utter disregard from Feds for due process

Department of Ed just cut the funding for children’s television shows on PBS. Why? Shows like Sesame Street and Clifford the Big Red Dog are “woke propaganda.” This administration hates children and wants to cut opportunities to expand learning and potential mobility. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/u...

This is horrible and alarming news. Background at Law Dork, but I will have more: www.lawdork.com/p/trump-requ...

If the courts cannot pretty rapidly step in and stop this obvious abuse of public funds to settle political scores, they won’t do a whole lot else to hold against an authoritarian state

Watching lots of hoops lately, which sometimes feels like I'm burying my head in the sand, trying to forget reality. But my recent re-read of The Joy of Basketball reminded me, "basketball is a reliable hope-generating machine that always gives us another season, another game, another possession"

Trump admin's budget would gut the Department of Housing and Urban Development, with a 44% cut in funding, reduced from $77 to $43.5 b. Cut could translate to 4 million people—living in every part of the country—losing housing assistance. Virtually every city would lose infra funding from CDBG.