So thrilled to share this overview of a timely new book from @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social, as she talks with APEX about "The Price of Democracy" and how battles over taxes define who belongs in 'We the People' bit.ly/4aXIBSj @jacobhacker.bsky.social

You can read my take on Trump's illegal invasion of Venezuela here: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

In case you missed Jacob S. Hacker’s lecture on the crisis of the Democratic Party and the future of American democracy, you can find an audio transcript on our website: www.mpifg.de/1445466/2025... @jacobhacker.bsky.social @americanacademy.bsky.social

NEW STUDY shows party control shapes racial representation in U.S. Lawmaking: bit.ly/4rKdKQB @maclockhart.bsky.social @jacobhacker.bsky.social @markarianga.bsky.social

Is national policy more responsive to the preferences of white Americans than to those of people of color? When Republicans control the presidency and/or the Senate, yes. White voters are more likely to see legislation they support become law than are Black, Latino, or Asian American voters.

Republicans' hugely unpopular bill is law; will they pay the electoral price for it they should? My research with @patrick-sullivan.bsky.social for @equitablegrowth.bsky.social has good news: voters informed about the bill's effects overwhelmingly oppose it. equitablegrowth.org/americans-in...

@justinwolfers.bsky.social discussing how unbelievably unpopular the Big Beautiful Bill becomes among REPUBLICANS when you show them how much it takes from ordinary Americans to pad the pockets of the rich, based on the survey @basicmountain.bsky.social and I did. Grateful he’s spreading the word!

Republicans recoil when they learn about the the reserve-Robin Hood effects of their own party's signature policy bill. Honestly, @basicmountain.bsky.social and I were gobsmacked by how large these effects were in our survey experiment. Also, @justinwolfers.bsky.social should create all our figures!

How Awful Is the Republican Megabill? Here Are Four of the Worst Parts. (@jacobhacker.bsky.social‬ and @patrick-sullivan.bsky.social, New York Times-unlocked) www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/o...

I don’t typically post much, but I’m excited to share a guest essay co-authored with @jacobhacker.bsky.social which was published today in the @nytimes.com, as well as two reports we just published at the @equitablegrowth.bsky.social on Republican’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

"It would shift more resources up the income ladder than any bill passed since scorekeepers started keeping track." In this opinion piece, @jacobhacker.bsky.social and @patrick-sullivan.bsky.social highlight four most regressive aspects of the 'Big Beautiful Bill.' www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/o...

It's the economy, stupid. Right? A new tool, now at Yale, seeks to rethink how we measure economic success: bit.ly/44fqeon @jacobhacker.bsky.social

Day 2 of "The Promises and challenges of Governance in Blue Trifectas" starts at noon ET today. Day 1 was revelatory, and today we have an amazing group of experts, advocates, and policymakers discussing housing affordability and decarbonization. Sign up below! 👇

Really excited about this online convening May 19-20 to better understand the contemporary challenges and opportunities of Democratic governance in blue trifectas. Important for housing, climate, inflation, and so much more -- especially today! Register: t.co/Pm4bIJHn1O

How the economic and political geography of the United States fuels right-wing populism—and what the Democratic Party can do about it…with Paul Pierson… via @equitablegrowth.bsky.social equitablegrowth.org/how-the-econ...

So grateful to be joining a truly amazing set of fellow fellows at the American Academy in Berlin (@americanacademy.bsky.social)--including @oonahathaway.bsky.social. @cape-team.bsky.social is doubly represented with @chloethurston.bsky.social joining, too! www.americanacademy.de/announcing-t...

Really excited about this online convening May 19-20 to better understand the contemporary challenges and opportunities of Democratic governance in blue trifectas. Important for housing, climate, inflation, and so much more -- especially today! Register: t.co/Pm4bIJHn1O

The event will showcase speakers, including @jamiemccallum.bsky.social @adamdean.bsky.social @jacobhacker.bsky.social, along with moderators @jerusalem.bsky.social and Jia Lynn Yang, with more to come! 🚨 Also feat. former Sen. Sherrod Brown as a keynote speaker RSVP ➡️ web.cvent.com/event/a88d72...

How do we reduce the appeal of right-wing populism in the U.S. through economic policy? Such a privilege to be part of this important effort tackling this fundamental question!

This is what the American Political Economy eXchange (APEX) at Yale ISPS is all about!

Trump's nominated SSA commissioner, Frank Bisignano, a self-described “DOGE guy,” engineered the appointment of SSA CIO “wreck-it Mike” Russo. At his confirmation hearings, he’ll make the Acting Commissioner the fall guy. Democrats MUST push him to say he’s against the assault on Social Security!

The CR is obvs different, but Senate Democrats' behavior is reminiscent of the fact that on ave 48% of D senators voted for bills pertaining to GOP agenda (as IDed by Curry & Lee) each Congress w R trifecta, 2003-2022. The inverse for Rs is 12% (from WIP w @jacobhacker.bsky.social & Paul Pierson)

Senate Dems should have stood up just to exercise those atrophied muscles and inspire voters to stand up too. Trump is already shutting down the government. And they could have gotten the spotlight on Musk, which would have been good if they had a simple line (e.g., Musk is killing Social Security).

DOGE is threatening huge damage to our greatest social program, Social Security.The National Academy of Social Insurance annually awards the Robert Ball Award. Every living award recipient (a group I gratefully belong to) demands reversal of these risky DOGE moves. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

@tomedsall.bsky.social generously quotes my claim that the Trump/Musk threat may push the party toward organizational/ governance reforms and greater economic populism. Not sure I'm a "Democratic optimist," but I'll take activating optimism over debilitating despair! www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/o...

Amid the deluge, read this warning from Henry Farrell and take action:

ICYMI: Emily Zackin & @chloethurston.bsky.social's The Political Development of Debt Relief reviewed by The Nation! Read CAPE's latest spotlight here: www.americanpoliticaleconomy.org/post/zackin-...

The APE Blog's 1st book symposium is live—showcasing Sarah Straszak's outstanding Privatizing Justice: Arbitration & the Decline of Public Governance in the US! Read @kathleenthelen.bsky.social's intro and contributions from @jnovkov.bsky.social, Jeb Barnes, and Alex Colvin on CAPE's website:

In 2016, current and former students wanted advice on whether to work for the Trump Administration. This is what I said then, and I believe it largely still holds. But there are some additions I would make, knowing what I know now: 1/ www.justsecurity.org/34409/work-t...

if you are interested in the reasons for the slow death of democratic capitalism, here are two really good books that were on point 4 years ago and are still fantastic: wwnorton.com/books/978163... by @jacobhacker.bsky.social and global.oup.com/academic/pro... by @jonathanhopkin.bsky.social

My latest in today's @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/o...

This is what “plutocratic populism” (the term @piersonpost.bsky.social and I used in “Let Them Eat Tweets”) looks like: wwnorton.com/books/978163...

Here are some of the best voices -- mostly in political science but also in history, economics, law, and journalism -- on the increasingly fraught relationship between democracy and capitalism in the United States: go.bsky.app/M6p7Ahw

Here's the paper with Sam Zacher, @malpas.bsky.social, and Paul Pierson that Roge Karma references. t.co/FvOahsUIdv

“The Biden agenda was more ambitious and redistributive than anything..pursued by Democrats since the 1960s or ’70s,” Jacob Hacker...told me. “This is not a party pursuing a ‘Brahmin left’ agenda. It’s pursuing an incredibly progressive economic agenda” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Nick Lemann's deeply researched piece on Biden's economic record contains the first f-bomb I've dropped in an interview of record. But "fucking disaster" seems barely up to describing the political fallout caused by our failure to deal with rising inequality/insecurity. t.co/dTHLpnY14D

What's a stake next week: no less than the future of democratic capitalism. My review in @lawfare.bsky.social of a panoramic new book by @financialtimes.com's sagacious Martin Wolf, "The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism." t.co/QQwXK4FLpb

"It is also, in its omissions as well as its arguments, a reminder of just how much needs to be done in the rich capitalist democracy that Wolf rightly argues is the most indispensable and troubled of them all: the United States." @jacobhacker.bsky.social reviews The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism.

For those attending @apsa.bsky.social meeting and in town on Friday morning, please swing by the hackathon that Kathy Cramer and I are leading utilizing a new dataset on Americans’ well-being. We’ll have breakfast and coffee from 8am in PCC 201B. Hope to see you there!

My take on why another Trump presidency would be such a threat to democracy, alongside other expert reflections. Down-ballot races matter: “If Trump has both houses of Congress — along with…[the] Supreme Court — the pace and extent of democratic backsliding will be much greater”

Kamala Harris had a great health care idea in 2019: encourage Americans to buy into a revamped Medicare program that would provide the choice of public or private coverage (aka the public option). She should embrace it in 2024. My latest in @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2024/08/14/o...

"The struggle over taxes that will take place in 2025 won’t just be about creating a fairer tax code that can finance the government that Americans deserve. It will also be about democracy." My latest with Paul Pierson in @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/o...

Hope you can make this @bostonreview.bsky.social virtual event on the future of the Democratic Party with Paul Pierson, Lily Geismer, Joshua Cohen, and me! April 1 (no joke!) at 7pm ET. Register 👇 secure.givelively.org/event/boston...

Announcing new postdoc affiliated with APEX (American Political Economy eXchange), housed at @ispsyale.bsky.social, and affiliated with @cape-team.bsky.social. For APE researchers eager to advance their own work and help develop new programming and opportunities. Apply-> apply.interfolio.com/140859

@jacobhacker.bsky.social and Pierson reply, noting that a window of opportunity has opened, despite formidable constraints—including the nature of Democrats' new coalition and the "density tax" that penalizes Democrats for being concentrated in metro areas:

@jacobhacker.bsky.social & Pierson argue that, despite their cross-class coalition, Democrats have not sacrificed economics for social issues. On the contrary, under Biden they have broken with the “Brahmin left” pattern described by Thomas Piketty—pushing a far bolder agenda than Clinton & Obama.