While many face abysmal public services + tax hikes, huge companies & the uber-rich game a tax system designed 100 yrs ago. My new oped in @opiniojuris.bsky.social on why the first-ever UN tax treaty is a historic chance for public budgets that can fund human rights opiniojuris.org/2026/01/13/a...

Good to know the going rate for trying to counter my work!

Low tax revenues helped drive Sri Lanka to economic crisis. New report by @hrw.org’s @sarahsaadoun.bsky.social on how tax policies favoring companies & the wealthy have for decades been undermining human rights, including to education www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Today, @hrw.org released the 1st major report on tax, documenting how policies that favor the rich drove Sri Lanka into economic crisis & starved its public education system. UN tax treaty negotiations are historic chance to address a root cause. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

We assess economies based on GDP, but all it measures is total productivity, incentivizing growth while ignoring inequality, environmental degradation & human rights like health & education. Good news is there’s a process underway to develop new metrics: www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Sri Lanka’s tax policies played a driving role in the country’s devastating 2022 economic crisis and have contributed to the chronic underfunding of education and other public services. New report @hrw.org / @sarahsaadoun.bsky.social, going out on Oct 15. Reporters can DM me for embargoed copy etc

Watching states negotiate the first-ever UN tax treaty was a window into geopolitical shifts - and a ray of hope for changing tax rules that deprive all governments of revenues for the benefit of the wealthiest: new from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

Had a great chat with @rosiebultman.bsky.social of KCSB and my @hrw.org colleague @sarahsaadoun.bsky.social about the Trump admin's terrible budget bill and how it will make ordinary people pay for tax cuts for the rich with their health Take a listen 👇 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Pleasure to join @rosiebultman.bsky.social on The People’s Program with my @hrw.org colleague @mattcconnell.bsky.social to talk about how Trump used the budget bill to kill a global rule meant to finally make companies pay a minimum tax rate on their profits. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Trump’s budget doesn’t just attack inequality at home, it’s a global giveaway to corporate giants, sabotaging efforts to make billionaires and multinationals pay their fair share. While the world fights for tax justice, this administration rigs the system even further www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

Trump's budget-busting bill... Sure, it adds trillions to the national debt, but it transfers funds away from the poor, who already have too much money, to the rich, who desperately need money. Can't see anything wrong there. www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

Trump’s budget not only transfers public goods to private pockets in the US, he weaponised the process to let US companies keep ripping off the govts where they operate, hurting their ability to fund health, education & other rights www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

“It’s appalling that President Trump ran on a campaign to fix the economy but is delivering a budget that makes ordinary people pay with their health for tax breaks for millionaires” @mattcconnell.bsky.social @hrw.org on the catastrophe of a budget the senate just passed www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

This is on top of the $79 trillion in upward redistribution since 1975, as per Carter C. Price's latest assessment in their Rand Corporation report www.rand.org/pubs/working... @randeurope.org #econsky #polisky #history

US Senators are currently debating the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" to advance President Trump’s agenda.   This bill is not a solution to economic inequality or for managing immigration procedures – it is a blueprint for cruelty.   ✍️ Urge Congress to stop the bill NOW: www.hrw.org/NotOnOurWatch

From Kenyans protesting regressive taxes to US budgets fights over tax cuts for the rich, one thing is clear: tax policies are central to human rights. A new database from @hrw.org shows UN human rights bodies made 168 tax-related recommendations to 98 states. www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...

NEW: The Senate version of One Big Beautiful Bill is one big ugly transfer of wealth from low-income families to the rich. Americans struggling to get by will pay more for groceries & health care so the highest income families can get big tax cuts. This isn’t shared sacrifice.

The United Nations conference on financing for development should help pave the way for meaningful progress on improving international tax cooperation to benefit everyone’s human rights: www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...

The reconciliation bill puts health benefits for tipped workers at risk. ⬇️

10,000 people are coming to Sevilla in a scorching heatwave to discuss financing for development. You know what would make the conference super cool? Advancing tax justice. 😎 New from @hrw.org on #FFD4Sevilla: www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...

Protestors in #Kenya commemorating one year anniversary since protests against a regressive tax bill once again met with horrific violence, killing at least 8 people. Here’s @hrw analysis of why the tax bill violates human rights: www.hrw.org/news/2024/07...

Dispatch for @hrw.org on the draft bill on social security in the UK. The proposed benefit cuts will harm people with disabilities, worsen poverty, and undermine rights. The government says the bill “will protect the most vulnerable.” Its own data belie that claim. www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...

This is a big win in the fight for labor rights of gig workers. If you want to get a sense of why this is so important, read Lena's fantastic report on gig workers in Texas: www.hrw.org/report/2025/...

Exactly what the US needed: more inequality. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/u...

Gene Leon, president of a development bank, making the case for going beyond GDP, among other proposals for making the 4th Financing for Development conference a success www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/ffd4-c...

Gene Leon, president of a development bank, making the case for going beyond GDP, among other proposals for making the 4th Financing for Development conference a success www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/ffd4-c...

Gene Leon, president of a development bank, making the case for going beyond GDP, among other proposals for making the 4th Financing for Development conference a success www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/ffd4-c...

Cost estimate of the House-passed "Big Beautiful Bill" is out It'd be the largest cut to Medicaid+CHIP and SNAP in history while still increasing deficits by $2.4 trillion due to $3.8 trillion in tax cuts This'd be the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in a single law in history

How did we get here? Decades of economic myths. We treat the federal budget like a household’s—obsessed with deficits, ignoring that a monetarily sovereign government like the U.S. can’t “run out of money.” We cut public support, enrich the wealthy, and then ask why inequality explodes. #EconSky

Your (ir)regular rundown of economic justice news from @hrw.org. Spotlight on a report revealing shocking conditions of gig workers in Texas. Also, stuff on climate because environmental & economic justice must be forged together. Some good news on labour rights. & more! Links below.

These stats on effective wages of gig workers in texas are 🤯

1/ After nearly 3 years of research, our @hrw.org report "The Gig Trap" is finally out. It documents how companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Shipt, Favor, and Amazon Flex created a business model that undermines labor rights & deepens inequality in the US. A 🧵https://hrw.org/node/391214

I was lucky to get a sneak peek at the findings and they're eye-popping. Highly recommend this event for anyone interested in the true cost of the gig economy.

What do we mean by Human Rights Economies? Mahinour El Badrawi @cesr.bsky.social explains the principles that underpin it. Read here to learn more: www.cesr.org/sites/defaul...

My @hrw.org colleague @lenasimet.bsky.social speaking at the World Bank on her upcoming report on gig workers in Texas, which shows that algorithmic exploitation & lack of information leads people to earn scandalously low wages that are far below minimum wage - let alone a living wage

Intensifying pressure from debt, aid cuts, climate change, make systemic reforms urgent. Join us for a talk at the final #PrepCom ahead of #FfD4: Advancing a Human Rights-Based Approach to Financing for Development! Register forms.gle/Xaxu6Ra3xXvB... Virtual atlanticfellows.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Join us this Friday at 11:15am ET for a panel dicussion on "Ensuring Decent Work & Social Security in the Platform Economy" at the 2025 World Bank / IMF Spring Meetings. We'll be joined by experts from @ituc.bsky.social @arabreforminit.bsky.social @psiglobalunion.bsky.social @hrw.org @ilo.org & more

This is what happens when trade policy is driven by chaos, not strategy. As @mikemadowitz.bsky.social tells @voxdotcom.bsky.social: tariff shocks spur short-term spending, but suppress future demand. Unstable policymaking has real economic costs. www.vox.com/politics/409...

Did I miss anything while out on vacation? 😉 A lot to catch up on for my weekly posts on economic justice news at @hrw.org. First, obvs: tariffs! Also: data-rich report on global health spending; free education in Uganda and Japan; UK aid cuts; social security in Germany; & more! Links below.

Trump's tariffs illustrate the danger of pursuing economic reforms without regard for the impact on people’s human rights. We need a human rights economy. www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

Trump´s tariffs illustrate the danger of making economic policy decisions without regard for the impact on people’s human rights. New piece by my @hrw.org colleagues ‪@sarahsaadoun.bsky.social and @sylvainaubry.bsky.social: www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

US President Donald Trump's import tariffs illustrate the danger of pursuing economic reforms without regard for the impact on people’s human rights. Read more on the need for a human rights economy:

Yes, economies should be transformed to ensure everyone can enjoy their rights. But the Trump approach does not care for people's lives & rights. There are other reforms we could make instead. Our preliminary piece on human rights take on Trump's tarrifs www.hrw.org/news/2025/0...

“A human rights approach to tariffs would carefully weigh the risk of increasing prices on necessities like food and housing against the potential benefits.” New from @hrw.org on why Trump’s economic policies are not the change we need. www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

Yes! Governments actually have a human rights obligation to collect enough taxes to fund rights like healthcare, education, and social security — of course through progressive measures. www.amnesty.org/en/documents...

We welcome the UN's Human Rights Council recent resolution on #ESCRights, which strengthens the link between human rights and fiscal policy 💪 It represents meaningful progress in recognizing tax justice as essential to fulfilling states’ human rights obligations. Our analysis in full ⬇️

Everyone has the right to benefit from global resources & governments are obligated to work together to fulfill rights. What happens when govts turn their back on that promise? Honored to speak on this at the UN Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development session at 3pm webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1r...

The UN Human Rights Council regularly adopts a resolution on fulfilling economic, social & cultural rights. This year it addresses for the 1st time key issues like tax, debt, public services & climate finance following a big push by many groups including @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

Allow me to introduce you to the human rights economy www.hrw.org/news/2025/03....

Last week 24 Nepali and global economic justice & rights groups sent a letter to Nepal's Finance Minister, to expand the highly effective Child Grant Program in the upcoming budget. A key opportunity to strengthen social security for children: www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...