“The iron law that said raising wages kills jobs is dead. The evidence killed it. What remains is to bury the paradigm that kept it alive—and to rebuild the country it broke,” Nick Hanauer and Eric Beinhocker write:

@nickhanauer.bsky.social and @ericbeinhocker.bsky.social argue that capitalism can be saved, provided there’s a radical makeover of what a capitalist economy should achieve. @anne-s-kim.bsky.social writes.

The economy isn't broken. It's working exactly as designed. The real question: can we design it better—and for whom? @nickhanauer.bsky.social & @ericbeinhocker.bsky.social joined @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social editor @anne-s-kim.bsky.social to discuss 🎧

For decades, the theory was: make rich people richer and economic growth follows. But businesses hire when customers are spending, not when CEOs are flush. A strong middle class doesn't result from a healthy economy. It produces one.

76% of Americans say cost of living is their top financial problem. But even working people earning $150K+ report their wages aren’t keeping pace. This isn’t a skills gap. It’s a structural one.

$79 trillion diverted from working Americans to the top 1% since 1975. That’s not a mystery. That’s not “the market.” That’s what happens when you spend decades writing the rules so more of the economy’s gains flow upward — then act surprised when they do.

Six American billionaires got nearly a trillion dollars richer in the past 18 months. The question isn’t whether that’s a lot. It is. It’s how the same handful of people keep grabbing this much of the gains, decade after decade.

$𝟳𝟵 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻. That's how much wealth would be in the hands of the vast majority of American households today if the gains from a half-century of economic growth had been broadly shared instead of concentrated at the top. A different distribution wasn't impossible. It was a policy choice.

@inetoxford.bsky.social ED and Oxford economist @ericbeinhocker.bsky.social + entrepreneur, investor and economic thinker @nickhanauer.bsky.social have been building a new framework for how markets work—and who they work for. Beinhocker just took it to @HalSinger.bsky.social's Slingshot podcast. 🧵

Trickle-down economics told us that keeping wages low was good for competitiveness. Fifty years of data say otherwise. When workers earn more, they spend more. When they spend more, businesses grow. May Day is a good day to ask: why did we ever believe otherwise?

New data: Americans are searching for mortgage help at rates higher than 2008. But this isn’t a repeat of the same crisis. It’s a different structural problem: In many communities, incomes haven’t kept pace with housing costs.

A new report from @ips-dc.org looks at the 20 largest low-wage employers in the U.S. Together, they employ ~6.7 million workers. 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘧 of them are paying less in real terms than they did five years ago.

New UC Berkeley research—the most methodologically rigorous yet on California's $20 fast food minimum wage—finds covered workers' average weekly wages rose ~11% with no significant employment reduction.

The bottom half of the world's population - about 4 billion people - is responsible for just 10% of global carbon emissions. Yet when climate change drives up food prices, floods farmland, and disrupts local economies, those same 4 billion people absorb 74% of the damage.

Since 1975, $79T in wealth shifted upward—away from the bottom 90% of Americans toward the top 1%. The result: an economy that's smaller and less productive, innovative AND competitive than it would be if prosperity had stayed broad. Trickle-down didn't just fail workers. It failed the economy.

Arizona, Florida, Missouri, and Nebraska nearly doubled their minimum wages over the past decade. These are not blue-state policy experiments—they're red & purple states where voters chose higher wages directly through ballot initiatives.

Average median pay at America's 20 largest low-wage employers: $29,087. That's below the income threshold to qualify for Medicaid ... and at least 16 U.S. billionaires owe their wealth to these same firms. ips-dc.org/report-ameri...

Trump's 2025 tax bill, in plain terms: ▸ Bottom 90%: pay $13,600 more on average. ▸ Top 10%: see income go up. That $13,600 is two months of income for the median household. Gone—to higher-cost healthcare, utilities and insurance.

Cattle ranchers are getting paid less. Workers at the world’s largest meatpacking company are on strike after being offered a 2% raise—below CO's inflation rate. Ground beef has doubled in price. JBS just went public at a $17B valuation. Someone’s doing great. It isn’t the ranchers or the workers.

2011: "Nobody owns 1,000 homes, that would be insane" 2021: Private equity owns 446,000 homes They didn't build them. They didn't improve them. They just had enough money to outbid you - then turn around and charge you rent.

Trump’s 2025 tax bill: Bottom 90% → pay $13,600 more Top 10% → get richer For the typical household, that’s about 2 months of income gone. Not the market. Policy choices. Higher healthcare. Higher utilities. Higher insurance. Your bills go up so their taxes can go down.

3,000 billionaires added $2.5 trillion to their wealth last year. That's the same as *everything* owned by the poorest 3.8 billion people on Earth. That's not a typo.

$35B in clean energy projects canceled in 2025; 170K jobs lost. Tax credits killed, federal funding pulled, offshore wind paused. Meanwhile, the fossil fuel industry got $4B MORE in subsidies. "Energy dominance" apparently means billionaires get handouts while working families lose.

Friday's jobs report—92,000 jobs lost in February—is being called "a shock" by some economists and analysts. But for working people, the labor market has been soft for a while. The U.S. economy has lost jobs on net since April 2025. buff.ly/CmX61wp

As America turns 250, here's what we need to face: the American Dream has been breaking down for 50 years. For the first time ever, younger generations will earn less than their parents. This is the result of decades of rigged policy choices. 🧵

Funny how we'll debate poverty solutions until we're blue in the face, but suggesting we address extreme wealth inequality? Suddenly that’s “going too far.”

Trump just became the biggest union buster in American history. He stripped collective bargaining rights from over 1 MILLION federal workers—the people who run Social Security, veterans services, food safety inspections, disaster response.

Everyone's talking about how unaffordable life has become. Here's something important that gets lost in that conversation: affordability isn't just about prices. It's a race between what things cost and what you earn. And a new EPI report shows Trump is making us lose on both sides.

Trump's budget is the largest upward wealth transfer in U.S. history. The bottom 40% lose income while top 0.1% get windfalls. It slashes Medicaid, ACA, & food aid to fund billionaire tax cuts. This isn't fiscal policy—it's systematic looting disguised as governance.

Your grocery bill didn't go up 30% since 2020 because you started buying fancier cheese. A typical family of four now spends over $1,000/month at the store. This is what happens when we let corporations set the rules.

"The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor." When the rules squeeze workers, workers organize—because the economy only grows when paychecks grow.

The stock market is up. Corporate profits are strong. And 108,000 people just lost their jobs in January alone—the worst start to a year since 2009. Maybe it's time to ask: when we say "the economy is doing well," *who* exactly are we talking about?

Trickle-down economics says: “Give the rich more, and hope they share.” [Spoiler: THEY DON'T] Middle-out economics says: “Build from the middle, and everyone rises.” It’s not just fairer—it’s smarter. The path to a strong economy isn’t paved with tax cuts for billionaires.

A reminder to us all that 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. The bottom 40% lose income while top 0.1% get windfalls. It slashes Medicaid, ACA & food aid to fund billionaire tax cuts. This isn't fiscal policy—it's systematic looting disguised as governance.

A recent NYT/Siena poll reveals the depth of middle-class collapse in America. The data isn't just bad—it's a systematic validation of what middle-out economics has been arguing about 50 years of trickle-down policy. 🧵

🦷 The Tooth Fairy cut her per-tooth rate from $5.84 to $5.01—a 14% drop in 1 yr— because apparently the vibes of trickle-down economics have penetrated even the magical realm. When a fairy w/ infinite resources is like "sorry kiddo, times are tough," you know wealth isn't trickling anywhere but up.

Prosperity grows from the middle out. A large and prosperous middle class is the primary cause of economic growth, not its consequence.

Every narrative that erases union leadership is telling you worker power doesn’t matter. Don’t believe it. When you organize your workplace, you’re not just improving conditions—you’re building the infrastructure that makes resistance possible when it counts. ✊

A 21-year-old making 3x minimum wage still can't afford rent alone. An engineer making $160K struggles more than his parents did. 10% of people making >$200K can't afford retirement. This is what 50 years of trickle-down built. 🧵

Wages: ↑ 10% Housing: ↑ 300% Healthcare: Bankruptcies Childcare > College "Why aren't American workers happy about the economy?" Maybe because percentages don't pay rent and essential markets are designed to extract maximum profit from those who can least afford it.

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Recent research shows that the Supreme Court rules for the wealthy 3 out of 4 times. Your paycheck should be double what it is. Housing should be affordable. Courts should be fair. None of this is an accident. The system really 𝘪𝘴 designed to favor wealth.

"The abominations of capital are not glitches. They are the system working as designed." Every person sleeping outside while empty luxury apts exist. Every worker w/ multiple jobs who can't afford rent. Every medical bankruptcy. These things are not accidents. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/abominatio...

"Tax the billionaires" accepts that markets naturally create billionaires. "Predistribution" asks: WHY are we designing markets that create billionaires through exploitation in the first place? The framework: Pay working people fairly *from the start.* (via @rooseveltinstitute.org)

Working peoples’ share of U.S. income just hit an all-time low—lower than any point since we started measuring in 1947. Workers are producing more value than ever. Corps are posting record profits. And yet the people doing the work are getting the smallest slice of the pie they’ve ever gotten.

Twelve billionaires now control as much wealth as 4 billion people—literally half of humanity. 🤯 Twelve. People.

When the rules tilt toward the rich, people notice. And when trust in core institutions erodes, markets suffer too. Middle-out growth depends on fairness—and credibility.

A major set of state labor laws went into effect on Jan 1, including higher wages, paid leave, scheduling protections & enforcement against wage theft. This isn’t accidental. It’s the result of organizing—and proof that economies work better when workers have power.

Strengthening collective bargaining isn't anti-business. It's pro-economy. And the evidence is overwhelming: Research from the IMF and others shows that stronger unions reduce income inequality while supporting sustainable growth.

A thriving middle class isn't just the result of economic growth. It's the CAUSE of economic growth. This changes everything.