NATO wants 5% of GDP on defense by 2035. For Italy and Slovenia, that's as much on their militaries as on education, nearing health care. Spain's PM rejected the target as "incompatible with the Welfare State." CEPR's Ivana Vasić-Lalović on who really pays:

The Trump administration is cutting funding for New York's #Medicaid fraud unit and blaming Attorney General Letitia James, a longstanding political adversary of Trump's. The unit has a strong recovery record, pulling in $828 million since 2019. #econsky https://tinyurl.com/2rpkbd9s

Elon Musk gutted #SocialSecurity, USAID, and HUD at DOGE.  Now with SpaceX joining the Nasdaq-100, millions of workers saving for retirement are now exposed to the growing #AIbubble, whether they chose to invest in SpaceX or not.  Get our weekly updates: https://bit.ly/AIBubbleMonitor

📑 @commondreams.org shares the letter calling to end sanctions on Venezuela after the earthquakes. It notes that, as the NYT reported, the Trump administration keeps sanctions in place — even after seizing ~$8B in Venezuelan oil this year. By @corbettjessica.bsky.social

NEW: 100+ economists and experts — including CEPR's Mark Weisbrot, Andrés Arauz, Dean Baker and Guillaume Long — call on the US to lift its sanctions on Venezuela after the earthquakes. Venezuelans "should not pay twice — first through disaster, then through sanctions."

CEPR's @jakobjohnston.bsky.social spoke with @nytimes.com on how the 2010 Haiti relief effort still shapes US attitudes on aid today. We could again see reconstruction mainly benefit US contractors, with little accountability for what's delivered in Venezuela.

Looks like even Trump's Treasury Department recognizes the AI bubble www.notus.org/economy/trea...

The EPA was required to fund environmental grants to communities but Trump cut it. In a major victory, a district court found Trump's executive order revoking the grants to be unconstitutional More from @mattsedlar.bsky.social:

It's time to change the game. Bold, new policies to build a stronger, fairer, greener economy for all Americans. Watch trailer: Game Changers: Economic Policies for a Working America gamechangerspolicy.org via @periatumass #GameChangersPolicy peri.umass.edu/gamechangers/

NEW @deanbaker13.bsky.social AI BUBBLE UPDATE: Investors betting on the AI stock boom need productivity growth to soar. The data tells a different story. Growth avg'd just 1.1% the last 3 quarters, far below the 4 to 5% needed to justify today's stock prices.  #econsky https://tinyurl.com/3n3r9wyp

Trump and Hegseth’s ending of affirmative action in the military has led to racial bias against African-Americans. @a-austin.bsky.social explains what has happened. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHvMhQZdoRo #econsky #military #trump #DEI #affirmativeaction #mostlyeconomics #podcast

NEW EP: Is the US returning to Jim Crow? @a-austin.bsky.social talks with @deanbaker13.bsky.social about DOGE cuts, military purges, and SCOTUS gutting voting rights, plus why a jobs guarantee could close the racial jobs gap. #econsky #blacksky Listen:

Trump keeps defunding EPA grants but he just lost a major case. A district court found Trump' s executive order as unlawful and in violation of the will of congress granting a major win for environmental programs. More from CEPR's @MattSedlar:

27 House Democrats want the US to push an IMF special drawing rights allocation of at least $650B — matching 2021's COVID-era allocation — to soften the Iran war's economic hit. "At no cost to taxpayers," they say. Treasury's support would be key.

#NEW CEPR Sanctions Watch: 🇨🇺US fuel blockade --> health/education crises 🇮🇷 US to “terminate all” sanctions, per final agreement 🇷🇺G7 increases pressure amid new EU sanctions 🇵🇸 Israel still committing genocide, per UN Committee 🇻🇪 New licenses open oil, mining sectors

Trump is refusing to sign into law the bipartisan housing affordability bill, the most significant bill in 30 years. CEPR's @a-austin.bsky.social explains how Americans want better housing policy. #majorityagenda #econsky https://tinyurl.com/mr275acj

ICYMI: Another Lie, Another War - all at the expense of civilians. @mattduss.bsky.social joined @deanbaker13.bsky.social for an important discussion around Gaza, Iran, and the Abraham Accords and the US role in all of it.  Watch:

NEW RESEARCH: 30 years ago, dads were nearly shut out of access to paid parental leave. Today the gap between moms and dads has shrunk from 24pp to just 6pp. Paid leave policies work but we need it to be national and guaranteed. Read: https://tinyurl.com/3n64bymt #econsky #majorityagenda

@deanbaker13.bsky.social says cutbacks in spending on fast-food shows working people's personal finances are tight and what they may be feeling about the economy (nothing good). Read: https://cepr.net/publications/the-fast-food-spending-index-is-falling-fast/

In Finland, solidarity strikes helped postal workers win. In the US, that kind of collective action is largely illegal thanks to a 1947 law still on the books. CEPR's @hcbrown.bsky.social explains what we lost when Taft-Hartley passed and what's still needed. #econsky

"The Venezuelan government must be free to receive and allocate earthquake relief and to send humanitarian support to those who need it. Current US & other sanctions threaten to hobble the overall earthquake response,” CEPR's Alex Main told @ajenglish.bsky.social. 

Major financial firms want to get their hands on workers 401Ks to invest in riskier assets—where workers, ultimately, carry all the risk. @eileenappelbaum.bsky.social says DOL's guidance has been all about reducing employer's liability so their workers can't sue. Read:

NEW #MostlyEconomics: Greenspan is gone at 100. @deanbaker13.bsky.social & @americanprogress.bsky.social Jared Bernstein reflect on his legacy, from the 1990s full employment experiment to the bubbles he ignored & what it all means for new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. #econsky

Jared Bernstein on Mostly Economics, sharing his wisdom on Greenspan, Warsh, and the Fed www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWPc...

#SCOTUS turned a 1925 law meant for merchant disputes into a corporate get-out-of-jail-free card. Now, companies can force you into private courts they control. @deanbaker13.bsky.social speaks to former fed prosecutor @brendanballou.bsky.social #econsky #mostlyeconomics: youtu.be/3oX3qhx1kuM?...

$1,072,210,299,000. That’s how much Republicans want to give the Pentagon, while you can’t afford groceries or to take that summer road trip you’ve been planning all year. @AppropsDems will fight to lower prices, not hand Hegseth $1.1 trillion. youtu.be/K0kj5hEGTJw

It's been 78 years since the Taft-Hartley Act became law, which banned solidarity strikes tipping the scales against workers ever since. @hcbrown.bsky.social  details how this was a political response to a labor movement capable of disrupting entire industries. #econsky https://tinyurl.com/5etbmpsz

From democratic backsliding and increased US security cooperation to human rights abuses, interference in Colombia's election, and overturning a prohibition on ISDS, a lot has happened in #Ecuador over the past four months CEPR's got it all covered in our news round-up 👇

Alan Greenspan's legacy is very mixed. He gave us low unemployment, but also two economy-wrecking bubbles deanbaker22.substack.com/p/alan-green...

BREAKING: Greenspan gets credit for letting unemployment hit 4% defying most mainstream economists. But he missed 2 massive bubbles that wrecked millions of lives. Now Warsh is reviving his dangerous Fed opacity. @deanbaker13.bsky.social on a complicated legacy. #econsky https://tinyurl.com/ym4tpm4p

Hear my interview with Janine Jackson at FAIR and learn everything you ever wanted to know about the AI bubble, and then some fair.org/home/dean-ba...

New bill would make Social Security solvent by removing the payroll tax cap. Currently, billionaires contribute as much to the program as someone earning $185,000 a year. tinyurl.com/5hewxyzb @aarp.org @publicnewsservice.bsky.social @sanders.senate.gov @ceprdc.bsky.social

Forced arbitration is bad news and everywhere. Get the story in my Mostly Economics podcast with Brendan Ballou www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oX3...

"De La Espriella has proposed bringing US military bases back to Colombia, creating Plan Colombia 2.0...reminding the people of Colombia that he does not care all that much about the immense human suffering that war has brought and can bring again," Mark Weisbrot argues.

Duncan dodges a questions about OMB's proposed rule to give political appointees power over the grant-making process. Murray: "Is there any language that places limits on cronyism?" Duncan: "We would move forward with the rule and the agencies in a manner that is consistent with applicable law."

Do you have a strong interest in international affairs, economic justice, and the role of Congress and US policy in shaping global outcomes, particularly in Latin America? Apply for our Fall 2026 International Team internship! Deadline: June 30, 2026 👇

@arindube.bsky.social  talks with @deanbaker13.bsky.social  about how pay raises should be done sector by sector and with wage floors, ensuring all workers get fair and reasonable compensation for their labor. #economics #wage #USPolitics  Full ep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfrbbEkH1i0

Pete Hegseth becomes the first American Secretary of War to lose a war deanbaker22.substack.com/p/pete-hegse...

From @deanbaker13.bsky.social and @ceprdc.bsky.social: cepr.net/publications... "Any honest person who says funding Social Security poses a serious budget problem must believe that Trump’s military spending poses a far bigger problem."

Speaker Mike Johnson says that “entitlement programs” like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid need to be “adjusted and fixed”. That’s code for cutting our hard-earned benefits!

NEW #AIBUBBLE Update: SpaceX just pulled off the largest IPO ever at $2.2 trillion. It lost $5 billion last year and projects 90% of its future market is in AI. There are no earnings to point to. This is a pure bet on Elon Musk. @deanbaker13.bsky.social  for #EconSky: https://tinyurl.com/2nmywvkk

@arindube.bsky.social argues full employment and worker mobility is required to make the market work better. #workersrights #USPolitics #economics #mostlyeconomics  Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfrbbEkH1i0

7 top MA insurance companies spent $330M lobbying the federal government from 2020 to 2024. RFK Jr. admitted insurer meetings drove a $13B payment rate hike. @brandonnovick.bsky.social explains what money buys in Washington.

"Bolivia’s history with shock therapy helps explain the explosive reaction to Paz’s emergency economic package...in the absence of dialogue...what began as opposition to specific policies quickly evolved into demands for his resignation" - Andres Arauz in @thenation.com

@arindube.bsky.social explains what we stand to gain from increasing the minimum wage is SUBSTANTIALLY more beneficial than anything we lose. #economics #minimumwage #USPolitics #mostlyeconomics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfrbbEkH1i0

NEW EPISODE: @arindube.bsky.social  joins @deanbaker13.bsky.social on #MostlyEconomics podcast to talk about his new book, The Wage Standard, and why raising pay for more workers is better for everyone. Happening now, tune in. 🎧 https://youtu.be/nfrbbEkH1i0

NEW: Kaiser Permanente allegedly stole over $1B from Medicare. Their punishment was to pay back $556M. They still pocketed nearly half a BILLION and ZERO executives went to jail. Regular Americans don't get that deal. More from CEPR's @brandonnovick.bsky.social: https://bit.ly/3RQFxl1

Tariff-driven price hikes on cars and appliances may finally show up in tomorrow morning's #CPI release. Airfares and auto insurance aren't helping either. Here's the preview. #EconSky cepr.net/publications...