Pitchfork Economics

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Crypto is supposed to be the future of money. There’s just one problem: it doesn’t do the three things money is supposed to do. @ben_mckenzie explains why. 💬 Be honest—do you think crypto is actually “money,” or are we calling it something it’s not? buff.ly/j9AS4e4

I co-introduced historic legislation to increase the minimum wage to $25. As someone who taught economics at Stanford, here is why it makes sense. The real minimum wage was $14 in 1968. Today it is half, but productivity has increased 2.5x. Instead of extractive capitalism, we need a free enterprise system that pays workers what they are worth.

@WhiteHouse 🙄

TWO KINGS. 👑

If crypto is the future of money… Why does it look so much like gambling? Actor-turned-crypto critic @ben_mckenzie connects the dots between cryptocurrency, fraud, and an economy increasingly built on speculation. 🎧 Listen: buff.ly/j9AS4e4

Jamie Keene, fellow at @rooseveltinst, made a bold proposal to expand Social Security on our podcast last week ⬇️ What do you think—should we do it? 🎧 Listen to the full episode here: buff.ly/YMjYHeR

1 in 4 SNAP dollars goes to @Walmart. The same company that pays so little, many workers need SNAP. That’s not a coincidence. That’s the business model. @rooseveltinst fellow Jamie Keene explains. Safety net—or corporate subsidy?

Do you have the power to say no? If not, you’re not just underpaid—you’re trapped. That’s not a glitch. It’s policy design. @rooseveltinst fellow Jamie Keene on how the “safety net” keeps people stuck. buff.ly/YMjYHeR

Neoliberalism engineered a social safety net that depends on the very same forces driving people into poverty. @rooseveltinst fellow Jamie Keene breaks down 3 structural flaws. ⬇️ What’s been your experience with the safety net—what would you add? 🎧 buff.ly/YMjYHeR

Can't wait for Neoliberals to defend this power consolidation as "efficient".

The @nytimes wanted to talk about why blue states are losing population to red states. Besides getting the story wrong, the question misses the point: We should be asking what kind of policy and governance can deliver on the lives people want to lead?

This is a critical insight.

Dear followers, please see this conversation with Jon Stewart and David Autor on AI, work, inequality and learning. I personally had a great time.

@RogueCfpb Unions are not perfect, but the balance of power between employers and workers is skewed dramatically toward the former. That makes anti-monopoly policies like those of Lina Khan and unions tools for affordability.

Public sector unions should be abolished. If there are two more destructive forces in American society than police unions and teacher’s unions, I’ve yet to see it. No one has more job protections than those two fields, and no one has used those job protections to perform worse than those two fields. It’s a zero sum game and every shitty cop and shitty teacher that keeps their job, are more citizens and students who lose. That’s the basic math. But, most importantly, I love that you’re such a die hard supporter of unions that while union membership continues to decline and those union members continue to vote against Dems, you don’t let any of these realities stand in the way of your ideas

The core of this argument is that corporate power has no effect on affordability. That's like saying gravity has no effect on physics.

@RogueCfpb First, 11% of the workforce is unionized. Public/private doesn’t matter in this context. Second, yes, that does drive up wages across the board. This is well documented. Third, this is an argument for MORE unionization, not less.

@PitchforkEcon Really? For the … 5% of private sector employees in unions? You think the unions for those 5% are salvaging the wages of working people? That’s not about “affordability”. That’s just about union protections. I know you don’t believe that.

@RogueCfpb We're going to assume "addressing unions" means taking power away from unions and give it back to corporations. So, corporate power. There are also two sides to the affordability crisis: High prices and low wages. Without unions, wages for working people would be even lower.

@PitchforkEcon The “core” of the argument is that if you’re actually serious about affordability, you’d also be addressing unions and cutting spending. But since you’re only focused on corporations, you’re not really serious about affordability

“If this is how the system treats you…Why would you believe in it?” We don’t talk about this nearly enough. And maybe that’s the problem. Watch ⬇️ then listen to the episode: buff.ly/YMjYHeR

Poverty is downstream of power imbalances, but our safety net does little to change that. 🎧 Listen to our fellow Jamie Keene explain why it doesn’t have to be this way on @PitchforkEcon, and read her full report below ⬇️ rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/f…

Poverty isn’t just about income. It’s about power. Our safety net traps people in low-wage jobs—while subsidizing companies that pay poverty wages. This week, Jamie Keene explains how we can build a system that returns economic power to workers. 🎧: buff.ly/YMjYHeR

From 2018-2023, only 2850 estates per year paid any estate tax. In 2021, it was over 50,000.

The estate tax is broken. It has become a cover story for the wealthy to create a dynastic plutocracy.