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Anisha Steephen

@asteephen.bsky.social
737 followers 362 following 67 posts

Ex-U.S. Treasury, always economic justice. Banking / Tax / Housing / Climate. They/Them. 📍NYC

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Reposted by Anisha Steephen
Groundwork Collaborative @groundwork.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Shoppers know the deck is stacked in favor of corporations, and they’re tired of being spied on and ripped off. A reckoning is long overdue. In "Gouged", @lindsayowens.bsky.social lays out the path forward: the Shoppers’ Bill of Rights.
nevadacurrent.com
Commentary: Corporations keep finding new ways to gouge us. Our laws must catch up. • Nevada Current
Every day, companies find better, and sneakier, ways to reach deeper into our wallets. They trap us in subscriptions, bury fees until checkout, use algorithms to collude with competitors, and mine our...
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Lindsay Owens @lindsayowens.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Best 3 things about writing a book I didn’t expect. 1. People send you pics of their cute kids reading your book. 2. Lengthy but brilliant goodreads reviews. 3. People send you pics of your book on shelves in bookstores across the country. Thanks guys! bit.ly/GougedPRH
bit.ly
Gouged by Lindsay Owens: 9798217058785 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
“A thrilling true crime story about how the largest corporate monopolies in America have hatched a scheme to pick our pockets. Gouged is the book corporate America does not want you to read.”—Robert.....
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Neiman Marcus closed its downtown Dallas flagship on Wednesday. The store played a notable role in the history of desegregation in Dallas. Previously, Black shoppers across the US could enter department stores, but they weren't allowed to try on clothes without adhering to certain conditions. 🧵
A notice about the Neiman Marcus store opening in downtown Dallas.An old photo of the Dallas flagship.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 02/10/2026
Calling all NYC artists — painters, filmmakers, poets, musicians and more! Did you know our city provides grants to support your work every year? And this year, we're DOUBLING the amount — from $5,000 up to $10,000 per artist! Deadlines are approaching fast — apply today at nyc.gov/artistgrants.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.
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James Downie @jamescdownie.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
"The Treasury Department has seen a dramatic exodus of President Donald Trump’s own appointees, outpacing the turnover of any other recent administration." Bessent "has had at least three different chiefs of staff since the beginning of the administration.”
NOTUS: "Nearly Half of Trump’s Treasury Appointees Have Left
While many agencies have had turnover, the Treasury Department has seen an exodus of Senate-confirmed officials."
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jae holzman @jael.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The EPA said if power plants used only for data centers are not be subject to the federal Clean Air ​Act's Acid Rain Program, which has been key to the ​dramatic reduction of smog and soot pollution from industrial ⁠facilities. Per @reuters.com
reuters.com
EPA says power for data centers can sidestep pollution laws
Power sources providing electricity only to data centers and not the public grid may not be subject to ​federal pollution laws, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on ‌Monday.
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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
NEW @us.theguardian.com investigation into allegations that Amazon pushed smaller companies into raising prices: “They’d say, ‘You need to go to Target. You need to go talk to Walmart to get them to raise their price.’” www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
‘We were at their mercy’: inside the Amazon tactics that hiked prices across the internet
Internal emails revealed in court and interviews with ex-employees describe how Amazon’s practices drove up prices for competitors like Walmart and Target. Amazon denies price-fixing claims and says i...
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Before your rent even goes up, Wall Street has already promised it would. New from me in @time.com on how critics across the country overlook Wall Street’s role in the housing crisis: time.com/article/2026...
time.com
Why Rent Keeps Rising Because of Wall Street
“Apartment buildings are bought, sold, and borrowed against on the expectation that rents will keep rising,” writes Anisha Steephen.
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Roosevelt Institute @rooseveltinstitute.org · 21/07/2026
Why does the rent keep going up? It's not just the housing shortage. In @time.com, our Fellow @asteephen.bsky.social argues that today's housing market is increasingly organized around Wall Street's expectation that rents will keep rising, making higher rents part of the business model.
time.com
Why Rent Keeps Rising Because of Wall Street
“Apartment buildings are bought, sold, and borrowed against on the expectation that rents will keep rising,” writes Anisha Steephen.
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Reposted by Anisha Steephen
Erin Lockwood @erinkaylockwood.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Look, I'm all for the CFTC cracking down on people like the teleprompter guy doing obvious prediction market insider trading, but there's another sense in which those cases are just the smallest of potatoes compared to the scope and scale of financial crimes happening in this administration.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
4/ Last year I wrote that when Nixon overstepped, Congress responded by building guardrails. I also warned those guardrails were eroding. IRC § 7217 is still the law. But when officials who invoke it are pushed out, we are heading into dangerous territory for our entire fiscal apparatus.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
3/ IRC § 7217 makes it a crime for executive branch officials to request that the IRS conduct or terminate an audit of any particular taxpayer. According to @wsj.com Kies warned that White House requests could violate that law. Now he is gone. Kies once represented Trump personally. Even he balked.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
2/ @wsj.com reports Ken Kies, Treasury's top tax official and acting IRS chief counsel, was pushed out after clashing with the White House over IRS audits. Days earlier, a federal judge condemned an agreement shielding the president from IRS audits as self-dealing that misused the courts.
wsj.com
Exclusive | Top Treasury Tax Official Ousted After Clashes With White House Over IRS Audits
Kenneth Kies warned that political officials risked breaching a law that limits who can influence tax enforcement.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
1/ In June 2025 I wrote about the impending authoritarian capture of the IRS for @crisesnotes.bsky.social. I named IRC § 7217, enacted after Nixon audited his enemies, and warned the firewall between the White House and taxpayer audits was under siege. Thirteen months later here we are.🧵
crisesnotes.com
The Fiscal State Under Siege: Why People Hate the IRS, and Why You Should Care
How Trump, DOGE, and Project 2025 Are Turning the IRS Into a Tool of Authoritarian Rule Editor’s Introduction: Hello readers, it's Nathan Tankus and I am very happy to bring to you the first in a l...
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Roosevelt Institute @rooseveltinstitute.org · 14/07/2026
That same financial pressure is reshaping rental housing. Our Fellow @asteephen.bsky.social shows how treating housing as an asset class that must continually appreciate fuels rent increases, tenant displacement, and instability.
rooseveltinstitute.org
Rent Regulation as Financial Regulation
Housing affordability is often framed as a supply problem. This brief examines the role of speculative finance in rental housing and argues that rent regulation is a powerful tool for promoting financ...
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Phil Rocco @philiprocco.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
I don’t think people really understand how bad the OMB proposed rule is going to be for state and local govt. We’re talking about putting a full third of state budgets under the explicit control of Russ Vought. (1/2) www.bondbuyer.com/news/cities-...
bondbuyer.com
Cities, states warn of credit impact from proposed federal grant rule
Discretionary termination of grants allowed under the rule would pose a particular risk, issuer advocates said.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
6/6 At a moment when federal regulators are retreating from the post-2008 supervisory framework, the tools for disciplining speculative housing finance do not all sit in Washington. Some of them sit in city and state housing policy. Read the full brief here: rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
rooseveltinstitute.org
Rent Regulation as Financial Regulation
Housing affordability is often framed as a supply problem. This brief examines the role of speculative finance in rental housing and argues that rent regulation is a powerful tool for promoting financ...
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
5/6 Rent regulation disciplines lending by closing off business models that only work if tenants are displaced or rents reset upward. It forces lenders and investors to underwrite buildings based on stabilized income rather than projected displacement.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
4/6 Multifamily CMBS delinquencies recently hit a ten-year high nationally, with the largest year-over-year rise of any commercial property type. That distress puts tenants at risk, but it also exposes a housing finance system built around rent growth that may never arrive.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
3/6 When housing is priced this way, affordability depends not only on how many units exist, but on how those units are financed, leveraged, and valued. Multifamily CMBS delinquencies recently hit a ten-year high nationally, with the largest year-over-year rise of any commercial property type.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
2/6 We often hear housing framed purely as a supply story. But that story misses how finance shapes the market. Contemporary rental housing is a financial asset class, financed through debt structures that often depend on projected rent growth, tenant turnover, and displacement to make the deal work
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
🧵1/6 Rent regulation is getting national attention right now, and the conventional debate is too narrow. In my new paper with the @rooseveltinstitute.org I argue that rent regulation should be understood as macroprudential policy and one of the most powerful tools state and local governments have.
rooseveltinstitute.org
Rent Regulation as Financial Regulation
Housing affordability is often framed as a supply problem. This brief examines the role of speculative finance in rental housing and argues that rent regulation is a powerful tool for promoting financ...
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Roosevelt Institute @rooseveltinstitute.org · 01/07/2026
NEW 📰: Our fellow @asteephen.bsky.social connects housing affordability, financial stability, inflation, and economic justice to make the case that rent regulation is not just a tenant protection but a tool for managing systemic risk in housing finance. Read: rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Economists call this diminishing marginal utility. The first dollars change your life. The billionth doesn't. So the argument stops being about consumption and starts being about power.
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Julianne McShane @juliannemcshane.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
"One study found that increasing the number of people who receive SNAP benefits by 5 percent could have prevented nearly 32,000 suicides over 15 years. And a $1 increase in minimum wage has been linked to roughly 8,000 fewer suicide deaths over a decade."
washingtonpost.com
How minimum wage hikes and food stamps fit in to suicide prevention
Studies show income, debt and access to basic needs shape mental health outcomes, but U.S. strategies have largely focused on clinical care.
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Climate and Community Institute @cplusc.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
🚨🚨 Today, we’re launching “Stop Greed Build Green,” a strategic framework and agenda to confront the affordability crisis and the climate crisis together by putting working people in charge of the economy and the climate transition. (1/10)
stopgreedbuildgreen.org
Stop Greed, Build Green | Climate and Community Institute
A new framework to put the working class in charge of climate and economic transformation.
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Economic Speakers Bureau @econspeakers.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
The Trump administration's gutting of the IRS is delaying tax refunds, harming Americans who rely on that return to pay bills or plan ahead. “Having a delay by 10 weeks or more, for close to a million people, is unacceptable,” said @asteephen.bsky.social. federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2...
federalnewsnetwork.com
IRS phase-out of paper checks leaves some taxpayers waiting months for refunds | Federal News Network
The National Taxpayer Advocate estimates that over 10 million taxpayers previously received their IRS refund as a paper check.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Tax filing season is here — and the Trump administration has left the IRS in chaos. I joined @scrippsnews.bsky.social to break down what that actually means for taxpayers trying to navigate the mess.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
6/6 The wealth at the top was built by extracting from all of us. They call it "their" wealth. We call it unpaid wages, unaffordable rent, gutted public services. And the tax-flight panic? Top earners move out at ¼ the rate of everyone else. Tax wealth. Fund dignity for all. Govern for the people.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
5/6 Hochul calls herself a "staunch capitalist" and argues against taxing the wealthy because she wants to "broaden the pool." That is tired trickle-down logic. It also undermines the affordability platform she's running for re-election on.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
4/6 Hochul believes she controls the budget. But she's chosen to cede that power to wealthy people and corporations who act as an unofficial second chamber. Her first question should be "what do New Yorkers need?" but instead it's "will the ultrawealthy approve?"
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
3/6 Then to fund basic services, we became dependent on taxing the same people who benefited from starving them. This is the system the people in power chose to build. Today the top 1% pay 48% of NYC's personal income taxes. That's enough concentration to keep any politician scared.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
2/6 Over decades, New York was remade into a profit center for finance, luxury real estate, and high-end services. That left public housing starved. Hospitals squeezed. Universities cut. Transit left to decay.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
🧵 1/6 Hochul still won't tax the wealthy because she's worried they'll leave. So we govern a city of 8 million based on the feelings of a few thousand. Here's how we got here:
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
3/ Every state and city should run the numbers: Trump’s cruel immigration policies don’t just harm people—they shrink the tax base and push costs onto working families. We must protect immigrants, ensure safe filing + raise progressive revenue from concentrated wealth.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
2/ Cato estimates immigrants reduced deficits by ~$14.5T over 1994–2023 (in real 2024$). So IRS/ICE data-sharing, employment raids, fear campaigns, and violent deportation tactics push people into the shadows and reduce tax filing. I wrote about this for NY last week, and now Cato confirms it:
amny.com
Op-Ed | ICE is coming for our people and our budget | amNewYork
New York faces a projected $34.3 billion cumulative budget gap through 2029, and federal funding, nearly 39% of the state budget, is shrinking. Every dollar
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
🧵 1/ New Cato white paper (yes, Cato) finds immigrants paid more in taxes than they received in benefits every year from 1994–2023 across federal, state, and local budgets:
cato.org
Immigrants’ Recent Effects on Government Budgets: 1994–2023
Our analysis in this paper shows that immigrants generated a fiscal surplus of about $14.5 trillion from 1994 to 2023, that the average immigrant is much less costly than the average US-born American,...
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
@mayor.nyc.gov @governor.ny.gov NYC faces a $12B budget hole for FY26-27. Undocumented NYers contribute ~$3.1B/yr in NY state & local taxes. Trump’s cruel ICE tactics will shrink revenue by pushing immigrants into the shadows & off the books. We must #TaxTheRich now to pay their share. My op-ed:
amny.com
Op-Ed | ICE is coming for our people and our budget – amNewYork
New York faces a projected $34.3 billion cumulative budget gap through 2029, and federal funding, nearly 39% of the state budget, is shrinking. Every dollar
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Josie Duffy Rice @jduffyrice.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
ta-nehisi on renee good, alex pretti, and the "culture war"
vanityfair.com
“The Homeland” Is War on America: The Blood-and-Soil Nationalism That Killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti
In the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Trump has clarified an inconvenient fact: The culture war is an actual war.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Thrilled to join Roosevelt Institute’s 2026 Think Tank Fellows cohort to help build an economy that delivers shared prosperity, real power for working people, and rules that rein in extraction. Very excited to be alongside my former Treasury colleagues Chastity Murphy and @samarthgupta.bsky.social!
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Tonantzin Carmona @tonantzin-tlc.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Congress is fast-tracking crypto — not fixing the real economy. New op-ed in Fast Company: www.fastcompany.com/91474218/cry...
fastcompany.com
Crypto won’t fix America’s affordability crisis
An economy that already feels precarious does not need more ways for households to absorb financial risk
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Nathan Tankus @nathantankus.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Great work from @groundwork.bsky.social. what it immediately brings to mind is whether a SNAP card on an instacart account impacts prices shown and if so how
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Darrick Hamilton @darrickhamilton.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | ‘Trump accounts’ will save kids? Republicans can’t be serious.
Baby bonds are a wealth-building tool that’s inclusive, equitable and grounded in solid economics.
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Jeremy Bearer-Friend @bearerfriend.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
A good idea whose time has come www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
msnbc.com
Opinion | The case for taxing billionaires is older than you think
A wealth tax, with a top rate of 100%, is common sense.
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
White House officials are furious with Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director, who talked Trump into suggesting a 50-year mortgage plan. The White House was blindsided by the idea and is now dealing with a furious backlash from conservative allies, business leaders and lawmakers.
politico.com
‘Sold POTUS a bill of goods’: WH furious with Pulte over 50-year mortgage
The White House was blindsided by the idea and is now dealing with a furious backlash from conservative allies, business leaders and lawmakers.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
9/ Homeownership should be a path out of precarity where each payment turns rent to the bank into equity. A 50-year mortgage does the opposite. It converts owners into long-term renters to the bank while doing nothing to fix scarcity, wages, or the structures that lock people out in the first place.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
8/ Non-QM loans often advertise a headline rate that fades once the full terms appear. Higher pricing, fewer protections, slower amortization. The small apparent savings today is overwhelmed by lifetime interest most families do not anticipate.
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Anisha Steephen @asteephen.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
7/ First-time buyers are older than ever, hovering around forty. If you buy at forty with a fifty-year mortgage the last payment arrives near ninety. For Black and Latino households that already enter homeownership later because of systemic barriers, this widens the wealth gap rather than closing it
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