iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It is wild to lump the CTC (and expanding it to the lowest-income families/children) into the same bin as UBI. Just sloppy. Only citing the mixed results on UBI while completely skipping the work on the CTC expansion's impacts.

wsj.com

Opinion | The Road to a Universal Basic Income

An expanded child tax credit is the first step. The bidding is underway.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

US wage earners at 35, in 2025 dollars: Boomer $46,023 → Millennial $60,630. Obviously the workforce has changed and expectations around quality of life changed with it. A median, 40 years apart, is not in fact the same mix of people. What about men and women by education?

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Academics/researchers/anyone really. If you haven't updated your personal site in a while it just keeps getting easier. A few minutes for integrated GitHub, refresh publications/citations automatically, and animated scroll wheel. bnglasner.github.io

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

July payrolls fell 23,000, so it might be a good time to reevaluate the hiring pickup narrative. The three-month average is now just 20,000, against a pre-pandemic normal near 177,000.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Well, if we are rehashing the election, friendly reminder that the biggest declines in vote shares for Harris took place in the most expensive and most populous counties. The drop was a huge break from the trend line.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Are your single friends making us "poorer"? Obviously not, but the way we count household income means more one-person households *can* look poorer than a world with more married couples even if no single person earns a dollar less.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

The CPI-U is up 0.5 percent (seasonally adjusted) after rising 0.6 percent last month. Year-over-year the all items index increased 4.2 percent before seasonal adjustment. Not a good look compared to wages (AHE)

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

California's jobs grew 3.4 percent. Take out healthcare and social assistance, and the rest of the state economy actually declined by 0.3 percent. One in six California jobs is in healthcare. The question is what holds up the job market in California when the money pulls back.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Trump's new EO is a real step toward fixing the U.S. retirement system. We spend hundreds of billions a year in tax breaks to fund retirement savings and the top 20% of households capture more than 60%. 54 million private-sector workers, nearly half, have no plan at work.

whitehouse.gov

Promoting Retirement-Savings Access for American Workers by Establishing TrumpIRA.gov

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to ensure that every American worker has

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Seeing people who dismissed real wage gains in government data now eager to cite the same data showing declines. Tight labor markets drove gains, but that got waved off to preserve a stagnation story. Keep it simple: when wages rise, that’s good; when they fall, that’s bad.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Where you work shouldn't bar you from being able to invest in your own retirement. We need to expand retirement access so that everyone can save for the future. #Retirement #CSPAN #RetirementSavings

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Same image. Same quality. Totally different value. AI’s not likely to replace the human touch. #AI #Economics #technology #ArtFraud

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Automation perfected recording and replaying music, but people still pay for the humans anyway. #AI #FutureOfWork #Economics #Jobs

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Check out my upcoming appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to discuss Pres. Trump's proposal to create private-sector retirement accounts.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

High-skilled immigration reform is overdue.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Ignore inputs at your own risk!

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

We train talent, then lose it. That is a (bad) policy choice.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Five years from now token limit windows will have absolutely destroyed white collar commuting patterns. Hell, even weekend work schedules are going to be impacted. Reflections from a long weekend of playing with Codex and Claude code

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Today we launched our OZ housing and affordability initiative. Remember, we CAN build and we NEED to build. Let’s take the steps to make it happen.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

More than 53 million U.S. workers don’t have access to an employer-provided retirement plan. That fact puts today’s “$955 saved” headlines in context — the retirement crisis is fundamentally about access.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Workers want us to tackle affordability - lowering costs and making home ownership achievable. What didn’t they want? Raising tariffs. www.instagram.com/reel/DUYZeRq...

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Yale making tuition free for families under $200k has sparked the inevitable take: “$200k is the poverty line now.” In 2024, only 16% of U.S. households earned $200,000 or more. Calling the other 84% “in poverty” is nonsense.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

People warn about desensitization to state violence. What they miss is that desensitization cuts both ways. The more threats are used, the less they work on protesters who stood their ground and keep recording.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Excited to share I’ve been promoted from Economist to Senior Economist at @innovateeconomy.bsky.social!Grateful for the chance to work on research that connects real-world policy to the data—and for a team focused on building a more dynamic, inclusive economy. More work ahead. Let’s go.

linktr.ee

Ben Glasner | Instagram, TikTok | Linktree

Economist. Read, write, and research. Ex-post doc. Ex-Ex grad student. Ph.D. from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Black unemployment has risen rapidly since “Liberation Day,” up 31.7%, from 6.3% to 8.3% as of November. Compared to usual flows/changes, we are well outside the norm and in some concerning company... Source: fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS14...

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Involuntary part-time work is surging. From September to November 2025, the share of employed workers working part-time for economic reasons rose about 20%. In the raw data, that is 2.741% to 3.352% of employment, and 4.579M to 5.488M workers. Full analysis here: t.co/kAcnPMQp0O

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Given how often we talk about manufacturing, and how important it is, we really should have a clearer idea about how many people are actually working in manufacturing. Spoiler: depending on who/how you ask, the answer differs by million of jobs.

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Reposted by Ben Glasner

Economic Innovation Group @innovateeconomy.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

EIG’s @benglasner.bsky.social joins Money with Katie to discuss how a wage subsidy can improve the lives of low-wage workers nationwide. Check it out! 🎧 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

podcasts.apple.com

How to End Low Wage Work—Forever

Podcast Episode · The Money with Katie Show · 12/03/2025 · 1h 19m

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Had a great conversation about who the low-wage working class really is and how we can end low-wage work forever on the Money with Katie show from @morningbrew.bsky.social

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Come work with me, and more importantly with all the much smarter and cooler people than I am, at the @innovateeconomy.bsky.social: Full-time, entry-level research role for someone who wants to work directly with data, policy ideas, all while building strong quantitative and writing skills.

linkedin.com

Economic Innovation Group hiring Research Assistant in Washington, DC | LinkedIn

Posted 6:08:41 PM. Research Assistant The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) is a bipartisan public policy organization…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.

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Arin Dube @arindube.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

When states like Colorado passed policies requiring employers to disclose salary information in job postings, what happened? It increased competition, and raised wages, without harming employment or changing skill requirements. Improved functioning of markets, helped workers.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

SNAP isn't a partisan program, and recipients are split across red and blue America. #SNAP #FoodSecurity #GovernmentShutdown #Economy

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Ready to get back to my old home at @uwevansschool.bsky.social and @appam.bsky.social in Seattle. You should not miss the full panel where I’ll be covering the impact of Opportunity Zones on housing.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Last night we wrote about the geo. and poli. dist. of SNAP reliance. We walked back language to reflect that the admin stated they would resume paying. Yet here we are. A SNAP shutdown does not punish one side. It punishes families, our neighbors, and local economies.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Among counties that received more than 1% of total income from SNAP, 82% voted for Trump and 18% voted for Harris. The on-again-off-again, still-looming, lapse in SNAP benefits for 42 million people is not in fact a “largely Democrat” issue.

youtube.com

Trump Claims SNAP Recipients Are 'Largely’ Democrats

YouTube video by Bloomberg News

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

1 in 5 children receive SNAP. 1 in 2 children receive assistance from at least one nutrition program. Cannot emphasize enough how important stable access to nutrition is for everyone, and especially for kids.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

SNAP isn’t just about hardship today, it is an investment in all of our futures. Both program participants and those lucky enough to never have to be. Short-run support and long-run gains in health, safety, and economic mobility, especially for the kids who need it most.

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

As always, look for the sourcing info: SNAP, like many policies that work to reduce material hardship in families, has shown REAL long-run economic benefits and reductions in inter-generational poverty and transfer reliance. Thread:

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Even the smartest AI in the world can’t see why the internet loves a chunky bear:

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Even the smartest AI in the world can’t see why the internet loves a chunky bear:

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Who I am, why I do this, and what you’ll get here: clear, honest, usable economics. Check the linktree for more: linktr.ee/bglasner

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Do you know someone looking to get some experience in the think tank/economic and policy research world? Encourage them to apply!

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

So what is going on with wages? It is all about missed potential!

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

I got a PhD so I could ask ChatGPT if a bear is fat. Like Kasparov vs. Deep Blue, the team at EIG pitted human reasoning against the machine. But our arena wasn’t a chessboard, it was the salmon-filled rivers of Alaska. I give you: Fat Bear Week and the Fate of the World! 🐻🤖

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

We’ve got an extremely fun post coming out early tomorrow morning on Agglomerations. Subscribe: agglomerations.substack.com

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

The Abundance agenda has spotlighted supply-side barriers—housing, energy, tech. But one crucial ingredient remains under-discussed: workers. Without a dynamic, mobile labor force, efforts to build more, innovate faster, and deploy clean energy will run into a human bottleneck🧵

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Ben Glasner @benglasner.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Increasing reliance on government transfer programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is shaping the politics of both parties. #SocialSecurity #Medicare #Medicaid #Politics #Economy #news

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