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Marshall Steinbaum

@econmarshall.bsky.social
11K followers 701 following 2.1K posts

Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Utah. Senior Fellow in Higher Education Finance, Jain Family Institute. Views my own. marshallsteinbaum.org

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Reposted by Marshall Steinbaum
Review of Economics and Statistics (REStat) @restatjournal.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
CVS's acquisition of Target's retail pharmacy business reduced pay, especially for low-wage workers. Just Accepted new paper by Enas Farag, Alaa Abdelfattah, Chris Compton, Anna Stansbury @annastansbury.bsky.social and Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social zurl.co/NvgSz
zurl.co
A Retrospective Analysis of the Acquisition of Target’s Pharmacy Business by CVS Health: Labor Market Perspective
Abstract. We analyze the labor market impact of CVS Health’s acquisition of Target’s pharmacy business in December 2015 using Lightcast job postings data.
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Edo Navot @edonavot.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Mega-🧵 : Never before analyzed FTC data on franchising shows that * Brands are increasingly squeezing and exploiting franchise operators by - Increasing control over franchise operators - intensifying competition among franchises - increasing the cost of exit through non-competes.
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Reposted by Marshall Steinbaum
Ulrich Atz @ulrichatz.org · 20/04/2026
One takeaway from the paper is that disclosure is necessary but not sufficient: Franchise Disclosure Documents make these restraints visible, but they do not undo switching costs,hold-up, or post-term noncompetes. The FTC's Franchise Rule emphasizes disclosure over substantive regulation.
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
🚨🚨Revised paper 🚨🚨 The Balance of Power in Franchising w/@ulrichatz.org, Blake Eliason, @mikelipsitz.bsky.social, @pnorlander.bsky.social, & @stpinto.bsky.social. We built the 1st comprehensive panel dataset of franchise contract terms: 46,000 documents, 4,500 chains, 20+ provisions, 2009-2024. /1
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
READ THIS
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Anna Stansbury @annastansbury.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Important findings! Understanding franchising in detail is crucial for understanding many parts of the low wage labor market, and this team keeps producing papers that hugely advance our knowledge
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
NEW WORKING PAPER Minimum Wages and Vertical Restraints in Franchising joint with Swayam Sarangi, @stpinto.bsky.social, and Blake Eliason. marshallsteinbaum.org/wp-content/u... #EconSky /1
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
regulations.utah.edu/academics/6-...
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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
"Democrats are no longer framing their tax increases on the wealthy solely as measures to fund programs. They are arguing that America’s super-wealthy simply have too much money and taking some of that away is a public good on its own." newrepublic.com/article/2078...
newrepublic.com
Finally, Democrats—of All Stripes—Are Coming After the Wealthy’s Money
Everywhere you look, Democrats are trying to raise taxes on the superrich. It’s the right economic policy—but more than that, it’s the right democracy policy.
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Boston Review @bostonreview.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
“Progressive taxation is the single most important policy lever for reducing the power of the rich—not because it raises revenue that can be redistributed via public programs or directly to the poor, but because it imposes a de facto statutory maximum on income or wealth.” @econmarshall.bsky.social
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Just witnessed something good happen in Utah state politics. Bill that would restrict non-compete agreements just passed out of committee with a 10-3 vote le.utah.gov/~2026/bills/...
le.utah.gov
HB0203
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David Wessel @davidmwessel.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Elena Patel of @brookings.edu Rural counties with closer access to post offices consistently have higher levels of small-business activity, with the strongest relationships concentrated in sectors that account for a large share of rural self-employment. www.brookings.edu/articles/the...
brookings.edu
The postal network as economic infrastructure: Evidence from rural small businesses | Brookings
Elena Patel explains research highlighting the importance of the U.S. postal service in small business activity in rural communities.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
I am just gonna say it, these guys are completely emasculated by the knowledge that they have been out-organized by a group that is significantly made up of women, and all the bullshit call of duty nonsense is cope for their wounded egos bsky.app/profile/jeet...
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Argula von Grumbach admonishing the professoriate of Ingolstadt for expelling a Lutheran student. (From Lyndal Roper’s Summer of Fire and Blood)
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Argula von Grumbach admonishing the professoriate of Ingolstadt for expelling a Lutheran student. (From Lyndal Roper’s Summer of Fire and Blood)
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
One thing that happens to you if you research controversial topics is that referees feel free to completely shirk their duty to read & understand your paper in peer review, instead resorting to groundless insults and rank unprofessionalism. #EconSky
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LPE Blog @lpeblog.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
New article alert 🚨: “An Antitrust Exemption for Collective Bargaining by Independent Contractors,” by Vincent Mancini, @econmarshall.bsky.social, and Robert Stutchbury.
marshallsteinbaum.org
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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
"The public wants access to a high-quality, reasonably-priced higher education, and we have to give it to them," says @econmarshall.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2054...
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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
"The elite critique of higher education is you have a bunch of overpaid, over-confident professors who aren't doing anything that's really worthwhile for the public. What I think is wrong with the higher education system is plutocracy," says @econmarshall.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2054...
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Last week I discussed my paper "Rebuilding American Higher Education: from an Engine of Inequality to a Pillar of the Public Interest" (coauthored @andrewelrod.bsky.social @higheredlabor.bsky.social) w/@perrybaconjr.bsky.social at @newrepublic.com newrepublic.com/article/2054... /1
newrepublic.com
Trump Is Destroying Higher Ed. Here’s How Democrats Can Rebuild It
University of Utah professor Marshall Steinbaum says American higher education should be reformed so we don’t have well-funded colleges for rich students and underfunded ones that lower-income people ...
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Sean Satori @seansatori.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Interesting. I’m always skeptical of new antitrust exemptions and have frequently suggested getting rid of many of them (especially ones related to insurance). That said, this proposal and the one related to musicians vs. streaming services solve real problems.
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
I am pleased to present a NEW PAPER we’ve been working on for awhile: “An Antitrust Exemption for Collective Bargaining by Independent Contractors” coauthored w/Vince Mancini & Bob Stutchbury. Forthcoming from Antitrust Law Journal. Link to the paper: marshallsteinbaum.org/wp-content/u... /1
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 17/01/2026
@econmarshall.bsky.social this is very good!!! thx for writing it marshallsteinbaum.org/wp-content/u...
marshallsteinbaum.org
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Sam Eyler-Driscoll 🍉🌻🍁 @sameyler.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Tooze isn’t perfect but he is still one of the best academics we have today www.theguardian.com/business/202...
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
The CDC is still paying reparations for Tuskegee while doing it again.
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
This is indeed the basis of popular revolution: elite institutions with a lot to lose comply, but those with less are willing to put up a fight, which means when the regime loses credibility they’re the ones with any popular legitimacy.
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
They expect - they NEED - the people they threaten to fall in line, like the law firms and universities and media companies and billionaires and Congress did. If you say “No, make me,” they simply do not have a Plan B. TRUMP DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH GUYS TO MAKE YOU.
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
I lost my job at a progressive think tank partly over this, because it was seen as destructive to a big tent anti-trump coalition. The problem is, any coalition with libertarians is going to be incapable of defeating trump, as we’ve since learned. www.rawstory.com/amp/libertar...
rawstory.com
Libertarianism is a form of white supremacy: economist
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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Think about the mindset, and the expectation of immunity, of someone who texts this to friends.
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Jed Brown @jedbrown.org · 12/12/2025
While procuring big raises for themselves, these presidents were dismantling entire departments, firing faculty en masse, and signing expensive contracts with the epistemicide company in defiance of shared governance. Abject betrayal of the university mission. www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
  The timing was surreal. CSU unveiled its grand technological gesture just as it proposed slashing $375 million from its budget. While administrators cut ribbons on their AI initiative, they were also cutting faculty positions, entire academic programs, and student services. At CSU East Bay, general layoff notices were issued twice within a year, hitting departments like General Studies and Modern Languages. My own alma mater, Sonoma State, faced a $24 million deficit and announced plans to eliminate 23 academic programs—including philosophy, economics, and physics—and to cut over 130 faculty positions, more than a quarter of its teaching staff.
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Bright D Limm 임대중 @bdlimm.myatproto.social · 18/12/2025
Perry Bacon is one of ~15 influential commentators I follow because I consistently find his perspective oriented toward organizing. Just finished this @higheredlabor.bsky.social report and agree: this report puts forth an assessment and vision for higher ed around which to construct a new majority.
Excerpt from "Rebuilding American Higher Education: From an Engine of Inequality to a Pillar of the Public Interest," by Marshall Steinbaum and Andrew Elrod (December 3rd, 2025), a collaboration between Higher Education Labor United and the Jain Family Institute. The excerpt shows the following text:
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In the following subsections, we lay out the parameters of our proposal for federal reform of the higher education sector:

1. Defeating institutional segregation
2. Financing higher education
3. Collective bargaining
4. Labor standards
5. Institutional and system governance
6. The production of public knowledge
7. Dismantling the academic 1% and rebuilding the academic middle class
8. Academic freedom and campus speech
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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
This proposal from @econmarshall.bsky.social, @higheredlabor.bsky.social and others to overhaul higher education is really compelling. Worth reading in full. marshallsteinbaum.org/wp-content/u...
marshallsteinbaum.org
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LPE Blog @lpeblog.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
In a new paper, @andrewelrod.bsky.social and @econmarshall.bsky.social explain how to transform American higher education from an engine of Inequality to a pillar of the public interest.
marshallsteinbaum.org
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The Century Foundation @tcfdotorg.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
This Wednesday: Join us in NYC for a panel discussion on how to rebuild American higher education from an engine of inequality to a pillar of the public interest. Featuring @jmargetta.bsky.social, @econmarshall.bsky.social, Jennifer Chernega & @adamhsays.com. 🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/why-americ...
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Reminder: this Wednesday Dec. 3rd we (Higher Ed Labor United/JFI/TCF) are hosting a panel discussion about the future of higher education in NYC, where I’m releasing a new paper. Register here: jainfamilyinstitute.org/event-on-dec...
jainfamilyinstitute.org
Event on Dec 3: Why American Higher Education Needs An Overhaul - Jain Family Institute
In-person at the Century Foundation in Manhattan at 6pm.
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
How does human capital theory survive the existence of this paper?
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
On Dec. 3rd, I will be releasing a @higheredlabor.bsky.social/Jain Family Institute paper co-written w/Andrew Elrod: Rebuilding American Higher Education: from an Engine of Inequality to a Pillar of the Public Interest In-person panel discussion in NYC: jainfamilyinstitute.org/event-on-dec...
jainfamilyinstitute.org
Event on Dec 3: Why American Higher Education Needs An Overhaul - Jain Family Institute
In-person at the Century Foundation in Manhattan at 6pm.
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
On Dec. 3rd, I will be releasing a @higheredlabor.bsky.social/Jain Family Institute paper co-written w/Andrew Elrod: Rebuilding American Higher Education: from an Engine of Inequality to a Pillar of the Public Interest In-person panel discussion in NYC: jainfamilyinstitute.org/event-on-dec...
jainfamilyinstitute.org
Event on Dec 3: Why American Higher Education Needs An Overhaul - Jain Family Institute
In-person at the Century Foundation in Manhattan at 6pm.
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Very glad to have been on @leftanchor.bsky.social to discuss l’Affaire Summers and the grotesquerie of “progressive” economic policy types covering for him & retaliating against his accusers to forward their own careers/garner his approval. #econsky
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 22/11/2025
fresh @leftanchor.bsky.social bonus ep, we have @econmarshall.bsky.social on to talk about Larry Summers, his good pal Jeff Epstein, and Summers' noxious influence on the discipline of economics as well as Democratic Party policymaking www.patreon.com/posts/144130...
patreon.com
Summers, Epstein, and Economics | Left Anchor
Get more from Left Anchor on Patreon
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
WOKE IS BACK
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Summers is gone. Now: why did he survive so long? www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
thecrimson.com
Summers Will Not Finish Semester of Teaching as Harvard Investigates Epstein Ties | News | The Harvard Crimson
Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein.
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Prof Dynarski @dynarski.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
I have been feeling depressed and discouraged that this man has the power and influence he does at my school and in my profession And I am a tenured professor at Harvard! How much more protected can I be? Imagine how STUDENTS feel. Junior faculty. This quote nails it
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Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 17/11/2025
“Short bursts indicate an ICE sighting. Long whistles indicate agents making arrests. If you hear the whistle and you’re undocumented, said [Whitney Hu, a community activist and organizer with South Brooklyn Mutual Aid], ‘you hide. And if you’re somebody who’s not, you go to the street.’”
thecity.nyc
As ICE Street Raids Ramp Up, New Yorkers Stock Up On Whistles
Taking a cue from Chicago, community groups have distributed thousands of whistles in recent weeks — a grassroots system people in other cities have adopted to help neighbors sound the alarm.
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Fantastic podcast episode. At one point @katewagner.wehwalt.net points out that McMansions come in all sorts of styles, including post-modern, which consists of oddly arranged rectangles. Behold my neighbor, completed ca. 2024. The owner is from Texas. www.patreon.com/posts/143733...
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Paul Hünermund @p-hunermund.com · 17/11/2025
We should introduce a new heuristic for judging academic careers: If they pursue the same field than their famous academic relatives, it's likely because of networks not ability.
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
On this point, any regrets from the progressive nonprofit industrial complex for vilifying Claudia Sahm for blowing the whistle on Summers in 2020? Or was it all worth one failed administration’s worth of fancy economic policy appointments?
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Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Damn, almost makes you feel sorry for @americanprogress.bsky.social building their whole economic policy platform around him, until you remember that they put Neera back in charge and so not cleaning house when you have the chance seems to be their MO! The dangers of gerontocracy.
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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
gosh I wonder why they called her peril www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
The Harvard Crimson
Throughout the seven months of correspondence reviewed by The Crimson, Summers and Epstein referred to the woman Summers was pursuing in some messages by the code name "peril" but never used her name in messages directly describing the relationship. On at least two occasions, the two men discussed Jin's emails to Summers, which he forwarded to Epstein. In later messages, the two men appeared to joke about the probability that Summers would have sex with the woman, apparently Jin.
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