iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

NEW from me @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social - What's been happening with bond auctions & interest rates? - What was Treasury's "Bond buyback" response and did it work? - How does a debt-and-interest-rate spiral work & what are the risks? All addressed here: thedispatch.com/article/bond...

thedispatch.com

Can the U.S. Avoid a Dangerous Debt Spiral?

The financial markets are sending out warning signals, but no one is listening.

0153

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

NEW from me in @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social. Congress spent two decades designing a web of budget laws & rules to constrain budget deficits - and then quietly & systematically destroyed every one of them so that it could turn surpluses into $1.8 trillion deficits. 🧵 thedispatch.com/article/new-...

thedispatch.com

Why the Budget Process Is Broken

Congress wrote the rules to restrain itself. Then it broke every one.

1266

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

NEW from me in @theatlantic.com. The left and right are both trapped in lazy, false Social Security narratives. For the right, its blaming immigrants & the trust fund raid. For the left, its that lifting the cap painlessly brings solvency. 🧵 www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.com

The Elixir of the Payroll-Tax Cap and Other Social Security Myths

Progressives are wrong about how to reform the program. Conservatives are, too.

1317

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

NEW from me. Each year, 100-200 young people message me seeking career advice. So I wrote a guide for younger people seeking a career in the Washington D.C. policy community. It includes 4 main keys to landing your first DC job or internship, & career advice. www.jessicariedl.blog/p/so-you-wan...

jessicariedl.blog

So You Want to Work in Washington D.C.?

Advice for Aspiring Policy Analysts

0227

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I now have a Substack page. One place for current & past studies, op-eds, testimonies, videos, speeches, economic policy links, and anything else I decide to post. Open replies too. Best of all - subscribing is 100% free, all-access. www.jessicariedl.blog

jessicariedl.blog

Jessica Riedl | Substack

Demystifying federal spending, tax, budget, and economic policy. 100% free. Click to read Jessica Riedl, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

0161

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

NEW from me @reason.com. Can AI drastically cut budget deficits and even balance the budget - as Musk & Amodei suggest? I estimate AI budget effects on productivity, revenues, job displacement benefits, Social Security, health, DOD, interest, govt jobs, & govt admin. 🧵 reason.com/2026/06/16/e...

reason.com

Even an AI-sparked economic miracle will not save the federal budget

Congress cannot sit by and hope for AI to fix the deficit.

2113

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

NEW from me. A short blog post walking through how the CBO's (already scary) budget baseline likely under-estimates the 30-year debt projection by 68% of GDP. That means the federal debt outlook is $62 trillion(!) worse than is commonly-reported. 🧵 www.jessicariedl.blog/p/federal-de...

jessicariedl.blog

Federal Debt Outlook is $60 Trillion Worse than Reported

Congress requires CBO to assume unlikely tax hikes & spending cuts

111058

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

NEW from me. My cover story in today's @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social steps back and provides a basic primer on why soaring federal debt matters for the economy and the federal budget. 🧵 thedispatch.com/article/debt...

thedispatch.com

Why Surging Federal Debt Matters

It’s an existential threat to the long-term American economy.

13513

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

NEW from me: The 2026 version of my chart book. It is 132 pages of charts that defy liberal & conservative conventional wisdom about spending, taxes, deficits, debt, and even presidential fiscal performance. A career of federal budget expertise in picture form. 🧵 www.brookings.edu/articles/202...

brookings.edu

2026 chart book examines spending, taxes, and deficits | Brookings

Jessica Riedl's 2026 chart book provides a standard, non-partisan look at the trends in spending, taxes, and deficits.

1317

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

NEW from me in @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social. Voters continue to rate inflation as a top priority & punish inflationary presidents. Yet Biden & now Trump continue to pursue highly inflationary policies and even mock & dismiss voters' concerns. Why don't they care? 🧵 thedispatch.com/article/trum...

thedispatch.com

Why Presidents Don’t Care About Inflation as Much as You Do

Economic policy is no longer about ensuring broad prosperity but tangible benefits to key constituencies.

1163

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

NEW from me. My new report continues my series on presidential fiscal records with a full, granular accounting of the Biden fiscal record. The main figure: $6.6 trillion in added ten-year deficits due to legislation and executive orders. 🧵 www.brookings.edu/articles/bid...

brookings.edu

Biden’s fiscal legacy | Brookings

Jessica Riedl offers a comprehensive retrospective on the fiscal impact of policies enacted during the Biden presidency.

2296

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

NEW from me @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social. Congressional GOPers are proposing Reconciliation 2.0 to finally achieve all the big spending cuts they could not get in the OBBBA. In reality, it would surely become yet another panderfest of tax cuts & spending hikes. 🧵 thedispatch.com/article/repu...

thedispatch.com

Reconciliation 2.0 Would Likely Bust the Budget

Can we really expect the GOP to make politically risky spending cuts ahead of the midterms?

1216

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

how did this guy run an investment bank?

5663697686

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

NEW from me in @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social. DOGE's most successful program elimination was itself, as it has reportedly closed down. I explain why its failure to deeply slash spending was so predictable, and what that means for deficits. 🧵 thedispatch.com/article/why-...

thedispatch.com

Why DOGE Failed to Slash Spending

There are no shortcuts to trimming the federal budget.

14311

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Professional news: After 8 years and 300 publications at the Manhattan Institute … … I’m excited to join the Brookings Institution as a budget & tax fellow in its Tax Policy Center. New home, but same, center-right, fiscal hawk, free market economic analysis.

4773

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Let's say you take out a $400,000 mortgage loan at 6.25% - and choose a 50-year mortgage instead of 30 years. In return for saving $283 monthly, you will pay an extra $421,302 in interest over the life of the loan. Or if you sell at 15 years, will have paid down just $29,000 in equity. Not good.

09432

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

As always, it's appalling at the same time it's so cheap, tawdry, and embarrassing. What a pathetic, shabby little gangster.

132760500

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

NEW from me @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social. Secretary Bessent has proclaimed that monthly budget figures show a rapidly declining budget deficit. But he is confusing small timing shifts for major policy changes. Deficits are set to continue rising. 🧵 thedispatch.com/article/defi...

thedispatch.com

Scott Bessent Is Wrong About Deficit Reduction

There are no quick fixes or easy solutions for trillion-dollar deficits.

16116

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

I'm trying to figure out how sending $7 billion to Africa to save 20 million lives from HIV (many of whom are kids) is an outrage (America First! We can't afford it) ... yet somehow sending $20 billion to Argentina is affordable, wise, and responsible.

118049

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 26/09/2025

this shit would be a bit much for news anchors in Pyongyang

3702761492

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

NEW from me. Trump wants to take over the Federal Reserve and lower interest rates in part because he believes it will cut federal budget interest costs by "$1 Trillion per year." In @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social, I show that fiscal dominance would NOT reduce interest costs very much. 🧵

thedispatch.com

Trump Can’t Fix the Deficit by Attacking the Federal Reserve

The president claims lower interest rates would save us $1 trillion annually. He’s wrong.

114638

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Trump campaigned on a trade war and immigration crackdown. And farm-heavy counties still gave him 78% of the vote. Sorry guys, you voted for this. Enjoy the consequences!

07714

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

NEW from me. In the @washingtonpost.com. I examine the emerging debt crises that are destabilizing the British and French governments - and how America faces similar economic & fiscal challenges on an even deeper level. 🧵 www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | Britain and France’s debt crises are bad. America’s will be worse.

Washington’s fiscal failings mirror Europe’s economic mess.

1264

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

MAGA Twitter is really a sight to behold right now. One cis white male tragically murdered another, and somehow the *transgender community* is responsible and must be stripped of their constitutional rights. It is just dangerous ugliness from unhinged, fanatical bigots.

010714

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

This political era is all about vengeance & escalation. Impose maximum suffering on the other side. They started the war, and they are evil, sick, and must be destroyed. Civility & grace is for losers & wimps. Real leaders fight - no apologies, no mercy. We desperately need de-escalators.

013716

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

NEW from me. My new video for @reason.com says fine, tax the rich, but recognize that it cannot eliminate more than a small fraction of the soaring budget deficits. And no, those old 91% tax rates and the European tax systems do not prove otherwise. www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0x1...

youtube.com

The Uselessness of Taxing the Rich

YouTube video by ReasonTV

1303

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, former chief economist to Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) & director of budget and spending policy for Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign👇🏽

449118474809

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

NEW from me at The Dispatch. Imagine if a president could just eliminate border spending on a whim. Or gut defense, Medicaid or veterans spending. Even defund SCOTUS after a decision, or end SocSec in blue districts. This is the power Trump seeks with impoundment. 🧵 thedispatch.com/article/trum...

thedispatch.com

Shattering the Separation of Powers

Presidential impoundment Is dangerous and unconstitutional.

116266

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

It turns out that - no surprise - the White House had been illegally hiding a key federal spending database in order to obscure that it was beginning to illegally impound spending, as it had prevously signaled it would do. 🧵 www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

washingtonpost.com

Trump budget officials claim sweeping spending power from Congress, records show

Russell Vought, the White House budget director and architect of Project 2025, would have vast authority to approve or block billions in federal spending, the records show.

110043

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

1) The BEA (Commerce Dept) measures GDP - not BLS. 2) That stratospheric pre-2012 election GDP estimate showed... 2.0% growth. 3) Zero evidence of these estimates being rigged. 4) That DOD jump was driven by the looming sequester. These conspiracy theories are absurd and sad.

07617

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Trump firing the BLS director for a bad jobs report - days after demanding the Smithsonian remove him from the list of impeached presidents - is banana republic stuff. If a Democrat pulled these stunts, Republicans would be setting themselves on fire outside the White House.

126684

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

NEW from me. In today's Washington Post, I show that the Trump White House's promise of $6 to $7 trillion in ten-year tariff revenue is fantasyland math. Tariffs may offset just 3% of ten-year deficits (or 1/6 of the new tax cuts) with lots of economic pain.🧵 www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | Tariffs will pay for tax cuts? The White House can’t be serious.

Trump officials say trillions of dollars in tariff revenue will pay for their tax cuts. Don’t hold your breath.

1608207

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

So a government drowning in trillion-dollar deficits would borrow $150 billion more at 4.5% interest rates that taxpayers will be paying forever, in order to compensate us for higher tariff prices that they deny are actually happening. Makes sense.

1371136

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

For those interested who may have missed it or just seen clips - my full interview on PBS @firinglineshow.bsky.social is posted below. I address the new tax cuts, soaring debt, DOGE, Social Security, Medicare, tariffs, inflation, and firing Jerome Powell. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHTN...

youtube.com

Jessica Riedl | Full Episode 7.25.25 | Firing Line with Margaret Hoover | PBS

YouTube video by Firing Line with Margaret Hoover | PBS

13812

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover @firinglineshow.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

"If businesses are going to invest in long-term factories, they need predictability and consistency out of Washington," says Manhattan Institute senior fellow @jessicabriedl.bsky.social. "Not a president turning the tariff dials every five minutes." Follow on Apple: bit.ly/4lPez7n

22711

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover @firinglineshow.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Is America careening toward a debt crisis? Conservative economist @jessicabriedl.bsky.social talks about how we got here--and how to fix it. Don't miss our new interview airing on @pbs.org this weekend on Firing Line. bit.ly/4feltkc

4172

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Tonight - and again over the weekend (and online) - you can catch PBS Firing Line and my 30-minute interview discussing the tax cuts, the debt, tariffs, inflation, and the Federal Reserve.

0275

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover @firinglineshow.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

"Today's Republicans have seemingly given up on conservative economics." Manhattan Institute senior fellow @jessicabriedl.bsky.social discusses tariffs and trade deals, Trump's #BigBeautifulBill, and the threat of rising debt. FRIDAY @pbs.org Local listings: to.pbs.org/39hI6Tf

2134

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

No sentient human could possibly believe that Trump wanting to fire Powell really has anything at all to do with some explainable building cost overruns that Powell has little to do with - and that roughly equal the 4-year projected cost of Trump's taxpayer-funded golf outings

013230

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Should economic conservatives oppose the new tax cut law? A 60-minute debate hosted by OpentoDebate.Org. Jessica Riedl of the Manhattan Institute against the bill. vs. Diana Furchtgott-Roth of the Heritage Foundation for the bill. Watch below: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk-d...

youtube.com

Two Conservatives Debate: Is the Big, Beautiful Bill a Disaster?

YouTube video by Open to Debate

1252

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

youtube.com

Two Conservatives Debate: Is the Big, Beautiful Bill a Disaster?

YouTube video by Open to Debate

1252

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Recently, I was subject to an aggressive harassment & slander campaign that began on Twitter, spilled over to major radio shows & podcasts, and led to a major right-wing website doxing my kids. The death threats were a cherry on top. www.jessicariedl.blog/p/when-the-o...

jessicariedl.blog

When the Online Mob Came After Me—and My Kids

A Response to an Online Harassment and Doxing Campaign

247794

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

It’s … curious … how so many people will assert that so many things are biologically or genetically determined or influenced—but just not this one thing … 🧵 by @jessicabriedl.bsky.social:

891813391

Reposted by Jessica Riedl

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

So glad we're finally putting a stop to the "weaponization" of government institutions against political opponents.

918839

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

NEW from me. In the @washingtonpost.com, I take Republicans to task for attacking the CBO and the score of its tax bill. If they want a dynamic score showing huge economic growth effects, they should write a better bill. 🧵 www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | Republicans, quit blaming the CBO for those big, ugly numbers

The Congressional Budget Office is being assailed for stating facts about the GOP’s tax bill.

15812

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

First time I've seen a tax cut so poorly designed that the dynamic score RAISES the cost by $356 billion. The infinitesimal growth revenues are dwarfed by the rising inflation and $441 billion in interest costs from higher interest rates.

1620206

Jessica Riedl @jessicabriedl.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

One of the more devastating fact checks I've read. Every single claim made by Sen. Scott about CBO was wildly false. My favorite was his claim that CBO also committed major tax scoring errors in the 1930s and 1960s. CBO did not even exist until 1974.

washingtonpost.com

Analysis | Tim Scott’s video attacking CBO: Nine errors in 60 seconds

Every claim made by the Republican senator to ridicule the nonpartisan agency turns out to be false

19318