iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Dave Cooper

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart @weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

🚨 New episode on YouTube with Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards @kedseconomist.com! 🚨 We discuss: ➡️ Growth vs. Greed ➡️ Rigged Economy ➡️ Manufactured Labor Crisis ➡️ To Impeach or Not Impeach Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-wq...

youtube.com

A Working (Class) Economy w/ Kathryn Anne Edwards | The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

YouTube video by The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

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Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · 11/09/2026

Thanks to Trump's war, workers' pay buys less than it did a year ago. Five months and counting...

line plot of annual nominal wage growth, inflation, and real wage growth titled "Workers are losing ground to inflation"

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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 01/09/2026

So-called right-to-work (RTW) laws undermine workers’ ability to form unions. Unionization rates are clearly lower in RTW states—and since unions raise wages, that suppression lowers pay. The latest from @elisegould.bsky.social and Emma Cohn examines the economic impact of RTW 👇 1/7 #econsky

epi.org

Wages are lower in “right-to-work” states: These states have lower unionization rates and more anti-worker policies

Key takeaways: So-called right-to-work (RTW) laws undermine workers’ ability to form unions. Unionization rates are clearly lower in RTW states—and since unions raise wages, that suppression lowers pa...

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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 01/09/2026

Workers in RTW states are paid 6.7% less on avg than workers in non-RTW states—more than double the 3.2% wage penalty we found in 2015. That means the RTW wage penalty has increased in recent years and now translates to over $4,000 less per year for a median full-time worker in a RTW state. 4/7

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Chris Rugaber @chrisrugaber.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Interesting take from the inflation report: (h/t Bill Adams at Fifth Third Commerical Bank):

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Elise Gould @elisegould.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Large losses in the public sector in July (-53k), particularly in local education (-49.6k jobs). An initial look doesn't suggest an issue with seasonal adjustment because losses were also registered in NSA data for June and July. Local education jobs have fallen by nearly 100k (-98.3k) since March.

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Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · 10/06/2026

Trump's war has wiped out an entire year and a half of wage growth

Figure titled Trump has erased all the wage gains of his term, plotting average real hourly earnings for the private sector by month in May 2026

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Arin Dube @arindube.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

New working paper on the California Fast-Food minimum wage (will come out as NBER WP soon but posting now). Big increase in wages. Big drop in separations. Little change in jobs. (Bonus: sheds light on QWI vs QCEW measurement of jobs.)

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Josh Bivens @joshbivens-econ.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Price effects of the Iran conflict already showing up in March data. For the month, prices up a lot and real earnings are down. And it almost surely gets worse from here. 1

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Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · 04/03/2026

How much does a modest but adequate lifestyle cost in your area? New Family Budget Calculator estimates from @epi.org

$122,377
needed to support 2 adults and 2 children in Fulton County, GA

Housing $22,888
Food $14,787
Child Care $15,878
Transportation $16,186
Transportation expenses are a combination of the costs of auto ownership, auto use, and transit use. Transportation cost data were provided by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). CNT created a modified version of transportation costs from its Housing and Transportation Affordability Index to account for differences in family types in the Family Budget Calculator.
Health Care $19,462
Other Necessities $11,697
Taxes $21,478

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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Because it’s a smash and grab.

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Kris Nordstrom @krisnordstrom.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Hey folks, I've got a new report out about how declining enrollment (often driven by intentional policies) is making life harder across North Carolina's schools. Please give it a read and let me know what you think: #ncpol #EduSky

ncjustice.org

Navigating Declining Enrollment – North Carolina Justice Center

Navigating Declining Enrollment How smarter state policies can help schools thrive Download PDF Report Declining student enrollment poses unique challenges for school districts. …

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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 31/08/2025

USDA quietly said Friday it will, after a century, end the Farm Labor Survey (FLS), the only wage survey of ag employers. FLS is a critical input to setting local minimum wages for H-2A visa workers to try to avoid harm to U.S. workers' wages. #LaborDay #EconSky www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/Not...

Newsroom
ASB Notice
NASS discontinues select data collection programs and reports
Issued August 28, 2025, by the Agricultural Statistics Board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service. For more information, contact Lance Honig at Lance.Honig@usda.gov or (202) 690-8141.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is discontinuing the Mink Survey (OMB Control Number 0535-0212) and the Agricultural Labor Survey (OMB Control Number 0535-0109), as these collections are deemed duplicative and/or no longer necessary. This action is taken under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) as part of the government’s efforts to improve efficiency and eliminate unnecessary burdens.

The Notice of Discontinuance of Information Collections submitted to the Federal Register can be found here.

###

NASS is the federal statistical agency responsible for producing official data about U.S. agriculture and is committed to providing timely, accurate and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture.

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Dave Cooper @metacoop.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

How an administration that is actively trying to undermine unions and harm workers every way they possibly can chooses to celebrate Labor Day: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/u...

nytimes.com

Trump Moves to Strip More Federal Workers of Union Protections

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Dave Cooper @metacoop.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

As a 20+ year resident of DC, I can assert without reservation that the city is a safe and generally wonderful place to live...except for the lack of full constitutional rights.

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Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.blacksky.app · 07/08/2025

Ahead of the job numbers coming out next month, folks to follow for RELIABLE AND ACCURATE INFORMATION include: @elisegould.bsky.social @aaronsojourner.org @gbenga-ajilore.bsky.social Jessica Fulton (who isn't on here, but someone to follow) @epi.org if you want a breakdown by race and gender

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James Myall @jamesxmyall.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Remember how the tariffs were supposed to help manufacturers?

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Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · 01/08/2025

Probably unreasonable to expect the Post editorial board to stay on top of economic research but there are three studies of California's fast food minimum wage (not just the one they preferred to highlight) The average estimate across studies suggests the policy had essentially no employment effect

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | Data from Calif. and D.C. shows how minimum wage hikes can hurt

Recent experience underscores the perils of raising minimum wage above what the market can bear.

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Jason Furman @jasonfurman.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

This is awful. Reliable economic data is a key strength of the US economy. When Argentina and Greece faked economic data it contributed to major crises. I don't think Trump will be able to fake the data given the procedures. But there is now a risk plus an awful appearance.

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Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · 01/07/2025

The funding increase for arrests, detentions, deportations will cause widespread harm to the labor market and destroy millions of jobs held by immigrant and US-born workers www.epi.org/blog/the-rep...

Bar graph showing that Trump's goal of one million deportations will reduce immigrant employment by 3.3 million and US-born employment by 2.6 million. The underlying analysis is available in this post: https://www.epi.org/blog/the-republican-budget-bill-would-eliminate-nearly-six-million-jobs-by-unleashing-trumps-radical-mass-deportation-agenda/

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John Schmitt @jschmittwdc.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Now that Congress has passed the Republican spending bill, "[if] Trump succeeds in carrying out his deportation goals...5.9 million workers will lose their jobs over the next 4 years"--3.3 million immigrants and 2.6 million US-born workers. -@benzipperer.org @epi.org www.epi.org/blog/the-rep...

A bar chart titled "If Congress approves the Republican budget bill, Trump's mass deportation agenda will destroy nearly six million jobs."

The chart displays the "Employment reductions after four years of one million annual deportations" across three categories:

Immigrant: 3,316,000 jobs lost

US-born: 2,571,000 jobs lost

Overall: 5,887,000 jobs lost

A note at the bottom states: "Assuming 670,000 additional annual deportations for four years above a baseline annual deportation rate of 330,000." The source is cited as "Analysis of East et al (2023) as described in the text."

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Dave Cooper @metacoop.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

As Congress debates no tax on tips, important to recognize just how unserious an effort to help working people it is. Raising the federal minimum wage would deliver nearly 18x as much income to workers. www.epi.org/blog/increas...

Chart showing that raising the federal minimum wage to $17 would provide $700 bn to workers, compared with only $39 bn from no tax on tips policy.

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Brendan Duke @brendanvduke.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

NEW analysis by the Congressional Budget Office shows the "One Big Beautiful Bill" 1.) Makes the bottom 30% worse off 2.) Finances tax cuts that make the top 10% in particular better off. This is not shared sacrifice--it's a fiscal transfer from the bottom to the top www.cbo.gov/system/files...

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Dave Cooper @metacoop.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

No, not directly. The deduction is only against their federal income tax liability, not their FICA (social security/medicare) tax.

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Dave Cooper @metacoop.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

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Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal @jayapal.house.gov · 05/06/2025

The craziest thing about this fight between Trump and Elon Musk is that Republicans are trying to take away health care from 16 million people to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.

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ericawilli.bsky.social @ericawilli.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

In DC an average of $44k will go to the top 1% (those w/inc over ~$1.3m) while the bottom 20% (inc under $26k) get $90 (until the tax cuts for lower inc folks expire). Paid for in part by the biggest ever cuts to health coverage and food assistance. Some serious reverse Robin Hood 💩.

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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

There's a lotta concern about the short run (ie recession or not) implications of Trump's agenda. Dani is right to point to the long run as far far more consequential.

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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 20/05/2025

Americans favor labor unions over big business now more than ever, analysis of new data @epi.org from me & Adam Reich of Columbia Labor Lab. In data back 60 years, Americans' sentiments are both warmer toward unions & cooler towards big business than ever before. www.epi.org/blog/america...

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Kimberly Clausing @kclausing.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

🧵 (1/4) There are four fundamental flaws of the House tax bill. #1 It is fiscally irresponsible; all reputable sources agree. Bond markets & downgrades show US financial fragility; this is a bad time to take on trillions in additional debt toward no useful policy rationale.

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Brendan Duke @brendanvduke.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

This reported SALT deal and accelerated Medicaid cuts would make the bill even more effective at transferring resources from low-income to high-income households.

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Brendan Duke @brendanvduke.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Official CBO analysis confirms the obvious: House Republican tax and budget bill isn't shared sacrifice. It makes poor people poorer and rich people richer. It does this by cutting health care & nutrition to help finance tax cuts skewed to the wealthy. www.cbo.gov/publication/...

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Jennifer Sherer @jensherer.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Shame on Gov. Polis for vetoing legislation to restore collective bargaining rights CO workers have been denied for 80 years under arcane anti-union state law.

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Brendan Duke @brendanvduke.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

New @centeronbudget.bsky.social analysis of the draft GOP tax plan released yesterday: Unsurprisingly, it provides enormous tax cuts for the wealthy—including an average annual $65k cut for the top 1%—while doing little for low- and moderate-income families in 2027 (and even less by 2029).

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Dave Cooper @metacoop.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

It sure would be great if the party that purports to prioritize individual liberty would let the residents of the District of Columbia decide how they want to spend their own money. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/u...

nytimes.com

D.C. Budget Fix Stalls in the House as Conservative Republicans Balk

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ericawilli.bsky.social @ericawilli.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Check out the distribution by income--it's egregious and remember that this will be compounded by plans for cuts to health care, food assistance, education, and every other good thing, to make way for tax cuts for the wealthy.

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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 11/04/2025

Missouri Republicans are pushing a radical, anti-worker tax plan that fully exempts all capital gains from taxes ⚠️ The top 1% would get 320x the tax cut of a middle-class taxpayer, according to @itep.org Exempting capital gains is unambiguously bad for working people www.epi.org/blog/missour...

epi.org

Missouri Republican state lawmakers are pushing a radical anti-worker tax plan

The piece has been updated to reflect the latest version of the bill passed by the Missouri Senate, which no longer eliminates the state earned income tax credit, reduces the corporate income tax, or ...

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 09/04/2025

"People look back on the golden age of American manufacturing with fondness because it provided the elusive 'good jobs at good wages.' To the extent that was actually true, it was thanks to an interlocking series of policies that MAGA Republicans happen to hate." -- @snipy.bsky.social

publicnotice.co

Trump tries to restore a grim era for American workers

Make Black Lung Great Again.

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