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Thomas Masterson

@thomasmasterson.bsky.social
435 followers 405 following 351 posts

Senior Scholar and Director of Graduate Programs at Levy Economics Institute of Bard College

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Reposted by Thomas Masterson
alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
AI is conscious like sherlock holmes is conscious: if he wasnt, he wouldnt be able to solve the mysteries, but when you put down the book there isn't a real guy there
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AFL-CIO @aflcio.org · 04/10/2026
“We’re going to work together, we’re going to fight together and we’re to win together in November!” IUPAT President @jimmy-iupat.bsky.social joined the @dropkickmurphys.com on stage at the Power to the People Festival to talk about the power of our solidarity. America’s unions are in this fight ✊
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Just a reminder that these Haitian immigrants in Springfield -- who came here legally, did everything they were asked to do and more -- became a target of federal crackdowns because the white nationalist vice president shamelessly spread racist lies about them.
rollingstone.com
J.D. Vance Defends False Claims Against Haitians: 'If I Have to Create Stories… That's What I'm Going to Do'
J.D. Vance defended his debunked claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
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Sandra Frame @sandrawframe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"Short and adorable story" = "crying my eyes out sitting at a computer while procrastinating doing a quick workout because ZOMG what are we even doing on this planet". So good.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Friend of Putin oligarch Konstantin Sokolov makes a nice fat donation to Trump's ballroom project, and gets relief from Treasury Department sanctions in exchange. This is known as a quid pro quo transaction. It's a felony. www.esquire.com/news-politic...
esquire.com
A Wealthy Russian Businessman Is Helping Fund Trump’s Stupid Ballroom. Nothing Sketchy About That, Right?
Surely, our president will face consequences for this insanity.
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Zeddy @zeddary.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The most pro-sex criminal President since slavery strikes again.
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Thomas Masterson @thomasmasterson.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Is this good?
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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
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Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
When foreign invaders occupy part of your country and turn your children, in their own schools, into soldiers trained to come back and kill the rest of you once they grow up, it’s… it’s just unspeakable evil. It is unfathomable tragedy for Ukraine.
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The Economist @economist.com · 03/10/2026
Stanislas Hutin freed himself from the trauma of the war in Algeria by writing about it. Memories of his comrades’ barbarity marked him for the rest of his life
bit.ly
Stanislas Hutin knew he must not stay silent
The exposer of French war crimes in Algeria died on September 2nd, aged 95
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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
there are PLENTY of writers who come from a blue collar background and have worked in the trades and i can't remember ever seeing one of them publish an op-ed about how everyone should pivot to hard, painful physical labor
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 02/10/2026
not that you should expect anything more than rank idiocy from this pair of racists, but the idea that whiteness means a "high trust" society of "social cohesion" is some of the stupidest shit i have ever heard. these people live in a fantasy land that you could dispel by simply opening a book.
talkingpointsmemo.com
Chris Rufo — Known For ‘DEI’ and ‘CRT’ Panics — Tries to Make ‘the Indian Question’ a Thing
To the degree that a “respectable” or “moderate” right exists today in...
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pkatlas.bsky.social @pkatlas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"We are fine with causing actual harm to actual living things but draw the line at this other living thing that we completely made up in our heads."
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Immunoprof (she/they) @immunoprof.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Hey data viz teachers….here’s a FANTASTIC example for class.
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Philipp Maier @pmaier1971.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Today's #WageData data reports average hourly earnings of $37.81. This represents an increase in average hourly earnings of 0.05 cents, relative to last month, and an increase of $1.11 or 3%, relative to the same month last year #econsky
US.Unemployment.WageGrowth.png
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Philipp Maier @pmaier1971.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
#Unemployment rate in Sep 2026 at 4.2%, up 0.1; participation rate (share of working age population in the labor force) at 61.8, up 0.2 from prior month #econsky
US.Unemployment.png
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Philipp Maier @pmaier1971.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
#Payroll Update: Details behind the topline number #LaborMarket #econsky
US.Unemployment.EmploymentToPopulation.png
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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Real
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Simon Pegg @simonpegg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is art.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
“What a chart.” - Bespoke
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Rep. Jim McGovern @repmcgovern.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Oh
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Senator Andy Kim @kim.senate.gov · 30/09/2026
Trump is spending $1.8 billion on his own vanity projects. What would that money get you?   Let’s do the math.
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Annalee Newitz @annaleen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
So excited to unbox my new novel that all I can do is babble "this is great!" And "this is awesome!" LOL
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Thomas Masterson @thomasmasterson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Join us today!
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Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I swear, they just randomly choose one of the four and roll with it.
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Thomas Masterson @thomasmasterson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
They read them, they just didn't understand who the villains were
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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
remember: it saved no net money, social services US citizens are getting cut, and left the US in a weaker place geopolitically. none of the debates about fiscal responsibility, obligation to US citizens first, or 'hard choices' actually apply. they're all bullshit. killed people for nothing at all.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 30/09/2026
Rick Scott: "Obamacare has been a disaster, so what we gotta do is we gotta go back to let the private sector work. Give you the choices ... treat it like a cell phone. You know what plan to buy."
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Stephen Nuñez @socio-steve.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Does the Hawks/Hawkeyes thing actually play into this or is it just an amusing sidebar? Because the more I look at "the evidence" the more it seems like the logic was: "Jack Smith went to a game on this day" "Only NBA game on that day was Hawks game" "Ergo he went to an NIBA game in Atlanta"
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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Water for bovine agriculture in Utah has become a grim obsession of mine since it is such a small, insiginificant part of their economy, irrelevant to their food supply and presents an imminent, deadly threat to its population via the Great Salt Lake drying up and creating poisonous dust clouds
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Maryn McKenna @marynmck.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fake. USDA. Seals. Used by an NC meat processing plant on 83.5 TONS of meat. Produced entirely outside the federal inspection system, according to news reports. We are pretty close to The Jungle (second ed.) now, no? www.scrippsnews.com/life/recalls...
scrippsnews.com
Interactive: Meat recall linked to fake USDA labels
Pork, beef and goat products are being recalled after a company allegedly used fake USDA inspection labels. Explore our interactive guide to see which products are affected and what to look for.
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Craig Harrington @craigipedia.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Amy Klobuchar stuffing another senator into a trashcan because he doesn't know the difference between "Hawks" and "Hawkeyes" is pretty great. "It was because Caitlin Clark was coming to Maryland to play, and so we went to the game." - Jack Smith bsky.app/profile/atru...
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The arguments you've heard against California's billionaire tax are utter BS. Here to debunk them — and explain why you should vote YES on Prop 40 — is renowned economist @gabrielzucman.bsky.social
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Thomas Masterson @thomasmasterson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Schopenhauer: "Scarcity. The struggle is real."
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 29/09/2026
Norway has solution to this actually, stay at home parents can get their share of the public daycare subsidy as cash, that way parents are not pushed one way or the other. the problem of course is virtually no one on the center or right actually gives a shit about parents
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Thomas Masterson @thomasmasterson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Feminist Economist Nancy Folbre has a different issue with the way Trump's administration wants to do it: www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/25/o...
bostonglobe.com
Trump’s child-care plan could punish single parents - The Boston Globe
The plan could take money from working single parents to subsidize married couples.
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 29/09/2026
Lindsay Owens is the executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, who have done some of the most important work on surveillance pricing (using computers to spy on you to rip you off) and algorithmic wage discrimination (using computers to spy on you and steal your wages).
The cover for Lindsay Owens's 'Gouged.'
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Bard College @bardcollege.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The launch of the Ralph Ellison Center brings a range of initiatives to the Bard campus where Ellison taught from 1958-1961. These will include biannual flagship lectureships and the digitization of the Ellison archive, currently held at the Library of Congress. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/a...
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Ryan C. Smith @rcsmitheco.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
That's one way of saying that cutting off the flow of 20% of the world's oil and gas supplies, give or take on any given day, is having growing, negative consequences for the economy that are looking like the beginnings of a systemic shock. #EconSky
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Thomas Masterson @thomasmasterson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This seems so sweaty. "Really guys, this stuff is kryptonite! Buy ! Buy! Buy!"
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Levy Institute @levyecon.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In "Is the US Running Out of Time as the Rest of the World Runs Out of the Dollar?", L. Randall Wray argues for economic policies based in facts, not fictions. tinyurl.com/runningoutof... #FiscalPolicy #InterestRates #MonetaryPolicy #TrumpEconomy @ptcherneva
tinyurl.com
Is the US Running Out of Time as the Rest of the World Runs Out of the Dollar? – Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
Global trust in the US and its almighty dollar seems to be in question, with some nations scrambling to create alternative payment systems to compete with it. Some believe it...more
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Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I've said this before, I'm a lot less interested in Mamdani the popular front-facing mayor of Zohran Mamdani the politician, who seems to have two major goals: 1) lower cost of living in New York City and 2) Build power for the DSA in New York.
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#TuckFrump @realtuckfrumper.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The fatal mistake that just blew up a decades-old Republican strategy #AlterNet
twp.ai
www.alternet.org
The fatal mistake that just blew up a decades-old Republican strategy
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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
REAL REAL REAL REAL
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Trending Stocks @trending-stocks.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Worse vibes than pandemic, 2008. #econsky
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Trending Stocks @trending-stocks.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Hormuz hustle hikes per-barrel costs. #econsky
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The U.S. owes $40 trillion in debt. Everyone has an opinion about why. But there’s one question you almost never hear asked: Who’s actually getting paid?
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anastasia c. wilson @abolisheconomics.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The Working Class Face a ‘Class Ceiling’ in Elite Occupations www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/b...
nytimes.com
The Working Class Face a ‘Class Ceiling’ in Elite Occupations
Being female or a person of color has long been seen as a disadvantage in hiring and promotion. A new study of college professors shows that class may loom as large.
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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 25/09/2026
I've been thinking about this photo all day. Considering how the Trump administration is constantly ranting about Communists, and how Pete Hegseth is always nattering on about our WARFIGHTERS, it's genuinely crazy to me that this image exists. www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-kowt...
Screenshot of a Getty photograph captioned: "U.S. military personnel unroll the red carpet at the bottom of the stairs of an Air China plane carrying Chinese President Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on September 23, 2026. (Kent Nishimura / AFP via Getty Images)" Above it, also in the screenshot, is a paragraph of text from a Bulwark article that included that picture. The text reads: "That was certainly the sense conveyed by the ceremony as a whole. There was the televised spectacle of American service members on their hands and knees, smoothing wrinkles and picking specks of dirt off the 100-foot long red carpet that had been unrolled for Xi, as Chinese officials looked on approvingly from the door of their airplane before their leader descended the stairs."
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Cameron 🇺🇸🗽🦅 @cameroncorduroy.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
talking about water use policy is impossible because "AI data centers use a lot of water to cool the computers" sounds way more believable than "they're draining the Great Salt Lake so the Governor of Utah can sell alfalfa to Saudi Arabia" and yet
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