These (abstract) simulations by Rand show that you can make some headway closing the *median* racial wealth gap with a universal/race-neutral program that increases transfers to low-wealth households (like baby bonds) but this will do almost nothing for the *mean* gap. www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

Overcoming Compound Racial Inequity

Differences in Black and white Americans' economic status show how the harms of the past—slavery, segregation, discrimination—live on in the present. Could wealth allocations help to close the racial ...

rand.org

Sandy Darity@sandydarity.bsky.social · 3mo ago

My Juneteenth interview with Alice Jackson-Jolley at @Forbes on the magnitude of, origins of, and policies to eliminate the racial wealth gap in the United States: www.forbes.com/sites/ali-ja...

Congratulations to Zachary Groz, our new writing fellow, on his first @prospect.org byline! Opponents of surveillance pricing, the use of personal information to set individualized prices, have had middling success winning legislative bans. They're trying again in New York City.

New York City Wants to End Surveillance Pricing - The American Prospect

States have attempted to prevent companies from using personal information to set prices. New York City wants to give the public a chance to enforce the law.

prospect.org

New 📰: Every society needs care. The question is who gets stuck doing it. @jessicacalarco.com's new paper argues that America's default answer has been: whoever has the least power to refuse. 🧵 rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

New unemployment insurance claims with seasonal adjustments rose 6% (+12K) to moderate 225K in week ending 5/30 First time above 220K since early Feb #NumbersDay

The Social Security Trustee's report is going to come out on Tuesday and folks expect to see the reserve depletion date move up a bit...maybe into 2032 meaning the next president will inherit the task of updated OASI for the first time since 1983....1/3 rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

“Will Social Security Run Out?” Is the Wrong Question: How Lawmakers Can Protect Beneficiaries and Strengthen OASI

Is Social Security really in crisis? This report examines the OASI Trust Fund, lessons from 1983, and policy options to secure benefits for the future.

rooseveltinstitute.org

Swedish wage inequality is very low. And has stayed low.

Arin Dube@arindube.bsky.social · 3mo ago

A deep dive into living standards and inequality comparing Sweden and US, focusing on redistribution vs predistribution, and a bonus on use of price indices and PPP and what difference it makes! Link: next post

The VA lost about 700 social workers and 500 psychologists and psychiatrists over the course of 2025 — a significant change for an agency that was adding mental health staffers nearly every month leading up to Trump’s return to office. (Published March)

Veterans Who Depend on Mental Health Care Keep Losing Their Therapists Under Trump

Hundreds of mental health professionals have left the Department of Veterans Affairs since President Donald Trump took office, leaving staff “at a breaking point” and some veterans waiting as long as ...

propublica.org

We all complain about headlines on here, so we should be ready to praise this one, which gets it exactly right (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/u...

White House Seeks to Impose Political Test on Billions in Federal Grants

nytimes.com

This is excellent from @jamellebouie.net. The Trump administration is not conservative in any meaningful sense of the word. They are revolutionaries undermining the constitutional order. Any competent response from Democrats needs to face this reality squarely.

Opinion | America Broke Something When It Gave Trump a Second Chance

nytimes.com

NEW: The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit provides up to $15 billion in subsidies a year to help developers build apartments. It’s created housing that’s often no more affordable than the market rate. w/ @opb.org

A Low-Income Housing Program Is Pouring Billions Into Housing Many People Can’t Afford

The federal tax credit provides up to $15 billion in subsidies a year to help developers build apartments. It’s created housing that’s often no more affordable than the market rate.

propublica.org

Here is the empirical case against Callais. We studied 20 years of congressional votes and half a million survey responses, and found that our democracy’s responsiveness to the people has depended on Voting Rights Act measures that have now been torched. prospect.org/2026/06/03/r...

The Return of the Dixiecrat South - The American Prospect

In the pre-1960s South, which Supreme Court Republicans have just brought back from the dead, Blacks have no voice in federal lawmaking.

prospect.org

These findings imply that if the Trump administration got its way and expanded Operation Metro Surge nationwide, the restaurant, hotel, and tourism sectors would lose well over a quarter of a million jobs

Aaron Sojourner@aaronsojourner.org · 3mo ago

DHS's Operation Metro Surge hurt Minnesota's leisure and hospitality industry in Jan-Mar 2026, destroying: - 4,600 jobs, - 3.8 million work hours, - $71 million in wages. New analysis by me & @aaronrosenthal.bsky.social @northstarpolicy.org northstarpolicy.org/leisure-and-...

Grocery prices are rising and rising faster than a year or two ago fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgr...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3mo ago

BESSENT: I believe the president's remarks were taken out of context HASSAN: No. He said, 'I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody.' That's a direct quote BESSENT: Groceries are going down HASSAN: When was the last time you were in a grocery store?

We’ve spent decades told that if the economy grows, people’s lives will get better. Millions are working harder, paying more, and losing faith that institutions can deliver. Imagine an economy and democracy that actually make life better. That’s why today, we’re launching The #GoodLife Agenda. 🧵

Thanks for the opportunity to share our work, @donmoyn.bsky.social! With @lizananat.bsky.social: Service work is highly volatile! OBBBA's work requirements will make it hard for hourly service workers and their families to get supports they need, even when they're working consistently.

Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 8mo ago

New at Can We Still Govern: @agpines.bsky.social & @lizananat.bsky.social explain how the work volatility of low income service employees will make it hard for them to satisfy new SNAP/Medicaid work requirements, even when they work lots of hours. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/when-volat...

HELLO is this thing on? Does the internet work anymore?

Oy vey. Was I the only one looking for today's jobs numbers and then remembering that the government is shut down and they're nowhere to be found? (1/3)