"With surveillance pricing, Big Tech has reinvented the rip off." From Target, to DoorDash, to Expedia, to Kroger — companies are secretly tracking your data and movements to charge you more for the same items. Our @lindsayowens.bsky.social with the receipts.

School supplies are getting more expensive, forcing parents into tough budgeting decisions thanks to Trump's chaotic policies. 45% of parents plan to take on debt to cover the cost. "Inflation has been rip-roaring hot for a while now," @lindsayowens.bsky.social told @cbsnews.com.

Parents are projected to spend $146 on school supplies per kid. Here's why prices are up in 2026

Parents will be digging deeper into their wallets this back-to-school season.

cbsnews.com

NEW polling from us and @ipsosus.bsky.social: Unemployed workers are significantly more likely than employed workers to say AI is having a negative impact on their line of work. These are people already locked out of the job market telling us they see the door slamming shut.

📢 Happening now! 📢 An @npr.org conversation about the "annoyance economy," featuring SIEPR's @nealemahoney.bsky.social and Chad Maisel of @groundwork.bsky.social talking about the hidden costs of everyday hassles. Livestream👇

Imagine: it's midnight and your child is sick. You ask Walmart's AI to suggest a thermometer & Tylenol. Now it knows your purchase is urgent. @lindsayowens.bsky.social told the @judiciarydems.senate.gov: The risk of being ripped off is only poised to grow.

How are American workers thinking about AI, & what do they want from AI policy? Tune in to this Columbia IGP webinar on August 5 @ 12pm ET: youtube.com/live/xcuyP9z... Speakers: Mary Beech, @alexsjacquez.bsky.social, @michelleimiller.bsky.social, @aijenpoo.bsky.social, @awhf.bsky.social, Jen Klein

What Do American Workers Want from AI Policy?

YouTube video by Columbia SIPA

youtube.com

Despite AI companies propelling massive stock market gains, American workers aren’t looking to AI as their economic savior, our new polling suggests. In fact, it may be the opposite. “The answer is unequivocal that it’ll be negative,” our Liz Pancotti told @triblive.bsky.social.

Survey: Majority of U.S. workers believe AI will benefit their bosses more than them

Despite artificial intelligence companies propelling massive stock market gains, American workers aren’t looking to the new technology as their economic savior, new polling suggests. In fact, it...

triblive.com

🚨SOON: Our @lindsayowens.bsky.social will testify in front of the @judiciarydems.senate.gov at 2:30 PM on the consumer cost of AI surveillance pricing. Today’s hearing concerns a simple, age-old principle: Americans deserve fair pricing. Don't miss this.

Your Data, Their Profit: The Consumer Cost of AI Surveillance Pricing | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Meeting for Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on August 4, 2026 at 10:30 AM

judiciary.senate.gov

46% of college graduates think AI will improve their job, but only 19% of workers with a high school diploma say the same. Like everything else in a K-shaped economy, AI's impact is unequal. Great news for the top, more pressure for everyone else. 🔗: groundworkcollaborative.org/work/ai-at-w...

NEW polling on AI in the workplace. Takeaway: workers aren't buying the hype: → 51% say AI will mostly benefit business owners & executives → Just 6% say most benefits will go to workers The benefits of AI in the workplace are not being split evenly.

AI at Work: Gains at the Top, Pressure for Everyone Else - Groundwork Collaborative

groundworkcollaborative.org

Only 33% of American workers expect AI to improve their jobs, we & @ipsosus.bsky.social found. But the data skews depending on how much money you make. “This is really just yet another class divide for the American public,” our @alexsjacquez.bsky.social told @semafor.com.

Exclusive: AI exacerbates ‘class divide,’ progressive poll shows

Black workers are also more likely than white workers to predict AI will replace their job.

semafor.com

Amazon & Walmart are suppressing “Made in USA” results & even seem to favor 3rd-party imported listing through their AI search engines. @lindsayowens.bsky.social in @forbes.com: "This isn’t a tech glitch — it’s the business model. When fraud pays the platform, the platform protects the fraud."

Why Amazon And Walmart’s AI Shopping Agents Make ‘Made In USA’ Products Harder To Find

A Columbia Law School study suggests Amazon and Walmart's AI agents hide American-made goods, enable false origin claims, while the AI agents admit it's a business choice.

forbes.com

A huge thank you to our amazing summer interns! Your work has been invaluable, and we wish you all the best in what's next. Sohum, Charlotte, Natalie, and Kaylee: thank you for everything!

Author @doctorow.pluralistic.net on @weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social breaks down how surveillance pricing and algorithmic wage discrimination are affecting working families right now. Some companies are running experiments to see what the highest price or the lowest wage you'll accept. Watch now 👇

Families are getting hit with a triple whammy from Trump: 1️⃣ His tariffs 2️⃣ His Iran war 3️⃣ This week's new tariffs on 99% of imports And the $166 billion in refunds that should've come back to them? Corporate executives are openly bragging about keeping it instead.

Refunds for Thee, Not for Me: CEOs Reveal How Businesses Are Cashing Refund Checks for Tariffs Paid by Consumers - Groundwork Collaborative

groundworkcollaborative.org

Today's GDP report is a snapshot of an economy under a ceasefire that no longer exists. The data doesn't lie: GDP growth has slowed and real disposable income has gone essentially nowhere in a year.

Growth Slows While Prices Remain High - Groundwork Collaborative

groundworkcollaborative.org

Our new analysis with @tcfdotorg.bsky.social finds families will have to spend a lot more this year on school supplies — well above the rate of inflation. @lindsayowens.bsky.social explains the reasons why for @scrippsnews.bsky.social.

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve held the federal funds rate steady, its 5th straight meeting without a move. For working families, this means no relief on mortgages, credit cards, or car loans. Trump’s reckless economic policies have done irreparable harm to families' budgets.

Warsh’s Fed Holds Rates While Trump’s Tariffs and War Keep Inflation High - Groundwork Collaborative

groundworkcollaborative.org

"Parents do what they can to try to get their kids to school with the essentials." 50% of families are cutting back on household expenses & 45% are taking on debt just to get their kids to school with a notebook & a lunch. @lindsayowens.bsky.social in @cbsnews.com 👇

Families face higher costs as back-to-school season nears

U.S. households will spend roughly $4,000 per student on school supplies and lunches this year, a new analysis found.

cbsnews.com

Hidden fees can make up 27–31% of a concert ticket’s total price. You're not just paying for the show, but for the platforms and middlemen around it. That's a fundamentally broken ticketing system. I talk about this and more in my new book Gouged, out this September. bit.ly/GougedPRH

Have questions about how surveillance pricing works? The new techniques companies use to secretly price gouge you? @lindsayowens.bsky.social has the answers in her new book, Gouged — available for pre-order now. Thanks to @doctorow.pluralistic.net & @weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social for the shoutout!

Back to school this year will be genuinely brutal, thanks to Trump's chaotic economic policies. We & @tcfdotorg.bsky.social did the math: The average price of going back to school this year? $173 for supplies, $424 for clothes and shoes, and $3,800 for lunches.

As back-to-school season approaches, families will face higher prices for supplies and other costs for the upcoming academic year, a new analysis found.

Families face higher costs as back-to-school season nears

U.S. households will spend roughly $4,000 per student on school supplies and lunches this year, a new analysis found.

cbsn.ws

About half of parents expect to take on debt to cover back-to-school shopping this year, up from 34 percent in 2024, according to a survey of parents with kids under 18 conducted this summer by Intuit Credit Karma. https://bit.ly/4bgPZsM

You're not imagining it: Your kid's school supplies cost more this year

From lunchboxes to No. 2 pencils, the prices are skyrocketing. Here's how much.

19thnews.org

Just about every back-to-school item that families will load into their literal or virtual carts this summer has gone up in price at a time when American families already feel crushed by rising costs. https://bit.ly/4pKN4P7

You're not imagining it: Your kid's school supplies cost more this year

From lunchboxes to No. 2 pencils, the prices are skyrocketing. Here's how much.

19thnews.org

While grocery prices are rising, 1.5 million kids have lost food assistance benefits since Republicans passed their budget law. Hungry kids are more likely to get lower test scores & repeat grades. New from us & @tcfdotorg.bsky.social: That's just the start of parents' budgeting woes.

🚨New from us and @tcfdotorg.bsky.social: Packing lunch for your kid will cost roughly $400 MORE this school year than it did last year. Per. Child. Half of parents are cutting back on other household expenses just to keep up.

Back to school prices — from blueberries to notebooks — are up this year. 50% of parents are taking on debt to buy school supplies, & 1.5 million kids lost their food assistance. @lindsayowens.bsky.social: "The work is getting harder of providing for your family." @19thnews.org with the scoop 👇

You're not imagining it: Your kid's school supplies cost more this year

From lunchboxes to No. 2 pencils, the prices are skyrocketing. Here's how much.

loom.ly

NEW: The 2026–27 school year will cost families nearly $4,000 per child — nearly 11% more than last year. New analysis from @groundwork.bsky.social and TCF shows rising prices for school supplies, groceries, clothing, and transportation are squeezing families. Read more: tcf.org/content/comm...

This thread is excellent - but it’s somehow worse than you can imagine. What Trump is doing here is betting against Americans in the stock market. Let us explain how he’s doing this 👇

Dan Pfeiffer@danpfeiffer.bsky.social · 2w ago

Trump does so much crazy, corrupt shit that things can get lost. Last week, Truth Social announced a truly breathtaking pay-to-play scam that will allow Trump and all of his rich friends to get even richer, while everyone else is left holding the bag. messagebox.substack.com/p/trumps-mos...