Trump’s war with Iran is making life more unaffordable for working families. The war has driven the fastest gas spike in years, adding to already higher costs for groceries, rent, and health care.
Rohit Chopra: "Every single part of their life is getting more expensive."
I got to do one of my favorite things this week: spend an hour talking about big issues in the labor market and the economy. Thanks to Ed Elson and Scott Galloway for great questions and great conversation.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
This quote: "Critical lessons follow from last week’s decisions. Enforcers — whether our government, our states, harmed business or individuals — should continue bringing antitrust cases to juries. Juries do not systematically favor plaintiffs or defendants. They favor credible evidence, clear explanation and conduct that passes the test of basic fairness. Juries have returned verdicts in favor of home sellers who were being overcharged in Missouri, young social media users who were harmed by addictive algorithms and a Texas steel company that was the victim of an illegal boycott. When government officials fail to stop corporate abuse, jury trials can be a key catalyst to force real change."
From @linamkhan.bsky.social and @dohamekki.bsky.social in the NYT today:
✅ state AGs fight corporate power when feds don't
✅ juries can stop it when the gov't or judges won't
✅ antitrust enforcement cannot be so expensive
✅ talk to actual small business owners & workers
Higher costs from Trump's war with Iran aren't going away.
@gbenga-ajilore.bsky.social says disruptions to key inputs like fertilizer will push up food costs. Even if conditions improve, Americans should expect a slow return to normal and continued high prices.
Today's verdict in the Live Nation-Ticketmaster antitrust trial is a win for artists and fans, affirming even the most powerful companies are not above the law.
@dohamekki.bsky.social: "It takes these courageous state attorneys general to stand up when the federal government is in chaos."
“Fair taxation funds the foundational investments necessary for a prosperous economy, help manage our nation’s debt service costs and avoid harmful regressive measures. It directly counters extreme wealth concentration by ensuring capital contributes equitably to the public good and democracy that helped produce that very wealth.” — Indivar Dutta-Gupta, Fellow
@indivar.bsky.social, former President of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), on why efforts to underfund the public sector come at the cost of shared prosperity. 📉
Americans were already struggling before Trump's war with Iran: rising credit delinquencies, low savings, and stagnant wages.
"If you pile on to that, I think you go from flashing warning signs to major flashing alarm bells," said Liz Pancotti. www.cbsnews.com/news/inflati...
We used to have a tax system where our revenue was set to keep pace with our spending, despite our aging population and growing health care costs.
Then we cut taxes.
And now we don't.
The IRS is severely unprepared this filing season. With a 30% staff cut and 98% vacancy in processing units, the agency is failing the millions of Americans who depend on their refund and now face long delays. Listen to @asteephen.bsky.social on @civicmedia.us: civicmedia.us/shows/nite-l...
Will millionaires flee states that try to tax them? Wrong question.
Why are we improvising tax policy state to state when it’s the federal government that should be dealing with health care, child care and affordability?
There we go! Listen here:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
I testified before Congress a year ago about the risks from the President’s crypto business.
This was all foreseeable. We need a Congress and regulators who will actually *do something* about this corrupt state of affairs.
bsky.app/profile/grah...
@alexsjacquez.bsky.social: Trump’s tariffs and war with Iran are fueling higher prices across the economy. While the wealthiest Americans keep spending, working families are forced to cut back as gas, groceries, and housing get more expensive.
I’ll be on C-SPAN tomorrow at 8 am eastern discussing the president’s budget request. Be sure to tune in!
@angelanhanks.bsky.social: “Rather than lifting a finger to help working Americans, the Trump administration continues to make their lives more expensive at every turn, all while putting more money into their own pockets and the pockets of the wealthy." capitalbnews.org/trump-iran-t...
Disruptions from Trump’s war with Iran are driving up prices for oil and key inputs like fertilizer, with higher costs continuing for weeks or months - even if the war ends tomorrow. @bharatramamurti.bsky.social says Americans should expect continued price pressures and more uncertainty ahead.
Whether A.I. will lead to widespread job loss remains guesswork.
But one thing is already clear: A.I. will land first and hardest on the low- and middle-class workers.
Excellent read from Jennifer M. Harris 👇
🔗: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/o...
DOGE cuts have left IRS staffing at a historic low, harming taxpayers who need help filing or rely on refunds to make ends meet.
On WUSA, @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social says families should expect slower payments and plan ahead as higher costs from Trump's war with Iran squeeze their budgets.
"Potentially a short-term solution with more pain to come."
The U.S. and Iran have agreed to a two-week cease-fire that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. But what happens after that remains unclear. Dan Nathan and @bharatramamurti.bsky.social discuss on the #11thHour.
Americans are facing a “war tax” from Trump’s war with Iran — and not just at the gas pump.
@hboushey.bsky.social says fuel surcharges on flights, shipping, and deliveries are spreading through the economy, pushing prices on nearly everything higher and further squeezing families’ budgets.
The Treasury Department is working on a plan to gut its office that researches financial market risks.
Because the office is funded by fees on the financial industry, this won't save taxpayers money. But it will make it harder to spot and prevent the next crisis.
www.politico.com/news/2026/04...
A newsletter from me! I talk about the technical words that economists have a hold over, words that carry enormous weight in how we view the economic struggles people experience.
What is a recession? If nothing else, its a lens into how people view the unemployed.
open.substack.com/pub/kedsecon...
“The president’s budget imagines an America that does less for struggling Americans."
In a new op-ed, @bbkogan.bsky.social breaks down how Trump’s budget slashes programs working families rely on to pay for the largest defense funding hike in history: www.ms.now/opinion/trum...
The Trump administration is proposing a $1.5 trillion budget for the Pentagon while Americans are paying more for gas, groceries, and health care. Liz Pancotti says the priorities are clear: bankrolling foreign wars at the expense of relief for families.
New video from me: Trump's budget calls for historic cuts to programs Americans rely on, and calls for sinking that money into historic increases to the military budget.
@dohamekki.bsky.social explains why the DOJ’s proposed settlement with Live Nation-Ticketmaster does little to help consumers, preserving a system where one company dominates the entire live music ecosystem.
Listen to the full episode: www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
The Trump Administration’s upcoming budget proposal should be designed to help people and communities — not harm them by making further cuts to health care, food assistance, and other basic needs programs. More from @brendanvduke.bsky.social: www.cbpp.org/research/fed...
Budgets force us to prioritize at the margins, to determine where to use our limited resources. As a result, they reflect our values. Government is supposed to invest in future wellbeing and to ameliorate current suffering. And while life is unfair, and we will never be able to fix that, the role of government is to help make life less unfair so that struggling people can get by and even have a decent chance to get ahead. The president's budget request instead imagines an America that does less for struggling Americans. A
Hot off the press, my op-ed in MSNOW on Trump’s budget request. Proud of this one, but particularly happy they let me keep the final paragraph with only light editing.
www.ms.now/opinion/trum...
El camino hacia la casa propia es ahora mucho más largo y sin protecciones para las nuevas generaciones.
Lorelei Salas, exfuncionaria de la Oficina de Protección Financiera del Consumidor, nos advierte que «el mercado permanece abierto, pero nadie vigila la puerta».
The path to homeownership is now much longer and unprotected for new generations.
Lorelei Salas, former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau official, warns us that “the market remains open, but no one is guarding the door.”
More Americans are turning to AI for tax help after Trump's IRS cuts eliminated Direct File, a free filing tool, and live customer support.
Julie Brinn Siegel says AI can give outdated or incorrect guidance, leaving taxpayers on the hook for costly errors. www.cbsnews.com/news/can-you...
