Entrepreneur, venture capitalist, civic activist, philanthropist, author. Host of Pitchfork Economics. NOT a billionaire. https://t.co/Fuy7e45FDQ
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Nov 7 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Washingtonian here. Pretty simple formula: high minimum wage, best OT policy, paid family leave, working family tax credit, expanded childcare, high road employers, top research institutions, diverse industries, focus on trades, and strong labor unions. Just to name a few. 1/8
Our leaders believe you grow the economy from the middle out, and they govern that way. They understand the role of government is to solve problems and improve people’s lives. 2/8
Nov 8, 2022 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
It's worth digging in to why this tweet shows what a dick @elon is and why he is definitely not on your side.
The @JoeBiden administration has accomplished more economically than any administration since FDR:
The American Rescue Plan
The Infrastructure Plan
The IRA
The Chips Bill
Student debt relief
Anti-monopoly EO
May 4, 2021 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
Today, @govinslee signed SB 5096, a tax on the extraordinary capital gains profits of a tiny handful of super-rich people like me, into law. So let’s talk about why rich people fight these taxes so hard—and why their arguments are completely bogus. #waleg@GovInslee Washington's tax code is the most upside-down in the nation. The poorest households in this state pay up to six times as much in taxes as wealthy households like mine. This new law is a strong first step toward rebalancing our tax code.
Jan 28, 2021 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Long rant: This @WSJ article bemoaning the decline of price theory is really worth highlighting. The economic theories and so called "laws of economics" that the WSJ consistently and religiously defends, are the source of their authority, power and privilege.
So called economic "theories" like "you get paid exactly what you are worth" and "markets are perfectly efficient" and "when wages rise, jobs fall" and "raising taxes on the rich kills jobs and growth" and "increasing justice decreases economic efficiency" and...
Jan 21, 2021 • 30 tweets • 6 min read
Long rant: So earlier today, I got into a spat over the $15 minimum wage with @JamesSurowiecki and @noamscheiber. Because this disagreement over whether there is a mechanical relationship between raising wages and less jobs is incredibly consequential, I wanted to say more.
First, I am personally acquainted with both these guys and so I can attest that they are both good folks and galactically smart. I wouldn't pick on them if I didn't think that. In fact, all the more reason to, because their opinions and voices are consequential.
Jan 21, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
These are the voices of the Neoliberal left. They are absolutely convinced that there is fundamental risk in making poor people less poor. God forbid, rural people would actually be paid enough to thrive.
This is why Neoliberalism is so corrosive. To them, when the rich get richer, that’s an unalloyed good. Never a job killer. When the poor get richer, the economy will come tumbling down.
Jan 17, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
1/4 Most people, especially academic economists, think that the controversy over the minimum wage is a contest over facts. It's not. It's a contest over power, status, and wealth. It is just like the contest over racial and gender justice.
2/Those with wealth and power want to keep it, so saying that raising wages kills jobs is simply a polite way to say, we are rich and you are poor and we aim to keep it that way, and if you try to change things, we will harm you. An intimidation tactic, masquerading as economics
Dec 28, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
If you are in my social circle, this is the truth I live every day. An unending litany of complainants about the state of society from the people who have benefitted the very most from its structure.
And not an iota of recognition that the main beneficiaries of the structure of the system may be in some way responsible for the pathologies and problems that system creates.
Oct 18, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
If you were wondering why it is so important for Democrats to shed Neoliberals from their leadership, @CassSunstein is exhibit A. In this nutty editorial, he actively argues that raising wages kills jobs- the core claim of trickle down economics and Neoliberalism.
In the absence of any empirical evidence, and in the direct service of economic elites and their enablers everywhere, he repeats the tropes of trickle-down, all in the tone of "seriousness" than always accompanies such nonsense.
Mar 13, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
As many of you know, I think a lot about Neoliberalism, and the degree to which it has harmed our country. In the midst of this crisis, the anti-collective action, anti-government, libertarian nonsense this ideology represents becomes more vivd- and deadly.
It will cost my state, Washington, many billions of dollars to pay for the health care and broader economic damage this virus does to us. We need immediate action to build the capacity to do this, as does the nation overall. This will be very expensive.
Oct 19, 2019 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
1) Some people think that Trump awarding the G7 contract to himself isn't a big deal. If that is you, you are a fucking idiot. Because if Trump can direct government contracts to his own hotels..
2) then why can't an army procurement officer award a billion dollar contract to a company he or she owns, or, alternatively, set up a company to deliver on upcoming contracts???
Jul 19, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I’ll elaborate more on why ‘moderation” in the Democratic Party is such nonsense. The central political fact of our time is that over the last 30 years, the top 1% have gotten $21 trillion richer, while the bottom 50% have gotten $900 billion poorer.
Please explain to me how “moderate” that transfer of wealth was. And please suggest some “moderate” policies that can fix that problem. Middle class wages have been stagnant for 40 years. A ‘moderate’ increase in the minimum wage isn’t going to get families back on track.
Jan 30, 2019 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Another thread on Howard Schultz’s presidential aspirations, this time focused on his policies. What Howard calls “centrism” is just trickle-down economics—tax cuts for the rich, de-regulation for the powerful, and wage suppression for everyone else—but without the overt racism.
He’s clothing it in the bogus Neoliberal “responsibility” frame by stoking fears about the deficit and arguing, as trickle-downers always do, that anytime we tax the rich or big Corp's, it will kill jobs, kill growth and, you know, harm the very people we intend to help.
Jan 28, 2019 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
I wanted to riff on why business people like Howard Shultz usually make terrible political leaders. Put aside Howard's policy positions on economics which are straight up trickle down economics.
I have spent my entire life both building businesses AND doing policy and politics. Today, I run a team entirely devoted to policy and politics. What I can tell you is that the tow domains are completely different, and require profoundly different skills.
Dec 25, 2018 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
‘Twas the night before Christmas
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the land
Not a creature slept soundly, knowing trump’s in command.
Every holiday list has one wish at the top --
“May this miserable presidency please come to a stop!”
The children were hunkered down tight in their beds
While visions of bullying run through their heads
Mom sipping vodka and I guzzling beers
"Can we possibly survive the coming two years?"
Oct 25, 2018 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Among my buddies in the top one percent, today is the most wonderful day of the year. It's Christmas for Capitalists!
"Wait," you're probably saying to yourself, "I didn't know October 25th is a holiday." But it is—today is Pay Freedom Day, the day that you likely start working for free. Let me explain.
