ESP co-founder @c-hughes.bsky.social argues that as AI transforms the economy, the real question isn’t whether work will become obsolete — but whether we build policies that expand choice, opportunity, and dignity for all workers.
The full Open to Debate discussion: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lij...
Watch the full debate here:
"The more time that we spend focused on the siren song of a jobless, workless future is less time that we focus on the practical project of figuring out how to smooth the transition for the workers who will need our help the most."
ESP co-founder @c-hughes.bsky.social on the Open to Debate stage.
What do the rich owe the rest of us?
Join us at UC Berkeley on March 10 (4:00–5:30pm) for a conversation on taxation, inequality, and democracy featuring Brian Galle, Ray Madoff, Emmanuel Saez, and Vanessa Williamson, moderated by Aaron Horvath.
More details and registration here:
ESP’s Mary Durden recently traveled to Colombia and India as part of a delegation organized by Dalberg and the Institute of International Education, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to learn how governments and communities in the Global South are reimagining care as a public good.
💡 A fresh brief from @economicsecurityproject.org shows what the evidence is actually telling us about guaranteed income (GI) and work — and it debunks common myths with real data from California’s pilots:
economicsecurityproject.org/resource/gua...
Why does your savings account pay you almost nothing in interest, but your bank quietly earns billions from the Fed?
ESP co-founder @c-hughes.bsky.social + Josh Younger argue in a new report that this isn't neutral 'central bank plumbing', it's a hidden subsidy to big banks, funded by taxpayers.
We’re hiring! 🚀
Join the Economic Security Illinois team as our Illinois Coalition & Campaigns Senior Manager and help turn bold ideas into real policy wins.
Apply at economicsecurityproject.org/careers/
Grocery budgets are tighter. Health costs are rising. Families are scrambling. All to fund tax breaks for the rich and corporations.
Tune in NOW to hear from working folks across the country break down the REAL state of the union.
🔗 www.youtube.com/@familiesove...
Today, 4 companies — Amazon, Netflix, Disney, and Max — control nearly 80% of the streaming market. And when that few players control that much of a market, they don't have to compete for your dollar anymore. They just raise prices.
See how we got here and what it'll take to fix it 🧵👇🏼
Tonight, alongside @fobaction.bsky.social, we’re hosting a town hall centering the lived experiences of Americans squeezed by the worsening affordability crisis.
RSVP here: bit.ly/4avZova
🎥 Or watch live at 6:30pm ET
🔗 www.youtube.com/@familiesove...
Congratulations to ESP board member Aisha Nyandoro, Founder and CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, on her 2026 Elevate Prize win.
We are proud to celebrate this recognition and lucky to have her leadership in our movement. 🎉
Hidden junk fees cost Illinois families $3,200 a year. It’s time to end them.
We applaud Gov. JB Pritzker for taking on the corporate greed that is nickel and diming working families and backing our proposal to ban these deceptive fees.
economicsecurityproject.org/news/esca-hi...
“Affordability” is the word of the moment.
Even as economic indicators show growth and cooling inflation, many Americans still struggle to afford the basics, leaving, as ESP’s @mtkonczal.bsky.social puts it, “a little less left over to enjoy things.”
🔗 www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
3/3 “This administration seems to have no interest or plans in how to address any of these downside risks that are facing the economy right now.”
Watch the full discussion here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH40...
2/ He also raised concerns that rather than preparing for those risks, Trump administration appears focused on influencing Fed policy to counter the economic fallout of H.R. 1—its signature tax and spending bill that cut taxes for billionaires and corporations while reducing support for families.
1/ At a recent webinar hosted by the Initiative for Policy Dialogue and @groundwork.bsky.social, ESP’s @mtkonczal.bsky.social laid out the mounting economic risks ahead, including the impact of healthcare cuts, weakening job growth, and the uncertain effects of AI on workers.
⬇️
3/3 The good news is these constraints are solvable with the right policy choices.
🔗 newsletter.mikekonczal.com/p/why-afford...
2/ ESP’s @mtkonczal.bsky.social explains why #affordability concerns are major economic problems, not just bad vibes. Even as real median income has recovered to above pre-pandemic levels, the cost of everyday essentials such as housing, food, transportation, and healthcare continues to rise.
1/ “When the prices of necessities rise faster than everything else, when housing becomes mechanically harder to access, when planning gets more cognitively costly, and when borrowing is more expensive, welfare can fall even if average real incomes recover.” 🧵⬇️
With #ACA subsidies now expired and healthcare costs surging, many LGBTQ+ people and women are being forced into impossible choices: draining savings, delaying retirement, taking second jobs, or risking going uninsured altogether.
@19thnews.org highlights a few of their stories ⬇️
2/2 They pursued education, left unsafe workplaces, spent more time with their kids, and built real financial security.
The takeaway: guaranteed income programs create a stronger economy.
Read our brief: economicsecurityproject.org/resource/gua...
1/ California leads the nation with 60+ #guaranteedincome pilots, and the data is clear: cash doesn't discourage work, it enables it. Participants got full-time jobs at DOUBLE the rate of control groups. 🧵⬇️
Teri Olle, VP at Economic Security California, underscores the urgent stakes of AI policy, asking who gets to decide what this technology means for people, and who it will serve.
✍️ @nathanheller.bsky.social in the @newyorker.com
🔗 www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
