Thomas Masterson
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thomasmasterson.bsky.social
Thomas Masterson
@thomasmasterson.bsky.social
260 followers 310 following 190 posts

Senior Scholar and Director of Graduate Programs at Levy Economics Institute of Bard College

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Economics 23%
Political science 16%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

amandalitman.bsky.social
Amanda Litman @amandalitman.bsky.social · 19h
Well, we got six nice days.

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

carlquintanilla.bsky.social
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 4d
Not once does this @politico.com piece mention that CPI is near the highest of Trump’s term.

www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Nandita Sharma, David R. Miller , and 1 more

theophite.bsky.social
rev. howard arson @theophite.bsky.social · 4d
straight-up jury nullification. this guy did it, confessed to it, and the jury instructions explicitly said that if he did it intentionally, it was assault.

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

willballen.bsky.social
William Blair Santos Allen @willballen.bsky.social · 4d
“Critics dismiss this as pie-in-the-sky socialism. But what they’re really objecting to is more fundamental: the idea that democratic governments should guarantee people’s basic needs, even if it means intervening in markets”

Reposted by Thomas Masterson, Pavlina R. Tcherneva

levyecon.bsky.social
Levy Institute @levyecon.bsky.social · 4d
Our latest working paper from Levy President @ptcherneva.bsky.social traces the "enshittification" (Doctorow)) of the modern labor market and how the postwar promise of full employment turned into a trap of precarity and debt

The Job Guarantee could be the answer.

levyinstitute.org/publications...

Reposted by Mary Jane Curry, Thomas Masterson, John Mecklin

theonion.com
The Onion @theonion.com · 4d
All 6 Branches Of Armed Forces Present At Arrest Of Undocumented Nanny
All 6 Branches Of Armed Forces Present At Arrest Of Undocumented Nanny
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI—In what they described as a collaborative effort to share resources and information in defense of U.S. territory, Pentagon officials confirmed Monday that all six branches of the ...
theonion.com

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

ckdisturbance.bsky.social
Cheryl K. @ckdisturbance.bsky.social · 5d
The first "Disturbance" of November! Tune in for new material from vibraphonist Yuhan Su, DJ Nicola Conte, composer/arranger Zhengtao Pan, and trumpeter/multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Payton.

www.jazzfluxus.com/episodes

*photo creds/ALT
photo/Brandon Baker

Reposted by Anne Norton, Thomas Masterson

thetnholler.bsky.social
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 7d
Welp — @davidhogg.bsky.social to Scott Jennings: "People are tired of being lectured by men with Rolexes on CNN about affordability in this country. That’s why Zohran is resonating."

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

deanbaker13.bsky.social
Dean Baker @deanbaker13.bsky.social · 7d
Why do we pay so much for healthcare? Hint, it's not Obamacare deanbaker22.substack.com/p/why-is-hea...
Why Is Healthcare Expensive?
It's the Costly Trinity: Drugs, Insurers, and Doctors
deanbaker22.substack.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, David R. Miller, Robert Wolfe , and 2 more

bgrueskin.bsky.social
Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 7d
Trump did on 60 Minutes what he does every time. He spews a blizzard of lies, exaggerations and assorted other falsehoods, and if (as usual) the reporter isn’t equipped or doesn’t bother to push back, he keeps going.

Here is a detailed list, via @mehdirhasan.bsky.social

zeteo.com/p/factchecki...
• "We have no inflation." Inflation is at 3%. • "It's at 2%. It's-- it's the perfect inflation." Inflation is at 3%. • "Right now [grocery prices are] going down." Grocery prices are up 1.4% since Trump came to office. • "A year ago, we were a dead country." Not only did the US have the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in both 2023 and 2024, but the Economist magazine called it "the envy of the world." • "11,888 murderers were let into our country." Not only is this number inaccurate, but many of the non-citizens convicted of homicide either here or abroad came in during Trump's first term. • "Washington, DC, was... almost like a crime capital of the world." In 2023, per PolitiFact, "at least 49 other cities in the world had higher homicide rates. • "[Biden] hardly went anywhere. Guy couldn't leave his bedroom." Not only did Joe Biden visit roughly as many countries in his term of office as Trump did in his first term, but Biden was the first US president to visit an active warzone - Ukraine - not under the control of US forces. • "I made Middle East peace. For 3,000 years, they couldn't do it." There is no peace in Palestine, no peace deal in place, and it isn't a 3,000-year-old conflict. • "Communist, not socialist. Communist. He's far worse than a socialist." Zohran Mamdani is not a communist. • "I can't give them $1.5 trillion so that they can give welfare to people that came into our country illegally." The Trump/GOP claim that Democrats want to give free healthcare to undocumented immigrants has been repeatedly debunked. • "They emptied their mental institutions and their insane asylums-- into the United States of America." Asylum seekers don't come from "insane asylums." Obviously. • "One thing I can tell you, the 2020 election was rigged." It wasn't. The courts agreed. • "And a lotta people say when it's rigged you're allowed to do it again." A lot of people don't say this. The US Constitution doesn't, for sure.

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, Anne Norton, Lisa Diedrich , and 5 more

tressiemcphd.bsky.social
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 8d
It doesn’t matter what I think. Also, none of this would ever happen. But if I had a zillion dollars:

1. Run a “we do hard things” campaign across southern and rust belt states. Invest heavily in local, state and regional social infrastructure. Sponser later hours at a library, build a skate park…
judah-grunstein.bsky.social Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 8d
If I were to sum up my advice to the Democratic party leadership about how to defeat Trumpism, it would be to set aside policy for now and focus instead on articulating a vision of what American society should look like and what role the US should play in a rapidly changing world today.

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

dytsras.bsky.social
Ida B Wells' Winchester Rifle @dytsras.bsky.social · 8d
The goal post will always be moved.

When your parents used to say, "you gotta be twice as good to get half as much...." it never stopped being true.

I dont wanna hear about meritocracy or "DEI."
The Grammys will announce nominations next week. Following Beyoncé’s historic win as the first Black woman to win Best Country Album, the category has been retired and split into two: Best Contemporary Country Album (Black dominated) and Best Traditional Country Album (white dominated).

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

erikloomis.bsky.social
Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 9d
This Day in Labor History: November 1, 1879. The Carlisle Indian School opened in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This school, central to the genocidal project to end Native American culture in the late nineteenth century, was replicated across the nation. Work was central to the genocidal project!

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

nickturse.bsky.social
Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 10d
SCOOP: The Trump administration acknowledged they don’t know the identities of the people they’re killing; can’t meet the evidentiary burden to prosecute survivors; and consider those survivors to be “unprivileged belligerents." theintercept.com/2025/10/31/t...
Trump Administration Admits It Doesn’t Know Who Exactly It’s Killing in Boat Strikes
Officials acknowledged they don’t know the identities of the people they’re killing and can’t meet the evidentiary burden to prosecute survivors.
theintercept.com

thomasmasterson.bsky.social
Thomas Masterson @thomasmasterson.bsky.social · 10d
Great conference with a lot of great ideas for infusing macroeconomics theory and practice with gender analysis. Check out the other two plenary sessions as well, featuring former Levy Scholars, research associates and attendees at our gender workshops over the years.
levyecon.bsky.social Levy Institute @levyecon.bsky.social · 11d
Levy Scholar Ajit Zacharias joined leading feminist economists on Day 2 of Gendering Macroeconomics during the 29th Annual FMM Research Conference—a milestone event advancing gender-aware approaches in heterodox economics.

Watch now: youtube.com/watch?v=9CCR...
29th FMM Conference: Gendering Macroeconomics Day 2
YouTube video by Hans-Böckler-Stiftung
youtube.com

Reposted by Joe R. Feagin, David Rothschild, Sanford F. Schram , and 7 more

khrisnin.bsky.social
KNinja @khrisnin.bsky.social · 11d
I love how Rep. Joe Neguse reframed this question.

Reposted by David R. Miller, James Goodwin, Thomas Masterson , and 2 more

sahilkapur.bsky.social
Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 11d
Trump trashes Obamacare in a new post. Funding under this law is the main dispute between the two parties in the ongoing government shutdown standoff.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Daniel W. Drezner, Scott A. Imberman , and 3 more

joelhs.bsky.social
Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 11d
The Jewish right discovering in real time that the Trumpist right, and the open bigotries it has unleashed upon the US body politic, is not in fact going to spare Jews, is quite a trip.
Tweet from John Podhoretz reading: "My mother was a Heritage board member for 40 years. You have befouled her, you rancid wretch of an amoeba." quoting Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, tweeting: "There has been speculation that @Heritage is distancing itself from @TuckerCarlson over the past 24 hours. I want to put that to rest right now—here are my thoughts:"

Reposted by Thomas Masterson, Pavlina R. Tcherneva

levyecon.bsky.social
Levy Institute @levyecon.bsky.social · 11d
Yesterday, Institute President Pavlina Tcherneva (@ptcherneva.bsky.social) delivered the keynote at the CIRIEC International & Bordeaux GSEF 2025 conferences—highlighting global successes of the job guarantee and the social and solidarity economy movement.

www.levyinstitute.org/news_items/p...
President Pavlina R. Tcherneva Delivers Keynote at CIRIEC International and Bordeaux GSEF 2025 Conferences – Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
Institute President Pavlina R. Tcherneva delivered the joint keynote address at the CIRIEC International and Bordeaux GSEF 2025 conferences, bringing together leading voices from across the global soc...
www.levyinstitute.org

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

levyecon.bsky.social
Levy Institute @levyecon.bsky.social · 11d
Levy Scholar Ajit Zacharias joined leading feminist economists on Day 2 of Gendering Macroeconomics during the 29th Annual FMM Research Conference—a milestone event advancing gender-aware approaches in heterodox economics.

Watch now: youtube.com/watch?v=9CCR...
29th FMM Conference: Gendering Macroeconomics Day 2
YouTube video by Hans-Böckler-Stiftung
youtube.com

Reposted by Scott L. Greer, Thomas Masterson

usatodayopinion.usatoday.com
USA TODAY Opinion @usatodayopinion.usatoday.com · 12d
Opinion: Full of faux bravado, Trump's Border Patrol turned a children's Halloween parade in Chicago into chaos, tossing tear gas canisters without warning.
Judge tells faux-tough-guy Border Patrol chief not to tear-gas trick-or-treaters | Opinion
Full of faux bravado, Trump's Border Patrol turned a children's Halloween parade in Chicago into chaos, tossing tear gas canisters without warning.
bit.ly

Reposted by Karen Benjamin Guzzo, James Goodwin, Brian Keegan , and 5 more

brian-goldstone.bsky.social
Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 12d
Under Trump, the draconian future of homelessness policy is coming into focus: mass internment. Utah is building a 16-acre site to detain up to 1,300 homeless people inside locked "accountability centers." This is profoundly alarming.

Vital reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social and Jason DeParle:
In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Philip Nel, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham , and 2 more

hakeemjefferson.bsky.social
Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 12d
A Nazi Tattoo Exposes Democrats’ Greatest Weakness www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...

@tressiemcphd.bsky.social is unmatched. Read her latest piece—and everything else she writes.
A screenshot of a block of text with a black background and white serif font. The text reads: “I don’t particularly care about the symbols people use to signal their membership in a group. Maybe you do need a terrifying tattoo to be a real Marine. And maybe sometimes that terrifying tattoo might resemble Nazi iconography. If you are willing to accept that from a distance, as many Democrats say they are, a person may not be able to tell the real symbol of hate from its doppelgänger, that is for you to live with. But, I do care about the political trade-offs we will ask people to make in the name of pragmatism. If the Democratic future requires us to exchange our discomfort with casual Nazism to advance a political agenda, I am not interested. Maybe other voters are — some polling suggests that young voters still support Platner. And maybe Platner will find a way to redeem himself. No one owes him that chance, but there is still a way forward. It’s called doing the work. But don’t tell me that excusing that tattoo is good politics. It is the exact same politics that the right is selling, in a different outfit.”

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

zeddary.bsky.social
Zeddy @zeddary.bsky.social · 13d
I assumed this had to be AI.

It is not AI.

It's like concept design for Neil Patrick Harris at the end of Starship Troopers that Verhoeven rejected for being too on-the-nose.

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Elizabeth Saunders, Rebecca Solnit , and 14 more

heathercherone.bsky.social
Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 13d
"Kids dressed in halloween costumes walking to a parade" do not present an immediate threat to law enforcement officer and riot control measures may not be used, Ellis says.

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

dandrezner.bsky.social
Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 13d
I have been asked from time to time this year if I have any thoughts about the New York mayoral election. I have one and only one thought about it. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/my-one-ver...
My One Very Important Thought About the New York Mayoral Race
Drezner to New York: Drop Dead!
danieldrezner.substack.com

Reposted by Thomas Masterson

samthielman.com
CHOAM Nomsky (thankful) @samthielman.com · 14d
It’s cool that I need to figure out how to organize a food bank at my kid’s school because Donald Trump is a hobbyist child molester and dissolved Congress so he could keep people from talking about it

Reposted by Shibley Telhami, Norbert Schwarz, Will Jennings , and 16 more

acyn.bsky.social
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 14d
Trump: AOC is low IQ. If you give her an IQ test, have her pass like the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed. Those are very hard…

The first couple of questions are easy. A tiger, an elephant, a giraffe..

Reposted by Steve Peers, Martin Paul Eve, Smith , and 3 more

earlgreymemes.club
Earl Grey @earlgreymemes.club · 17d
okay grandpa, let's get you to bed
To understand this problem, first, you have to understand the demographics of Star Trek viewers. Trekkies are and always have been men. Women are not usually interested in science fiction, but that’s doubly true of Star Trek in particular. I hear you, random guy who once knew some lady who watched every Voyager episode. I see you on Instagram, attractive girl cosplaying in Starfleet miniskirts. Unfortunately, you very cool Trek-girls are the exception, not the rule.

Reposted by Michael D. McDonald, Thomas Masterson

drericding.bsky.social
Eric Feigl-Ding @drericding.bsky.social · 17d
BREAKING—40 million set to lose food aid next week after Trump USDA says it refuses use emergency funds for food stamps. www.axios.com/2025/10/24/g...
Exclusive: USDA says it won't use emergency funds for food stamps
States also won't be reimbursed if they cover SNAP expenses on their own, the memo says.
www.axios.com