Pitchfork Economics

Costco demands a refund from Trump The mega-retailer is suing to get its tariff money back.

On Black Friday, Costco sued the Trump administration to recover the billions it paid under illegal tariffs.

The results of Trump’s tariff chaos:
– Prices up ~5%
– Families out ~$1,100
– Jobs not reshored
– Courts say the tariffs were illegal

A fake emergency with real costs.

RealPage Agrees to Settle Federal Rent-Collusion Case The Justice Department had accused the real estate software company of enabling landlords to charge tenants more than free-market rates.

The DOJ’s RealPage settlement doesn’t deliver justice. No fines, no admission of wrongdoing & no ban on algorithmic rent-setting — the very tool landlords used to coordinate price hikes.

State attorneys general refused to sign on because renters deserve real accountability.

this is from 2 months ago, but now on Velshi, he's explaining how our country is turning into a nation of young people who will never own their own houses, due to the high prices of them, until MAYBE, if they're lucky will be able to invest in their 40's....💔💔💔

Hear @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social discuss her latest book, The Measure of Progress, & explain why GDP increasingly fails to capture the reality of modern economies—& how we can measure real progress instead.

🎧Listen: buff.ly/7HrQ3Wi

Most people take an economics class that teaches oversimplified stories about efficient markets & rational actors.

This week, Wendy Carlin & Suresh Naidu from the CORE Econ Project join us to explain how they’re reinventing Econ 101 for the real world.

🎧 New episode out now: buff.ly/lt49Hjc

The Republican tax bill rewards you more the richer you are.

If you’re wealthy, you get a permanent multi-thousand-dollar tax cut.
If you’re working class or poor, you get losses, slashed aid, and higher health costs.

This isn’t “pro-growth.” It’s governing for the rich.
buff.ly/GzhMPpV

Traveling for the holidays?

If your flight gets delayed, canceled, or rerouted because the airline messed up, remember: the Trump Administration just killed the Biden-era rule that would've required airlines to pay passengers up to $775 in cash.
buff.ly/kSunVEV

Tech Giant Says AI Has A First Amendment Right To Raise Your Rent Fresh off a Trump settlement, RealPage is trying to overturn New York’s anti-rent-gouging law.

🚨NEWS: A tech giant has filed a lawsuit asking federal courts to grant artificial intelligence algorithms a First Amendment right for to help landlords raise rent prices.

What stage of capitalism is this?

Turkey deals can’t hide the bigger problem this Thanksgiving: grocery prices for staples like veggies & ground beef are still surging. The Trump Admin cut tariffs to cool prices—while admitting they do raise costs for consumers. But tariffs aren’t the real story. Greedflation and monopoly power are.

What if the biggest threat to democracy wasn’t a politician, but an ideology so pervasive we barely notice it?

@mehrsab.bsky.social joins Nick & Goldy this week to explain how neoliberalism became a “quiet coup” shaping our laws, markets, and lives.

🎧 New episode out now: buff.ly/2S2AkiD

Raising taxes on the ultrarich: A necessary first step to restore faith in American democracy and the public sector Summary   The public has supported raising taxes on the ultrarich and corporations for years, but policymakers have not responded. Small increases in taxes on the rich that were instituted during…

If we raised taxes on huge fortunes and big corporations, we could generate massive funding for things working families actually need—universal pre-K, child care, better infrastructure, clean energy & more.

We’re not broke.
We’re just letting the richest people in America opt out.
buff.ly/Z2Ysaq7

GDP treats cigarette sales & cancer treatments as “good,” but caring for your kids or creating art doesn’t count at all.

@dianecoyle1859.bsky.social joins Nick & Goldy to explain why GDP no longer reflects the real economy—and how we can measure true progress instead.

🎧Listen here: buff.ly/7HrQ3Wi

A new Harvard study—the first large-scale comparison of Amazon, UPS & FedEx drivers—shows what worker power really means:

🔴 Amazon: ~$19/hr, no raises, high turnover.
🟢 UPS (union): ~$35/hr, steady wage growth, long careers.

Same job. Different power.

Full study → buff.ly/rpn6H5E

This week, @benmckenzie.bsky.social joins Nick & Goldy to talk about the book he co-authored with journalist Jacob Silverman, Easy Money, which exposes the trillion-dollar scam that’s rotting our financial system from the inside.

🎧 Listen here: buff.ly/HNdCUcE

It's Corporate America’s favorite trick: fire workers, boost the stock price. Giants like Google, Citigroup & UPS have laid off thousands of workers while spending billions buying back their own stock.

Read the comic that exposes this heist: buff.ly/E8ewYjI

Corporations are on track to spend $1.3 trillion on stock buybacks this year, so we’re re-sharing our 2019 episode with @corybooker.com on how buybacks became legal market manipulation & how to stop this Trillion Dollar Heist.

🎧 Listen: buff.ly/pMmuuDT

📖 Read the comic: bindings.app/read/7mINYO2H

@theameilee.bsky.social nails it: when exploitation is profitable, even the good companies lose. That’s why it’s on governments to build markets that don’t profit from abuse.

🎧 Listen to how smarter trade policy can level the playing field—and make decency a competitive advantage.
➡️ buff.ly/WiTrMxA

Building a pro-worker economy shouldn’t be partisan. Investing in clean energy and good jobs should be a red, white, and blue issue—but for today’s GOP, nothing matters more than cutting taxes for the rich.
🎧➡️ buff.ly/WiTrMxA

When companies outsource and subcontract their supply chains, they also outsource accountability.

🎧 Hear @theameilee.bsky.social explain why enforcing labor rights across global supply chains isn’t just moral—it’s economic common sense.
➡️ buff.ly/WiTrMxA

Global trade shouldn’t come at the cost of basic human rights.

🎧 Listen now to hear how centering workers in trade policy can build a stronger and more equitable global economy.
➡️ buff.ly/WiTrMxA

The shutdown didn’t happen by accident. Republicans refused to fund ACA subsidies—so 22M Americans face higher premiums.

Now SNAP is being cut off for 42M families. All to protect billionaire tax cuts.

@lilyroberts.bsky.social explained in June how gutting SNAP hurts communities: buff.ly/SHgHAd6

Farm bankruptcies are soaring amid low crop prices, while Trump considers bailout of up to $14 billion | Fortune In the second quarter, there were 93 bankruptcy filings, up from 88 in the first quarter and nearly double the 47 at the end of 2024.

Farm bankruptcies are climbing again for the first time since 2020. Trump’s tariffs wiped out U.S. soybean exports — now he wants to import Argentinian beef while American ranchers go broke.

Classic trickle-down: reward monopolies, punish workers.

Over 71 million Americans are paid less than a living wage, and are forced into social safety nets like SNAP.

If you think too many people are receiving SNAP benefits, don’t shame them.

Shame their employers paying them poverty wages and forcing taxpayers to subsidize the rest.

If SNAP benefits vanished tomorrow, feeding 42 million Americans for a month would cost about $7.8 billion.That’s less than 1% of the combined net worth of the three richest men in the U.S. A reminder of how obscene inequality has become and how easily hunger could be solved if we chose to.

Check it out!

🎧 ➡️ buff.ly/2uHuIGt

Check out @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social new podcast on trade policy!

Listen to @theameilee.bsky.social and @toddntucker.com talk about trade policy & what’s really at stake. It’s not just about stuff, it’s about people.

Trade isn’t just about goods—it’s about power.

@theameilee.bsky.social explains how ignoring labor rights in global trade fueled inequality and political instability, and why trade must start with workers, not corporations.

🎧 The last episode of our Trade series is live ➡️ buff.ly/WiTrMxA

Halloween candy prices have risen at nearly 4x the rate of inflation.

Halloween costumes are more expensive thanks to Trump’s tariffs.

KTBS News with just how expensive this Halloween season will be.

Union Pacific wants Trump's regulators to approve its $72B buyout of Norfolk Southern — a mega-deal that would stifle competition, raise costs, and hurt workers.

Union Pacific is also among the corporate donors to Trump's ballroom.

Gee, I wonder why?