Sam Pizzigati

Inequality is Weakening Social Security. We Can Fix That. When Congress set the cap on Social Security contributions in 1983, they didn’t anticipate forty years of rising inequality. And it’s cost us — a lot.

Monday marks the day when an American making $1 million in annual paycheck income stops paying into Social Security for the year.

The billionaire bunker problem: how the people building AI safety tools are simultaneously buying escape plans from the world those tools are supposed to save - Silicon Canals The people building the most consequential AI systems are also the ones buying escape plans from the world those systems will reshape. This isn't just hypocrisy — it reveals a structural problem about...

The people deciding how much AI risk humanity must accept just happen to be the people with the least personal exposure to that risk.
#AI #inequality siliconcanals.com/sc-d-the-bil...

These 20 Corporations Are Major Culprits in the Affordability Crisis Typical pay at the largest low-wage employers is so low that workers can’t cover basic necessities and often have to rely on public assistance.

“Policymakers need to crack down on poverty wage business models that benefit only those at the top.”
@ips-dc.org #inequality #billionaires inequality.org/article/20-c...

China reclaims title as world’s billionaire capital: Hurun Rich List Global billionaire population hits record, led by Elon Musk, as China adds 287 names and AI emerges as a top wealth generator.

Just out: a new global #billionaire scorecard. Elon Musk ($792 billion), Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ($300 billion), and Alphabet/Google’s Larry Page ($281 billion) occupy the list’s top three slots. Globally, the billionaire tally has now topped 4,000. www.scmp.com/business/chi...

The Real Litmus Test for Democratic Presidential Candidates Supporting a wealth tax.

Best litmus test for 2028 White House hopefuls: “Do they support a wealth tax? If they do not, they are not going to be willing to attack the underlying problem that got us to our troubling position in the first place.” #inequality @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-real-l...

Workers at top 20 US low-wage firms rely on public assistance, report says Exclusive: study finds workers at 20 S&P 500 firms rely on Medicaid and Snap as CEO pay and buybacks soar

Had all the top 20 US low-wage firms spent their stock buyback cash on worker pay in 2024, a million workers would have seen their pay go from $29,087 to $59,600. Instead, median pay at the 20 firms dropped from 2019 to 2024, after inflation, by 4.6%. @ips-dc.org www.theguardian.com/business/202...

FACT SHEET: How Much Is the War in Iran Costing American Taxpayers? - Institute for Policy Studies FACT SHEET: How Much Is the War in Iran Costing American Taxpayers?

Who's bankrolling the new Iran war? Americans without tax loopholes.
ips-dc.org/how-much-is-...

An effective “abundance agenda” would radically reduce the importance of government-granted patent and copyright monopolies and, in the process, trim the incomes of our richest. That may explain why we don’t have an effective abundance agenda. @deanbaker13.bsky.social www.patreon.com/posts/real-a...

5 Takeaways on America’s Boom in Billionaires

Households in America’s richest 1% of U.S. have a minimum net worth of $11.1 million and together hold about $25.6 trillion worth of stocks and mutual funds, the same amount as the remaining 99%. Over half that $25.6 trillion sits in the hands of the top 0.1%. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/u...

The money behind the new Iran War In private calls over the last several weeks, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged President Trump to attack Iran.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund pays Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner $25 million annually for handling its $2 billion investment in Kushner’s private equity fund, just one of the many conflicts of interest that have juiced Team Trump’s latest rush to war. popular.info/p/the-money-...

Lifestyles Of The Rich, Famous, And Epstein-Connected Newly released files show that while private equity giant Apollo Global Management was milking companies dry, founder Leon Black was spending millions on art and parties.

What was private equity's top exec, Leon Black, doing while his financial firm was milking companies dry? He was spending over $1 billion, over a single 5-year period, on wild parties, a Picasso, and various other must-haves ranging from jewelry to fine apparel. www.levernews.com/lifestyles-o...

The United States now sports a huge new pro-Trump media empire, with CBS, CNN, HBO, Comedy Central, and TikTok all under the control of Trump mega-billionaire crony Larry Ellison and his son David.
#democracy #billionaires robertreich.substack.com/p/suddenly-a...

Florida Mansion With a Louis Vuitton Closet That Includes a Handbag Gallery Hits the Market for $55 Million The recently reimagined home is now the most expensive listing for sale in Delray Beach

Our richest live amid ever more obscene luxury while our richest president ever inflicts ever greater carnage on innocents in Iran to pump up his plummeting popularity.
#inequality #billionaires www.mansionglobal.com/articles/flo...

First, Fox News. Now with CBS and also CNN, after the Ellison takeover of Warner Brothers, right-wing #billionaires may soon essentially have the capacity “to suppress any news of the world that runs counter to their political agenda.” @deanbaker13.bsky.social www.patreon.com/posts/elliso...

Europe v America: Who’s Really Winning? A wonkish but important discussion

Paul Krugman: “Should Europe envy the US for its tech sector? No. Aside from the fact that Europeans are living well, tech generates a big negative externality, because among other things it generates tech-bro billionaires, who are corrupting our politics.”

Climate coverage is shrinking. We're expanding it. Announcing a new weekly video podcast!

Another stiff price we pay for letting wealth concentrate:
“The billionaires who control our information systems do not want you informed about climate change. The last few years have seen...climate all but disappearing from television coverage.”
@emorwee.bsky.social heated.world/p/climate-co...

‘I think we feel stuck’: Kate Pickett on how to build a better, fairer, less stressed society In her new book, the co-author of The Spirit Level gathers jaw-dropping facts about the inequality crisis in the UK – and explores creative ways to address it

From the new book, The Good Society, by Kate Pickett, the co-author of the #inequality classic, The Spirit Level: “People say: ‘We don’t want a nanny state.’ Why wouldn’t we? A nanny looks after you and nurtures you. Bring on nanny!”
@profkepickett.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Corporate Tax Avoidance With earnings season now underway, dozens of huge corporations have disclosed paying single-digit federal income tax rates thanks to tax…

Behind every unconscionably rich American, a tax-avoiding corporation: Alphabet (Sergey Brin), Meta (Mark Zuckerberg), and Amazon (Jeff Bezos) rank as our nation’s three biggest federal tax avoiders. @itep.org #inequality itep.org/corporate-ta...

A Worker-Led Alternative to Billionaire-Owned News in DC A Q&A with two founders of the 51st, a worker-led nonprofit newsroom launched after the closure of the beloved local outlet DCist.

The huge Washington Post staff cuts mirror a national picture. We’re losing 2.5 local papers every week while media like CBS are being “repurposed” to “consolidate money at the top and remove the remaining checks” we have on our richest. @millsrodrigo.bsky.social inequality.org/article/a-wo...

Trump last night: “I believe the tariffs, paid for by foreign countries, will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern day system of income tax — taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.”

The people Trump loves: his fellow rich.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...

They Haven't Even Started Spending Yet The terrifying math of money in politics.

America’s richest haven’t even begun to spend on politics what they have the capacity to spend. The $300 million Musk gave pols in 2024 amounted to less than .04% of his net worth. @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social #democracy www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/they-haven...

Meet the powerful and wealthy residents of 'Billionaire Lane' in the Hamptons The Hamptons is referred to as the playground for the wealthy and famous of New York. But who are the richest of the rich living on the infamous billionaire lane?

In 2013, "Billionaire Lane" became the label to describe a 2-mile stretch of Southampton, the summer haven for America’s richest, where only billionaires reside. Plutocrats like hedge-funder Ken Griffin. He bought his Southampton manse for $84 million in 2020. www.hellomagazine.com/us/885184/wh...

60% disapprove of Trump ahead of State of the Union, Post-ABC-Ipsos poll finds But Democrats have made little headway in persuading Americans that they have better ideas or policies to offer.

Latest Trump polling numbers: More than 6 in 10 Americans — 62 percent — now say he’s using the presidency to enrich himself.

Our #plutocracy is taking on an increasing kleptocratic sheen.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Jeff Bezos, Gutting the Washington Post, Really Doesn't Want You to Know His Effective Tax Rate | Common Dreams This is how oligarchy works.

If we translate the one-time tax Jeff Bezos would pay on the sale of his Amazon shares to an annual tax paid on his gains each year, his annual tax rate would be 2.5%. A typical single American making $75,000 will face a 22.7% annual income tax rate.
#inequality www.commondreams.org/opinion/jeff...

If American worker pay had climbed as much as American #CEOpay since the late 1960s, what would the typical worker be earning today? Ready: $432. Per hour.
#inequality robertreich.substack.com/p/what-if-th...

The problem with billionaire power goes far beyond Epstein - LSE Review of Books Stinking Rich by scholar Carl Rhodes and The Haves and Have-Yachts by journalist Evan Osnos examine the problem of billionaire power that undermines democracy.

A deep dive into how our democratic politics have collapsed into plutocratic rule.
#inequality @lseinequalities.bsky.social @eosnos.bsky.social @profcarlrhodes.bsky.social

The wild-eyed radicals at the Federal Reserve are doing a fairly good job tracking how our super rich have spent this century successfully grabbing ever more of America’s wealth.
#inequality #plutocracy #billionaires

The Ultra-Rich Are Different from You and Me Only the little people pay taxes, redux

We still see analyses of the “elite” that focus on the top 10% when the real action sits much higher up: “To understand what’s happening to us, we need to focus on the 0.1%, the 0.01%, even the 0.00001%.” #plutocracy paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-ultra-...

Robert Reich: “If we want to make sure our economy works for everyone, not just the super-rich, we need to build back union power.”
robertreich.substack.com/p/the-econom...

How Trump Media collapsed Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social, has an unrivaled free source of publicity.

In its 2021 pitch to investors, the Trump Media & Technology Group projected it would have 69 million Truth Social users by 2026. Last year’s actual listener total: only 359,000, despite Trump’s nonstop promos for the service from the White House. popular.info/p/how-trump-...