Bryce Covert
@brycecovert.bsky.social
Journalist writing about the economy. Contributing writer at @thenation.com, @chjreportinghealth.bsky.social National Fellow, and member of @fspnwu.bsky.social. Send tips to [email protected] or on Signal: brycecovert.25 she/her
Pinned
Bryce Covert
@brycecovert.bsky.social
· Dec 3
Are you facing unfair or unsafe conditions at work? Have you been denied a government benefit or run into arbitrary barriers? You can always send me a tip: [email protected]
Electric bills are shooting up in nearly all states which means more and more families are getting the lights shut off www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
More Americans are getting their power shut off, as unpaid bills pile up
Average electricity costs have risen 11 percent since January, more than three times the rate of inflation.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Electric bills are shooting up in nearly all states which means more and more families are getting the lights shut off www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Two years after Vermont passed a huge investment in childcare, more programs opened than closed for the first time since officials started keeping track www.sevendaysvt.com/news/educati...
Vermont’s Bold Investment in Childcare Is Largely Paying Off
Passed in 2023, Act 76 has increased state funding to help create more than 1,700 new childcare slots and enroll more than 4,000 additional kids in the state’s financial-assistance program.
www.sevendaysvt.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Two years after Vermont passed a huge investment in childcare, more programs opened than closed for the first time since officials started keeping track www.sevendaysvt.com/news/educati...
Child welfare agencies take tens of thousands of children from their families because they can't afford decent housing. But it doesn't have to be this way. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
This Is How the Child Welfare System Becomes Less Traumatizing
Wisconsin has shown that it’s cost-effective and completely possible to keep families together by stabilizing their housing. That’s not the only promising development in the field.
www.thenation.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Child welfare agencies take tens of thousands of children from their families because they can't afford decent housing. But it doesn't have to be this way. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
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November 23, 2025 at 3:32 AM
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Nothing like watching your child house an entire carton of raspberries in one sitting to give you economic anxiety
November 21, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Nothing like watching your child house an entire carton of raspberries in one sitting to give you economic anxiety
I can vouch that young children eat a surprisingly large quantity of very expensive berries
November 21, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I can vouch that young children eat a surprisingly large quantity of very expensive berries
Reposted by Bryce Covert
The people who live in the South Shore building that was violently raided in the middle of the night by federal agents are forming a tenants union. Here are their demands, per a press release that just went out.
November 21, 2025 at 8:27 PM
The people who live in the South Shore building that was violently raided in the middle of the night by federal agents are forming a tenants union. Here are their demands, per a press release that just went out.
Not only was he wrong, but if we had gotten what he was clamoring for--mass unemployment to bring down inflation--the suffering would have been so, so much worse
A fascinating bit here is that Summers was wrong, as this story notes: "His predictions were wrong: The annual inflation rate dipped below 3 percent by the end of Biden’s term without a recession."
The decline and fall of Larry Summers's Acela corridor empire www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
November 21, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Not only was he wrong, but if we had gotten what he was clamoring for--mass unemployment to bring down inflation--the suffering would have been so, so much worse
Reposted by Bryce Covert
NEW: Mississippians still have not received their full SNAP benefits more than a week after the government shutdown ended due to problems with a 40-year-old computer system running on COBOL.
And there is no guarantee they'll get them before Thanksgiving—or even by December.
And there is no guarantee they'll get them before Thanksgiving—or even by December.
Mississippians Still Waiting on Full SNAP Benefits
Mississippi SNAP recipients are still waiting for full payments more than a week after the government shutdown ended due to technical issues.
www.mississippifreepress.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:07 AM
NEW: Mississippians still have not received their full SNAP benefits more than a week after the government shutdown ended due to problems with a 40-year-old computer system running on COBOL.
And there is no guarantee they'll get them before Thanksgiving—or even by December.
And there is no guarantee they'll get them before Thanksgiving—or even by December.
What the hell are we doing
November 21, 2025 at 12:53 PM
What the hell are we doing
It begins: now that the EEOC has a Republican quorum, it's filed a reverse discrimination lawsuit on behalf of some guy who says he didn't get promoted because of his company's DEI program www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeo...
EEOC Files Subpoena Enforcement Action Against Financial Services Giant Northwestern Mutual Over Allegations of DEI-Related Discrimination
MILWAUKEE – The U.S.
www.eeoc.gov
November 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
It begins: now that the EEOC has a Republican quorum, it's filed a reverse discrimination lawsuit on behalf of some guy who says he didn't get promoted because of his company's DEI program www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeo...
Reposted by Bryce Covert
We finally have jobs numbers out this morning from September and take a look at this: big jump again in Black women's unemployment, now 7.5% from 6.7% in August.
This figure has been ticking up all year. This is now the highest unemployment rate Black women have faced in 4 years, since mid-2021.
This figure has been ticking up all year. This is now the highest unemployment rate Black women have faced in 4 years, since mid-2021.
November 20, 2025 at 2:51 PM
We finally have jobs numbers out this morning from September and take a look at this: big jump again in Black women's unemployment, now 7.5% from 6.7% in August.
This figure has been ticking up all year. This is now the highest unemployment rate Black women have faced in 4 years, since mid-2021.
This figure has been ticking up all year. This is now the highest unemployment rate Black women have faced in 4 years, since mid-2021.
There was a brief moment in early 2024 when the persistent gap between Black and white unemployment was the smallest on record. Now we're back to an economy where Black unemployment is roughly double that of white workers.
The household survey is a useful read on the labor market for various demographic groups. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%, its highest since 2021. While a more volatile series, the data show high Black unemployment, holding steady at 7.5% in September, and 1.5 ppts higher than May.
#EconSky
#EconSky
November 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
There was a brief moment in early 2024 when the persistent gap between Black and white unemployment was the smallest on record. Now we're back to an economy where Black unemployment is roughly double that of white workers.
It seems to have gotten lost in the MeToo backlash but sexual harassment is in fact illegal
November 20, 2025 at 2:11 PM
It seems to have gotten lost in the MeToo backlash but sexual harassment is in fact illegal
"A 10% increase in the price of childcare leads to a 5.7% decrease in the birth rate" abigaildow.com/assets/docs/...
abigaildow.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:00 PM
"A 10% increase in the price of childcare leads to a 5.7% decrease in the birth rate" abigaildow.com/assets/docs/...
Texas's abortion ban killed this child's mother
November 19, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Texas's abortion ban killed this child's mother
There's a lot about this that's fucked up, but moving children's education to the Labor Department underscores such a warped idea of what education is actually for www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Trump administration launches plan to dismantle Education Department
The department will shift responsibility for several of its core functions to other federal agencies.
www.politico.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:50 PM
There's a lot about this that's fucked up, but moving children's education to the Labor Department underscores such a warped idea of what education is actually for www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
“We live in a hell made possible in no small part by Summers’ influence.” This is a perfect reminder of all the other terrible things Larry Summers has done. theintercept.com/2025/11/18/l...
theintercept.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:10 PM
“We live in a hell made possible in no small part by Summers’ influence.” This is a perfect reminder of all the other terrible things Larry Summers has done. theintercept.com/2025/11/18/l...
Important to remember the lives of the people Epstein preyed upon who should be at the heart of all of this 19thnews.org/2025/11/epst...
‘This is who you’re fighting for’: Epstein survivors push for justice for their younger selves
The survivors spoke at the Capitol ahead of a House vote that seeks to compel the Justice Department to release files about the convicted sex offender.
19thnews.org
November 18, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Important to remember the lives of the people Epstein preyed upon who should be at the heart of all of this 19thnews.org/2025/11/epst...
Over 100 childcare programs in Indiana have closed after the state froze voucher enrollment and deeply cut reimbursement rates www.the74million.org/zero2eight/i...
Indiana Child Care Providers Struggle to Stay Open After State Slashes Rates
With a freeze on child care voucher applications and cuts to reimbursement rates, Indiana child care providers are left reeling.
www.the74million.org
November 18, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Over 100 childcare programs in Indiana have closed after the state froze voucher enrollment and deeply cut reimbursement rates www.the74million.org/zero2eight/i...
This is, shall we say, quite relevant at the moment!
📣 New NBER Working Paper out today 📣
"The Consequences of Faculty Sexual Misconduct"
Sarah Cohodes & Katherine Leu
"The Consequences of Faculty Sexual Misconduct"
Sarah Cohodes & Katherine Leu
November 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
This is, shall we say, quite relevant at the moment!
Stepping back from commitments... but still teaching at Harvard after emails revealed him using mentorship to extract sex from a student www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Summers To Step Back from Public Commitments Amid Epstein Scandal | News | The Harvard Crimson
Former Harvard President Lawerence H. Summers will step back from all public commitments in an effort “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,” he wrote in a statement...
www.thecrimson.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Stepping back from commitments... but still teaching at Harvard after emails revealed him using mentorship to extract sex from a student www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Bryce Covert
When states like Colorado passed policies requiring employers to disclose salary information in job postings, what happened?
It increased competition, and raised wages, without harming employment or changing skill requirements.
Improved functioning of markets, helped workers.
It increased competition, and raised wages, without harming employment or changing skill requirements.
Improved functioning of markets, helped workers.
November 17, 2025 at 4:41 PM
When states like Colorado passed policies requiring employers to disclose salary information in job postings, what happened?
It increased competition, and raised wages, without harming employment or changing skill requirements.
Improved functioning of markets, helped workers.
It increased competition, and raised wages, without harming employment or changing skill requirements.
Improved functioning of markets, helped workers.
Reposted by Bryce Covert
A senior academic using mentoring as leverage to obtain sex is a contemptible abuser of power.
Summers conferred with Epstein frequently about how to extract sexual favors from a Harvard econ grad (AB '04, PhD '09)
The grad is from China
Epstein and Summers referred to her by the codename "Peril"
Racism and sexual exploitation in one efficient package
bit.ly/3LHpin8
The grad is from China
Epstein and Summers referred to her by the codename "Peril"
Racism and sexual exploitation in one efficient package
bit.ly/3LHpin8
As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’ | News | The Harvard Crimson
When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: convicted sex offender Jef...
bit.ly
November 17, 2025 at 8:07 AM
A senior academic using mentoring as leverage to obtain sex is a contemptible abuser of power.
Missouri's child welfare agency won't give families any money to help with housing so they can keep their children. But it does give foster families money to cover housing when kids are removed and placed with them.
November 17, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Missouri's child welfare agency won't give families any money to help with housing so they can keep their children. But it does give foster families money to cover housing when kids are removed and placed with them.