The Middle Out Center
@middleoutcenter.bsky.social
$28.17/hour to afford a one-bedroom apartment.
$7.25/hour minimum wage.
The math doesn't math because it was never designed to. For fifty years, we've kept wages flat while everything else skyrocketed. That's not a market force. That's a design choice.
$7.25/hour minimum wage.
The math doesn't math because it was never designed to. For fifty years, we've kept wages flat while everything else skyrocketed. That's not a market force. That's a design choice.
December 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM
$28.17/hour to afford a one-bedroom apartment.
$7.25/hour minimum wage.
The math doesn't math because it was never designed to. For fifty years, we've kept wages flat while everything else skyrocketed. That's not a market force. That's a design choice.
$7.25/hour minimum wage.
The math doesn't math because it was never designed to. For fifty years, we've kept wages flat while everything else skyrocketed. That's not a market force. That's a design choice.
"If you think dark times are ahead, each family pulls back to save. But if enough people do that, businesses lose money, lay off workers, and generate a negative feedback loop."
The self-fulfilling prophecy is already in motion.
The self-fulfilling prophecy is already in motion.
The economy is giving mixed signals. Here's what experts say they mean
If you’re confused about the economy right now, you’re in good company.
www.pbs.org
December 22, 2025 at 11:55 PM
"If you think dark times are ahead, each family pulls back to save. But if enough people do that, businesses lose money, lay off workers, and generate a negative feedback loop."
The self-fulfilling prophecy is already in motion.
The self-fulfilling prophecy is already in motion.
"Polyworking" isn't a "career trend"—it's what happens when wages don't keep pace with the cost of living and people need 2-3 jobs just to survive. Call it what it is: a policy failure, NOT a lifestyle choice.
'Polyworking' won’t slow down in 2026 as pay falls behind, says career expert | Fortune
“The pay deficiency triggers financial stress and the pursuit of side hustles,” Vicki Salemi says.
fortune.com
December 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
"Polyworking" isn't a "career trend"—it's what happens when wages don't keep pace with the cost of living and people need 2-3 jobs just to survive. Call it what it is: a policy failure, NOT a lifestyle choice.
When the wage you need is nearly 4x the wage they'll pay, that's not a housing or wage crisis. That's proof the system is designed to extract from working people, not support them.
Middle-out economics starts w/ a simple premise: if you work full-time, you should be able to afford a place to live.
Middle-out economics starts w/ a simple premise: if you work full-time, you should be able to afford a place to live.
December 21, 2025 at 5:16 PM
When the wage you need is nearly 4x the wage they'll pay, that's not a housing or wage crisis. That's proof the system is designed to extract from working people, not support them.
Middle-out economics starts w/ a simple premise: if you work full-time, you should be able to afford a place to live.
Middle-out economics starts w/ a simple premise: if you work full-time, you should be able to afford a place to live.
Reposted by The Middle Out Center
SNAP is a lifeline for workers in low-wage jobs.
Meanwhile, CEOs are paid 280x as much as the typical worker.
Don’t be angry at workers for using food stamps.
Be angry at the corporations paying them so little that they need them.
Meanwhile, CEOs are paid 280x as much as the typical worker.
Don’t be angry at workers for using food stamps.
Be angry at the corporations paying them so little that they need them.
December 20, 2025 at 9:00 PM
SNAP is a lifeline for workers in low-wage jobs.
Meanwhile, CEOs are paid 280x as much as the typical worker.
Don’t be angry at workers for using food stamps.
Be angry at the corporations paying them so little that they need them.
Meanwhile, CEOs are paid 280x as much as the typical worker.
Don’t be angry at workers for using food stamps.
Be angry at the corporations paying them so little that they need them.
Reposted by The Middle Out Center
But there's a lot more of us than there are of them.
The richest 0.001% now have three times as much wealth as the poorer half of humanity combined.
www.commondreams.org/news/world-i...
www.commondreams.org/news/world-i...
Richest 0.001% Now Own Three Times More Wealth Than Poorest Half of Humanity Combined | Common Dreams
A landmark report on global inequality shows that
the chasm between the richest slice of humanity and everyone else
continued to expand this year
www.commondreams.org
December 11, 2025 at 2:44 PM
But there's a lot more of us than there are of them.
As long as labor and ownership remain structurally separated, wealth concentration will continue to accelerate.
The question facing business leaders and policymakers: Will we scale the proven model, or continue marginalizing it while inequality deepens?
The question facing business leaders and policymakers: Will we scale the proven model, or continue marginalizing it while inequality deepens?
Closing the Wealth Gap: The Solution Hiding in Plain Sight
Stock options allowed startups to attract world-class talent and build wealth for workers who might otherwise never own an asset.
www.fastcompany.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
As long as labor and ownership remain structurally separated, wealth concentration will continue to accelerate.
The question facing business leaders and policymakers: Will we scale the proven model, or continue marginalizing it while inequality deepens?
The question facing business leaders and policymakers: Will we scale the proven model, or continue marginalizing it while inequality deepens?
Breaking: Business owners can now pay lower tax rates than their own employees
❌ A manager making $90k pays 22% on their last dollar
❌ Their boss making $180k in passive income pays 19%
Totally normal and healthy economic system we have here 🙄
❌ A manager making $90k pays 22% on their last dollar
❌ Their boss making $180k in passive income pays 19%
Totally normal and healthy economic system we have here 🙄
7 Ways the Big Beautiful Bill Cuts Taxes for the Rich
Overall, the Big Beautiful Bill will harm poor Americans and raise the incomes of rich Americans—driving gains for the rich through cuts to marginal tax rates and the estate tax, along with tax breaks...
www.americanprogress.org
December 14, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Breaking: Business owners can now pay lower tax rates than their own employees
❌ A manager making $90k pays 22% on their last dollar
❌ Their boss making $180k in passive income pays 19%
Totally normal and healthy economic system we have here 🙄
❌ A manager making $90k pays 22% on their last dollar
❌ Their boss making $180k in passive income pays 19%
Totally normal and healthy economic system we have here 🙄
The math is pretty simple:
$1 trillion to the top 1%
$1.1 trillion cut from food assistance + Medicaid
This is what happens when you design policy around the theory that enriching billionaires somehow helps everyone else.
Spoiler: it doesn't.
$1 trillion to the top 1%
$1.1 trillion cut from food assistance + Medicaid
This is what happens when you design policy around the theory that enriching billionaires somehow helps everyone else.
Spoiler: it doesn't.
7 Ways the Big Beautiful Bill Cuts Taxes for the Rich
Overall, the Big Beautiful Bill will harm poor Americans and raise the incomes of rich Americans—driving gains for the rich through cuts to marginal tax rates and the estate tax, along with tax breaks...
www.americanprogress.org
December 12, 2025 at 2:33 PM
The math is pretty simple:
$1 trillion to the top 1%
$1.1 trillion cut from food assistance + Medicaid
This is what happens when you design policy around the theory that enriching billionaires somehow helps everyone else.
Spoiler: it doesn't.
$1 trillion to the top 1%
$1.1 trillion cut from food assistance + Medicaid
This is what happens when you design policy around the theory that enriching billionaires somehow helps everyone else.
Spoiler: it doesn't.
Reposted by The Middle Out Center
Houston airport workers just won a $20/hr wage floor, one of the HIGHEST in the city.
Why? Because they organized and demanded what their labor is worth.
When workers have power, wages rise, families thrive, and the whole economy wins. www.houstonchronicle.com/business/art...
Why? Because they organized and demanded what their labor is worth.
When workers have power, wages rise, families thrive, and the whole economy wins. www.houstonchronicle.com/business/art...
Union workers at Houston's Bush Airport get major wage increase
The new wage floor means an immediate 25% raise for some workers.
www.houstonchronicle.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Houston airport workers just won a $20/hr wage floor, one of the HIGHEST in the city.
Why? Because they organized and demanded what their labor is worth.
When workers have power, wages rise, families thrive, and the whole economy wins. www.houstonchronicle.com/business/art...
Why? Because they organized and demanded what their labor is worth.
When workers have power, wages rise, families thrive, and the whole economy wins. www.houstonchronicle.com/business/art...
Pay *is* a policy choice.
True affordability means working people earning enough to live with dignity and security.
True affordability means working people earning enough to live with dignity and security.
December 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Pay *is* a policy choice.
True affordability means working people earning enough to live with dignity and security.
True affordability means working people earning enough to live with dignity and security.
Reposted by The Middle Out Center
We're running out of words to describe how much billionaires are stealing from us.
December 1, 2025 at 7:44 PM
We're running out of words to describe how much billionaires are stealing from us.
The greatest policy failure of the last half-century, measured.
When we say the economy is rigged, this is what we mean—$79 trillion didn't disappear, it was systematically redirected upward while working people were told to be patient and let wealth trickle down.
When we say the economy is rigged, this is what we mean—$79 trillion didn't disappear, it was systematically redirected upward while working people were told to be patient and let wealth trickle down.
The bottom 90% lost a collective $79 trillion in wages over the past 50 years.
Why? Because the top 1% ate up an increasingly larger share of the national income — so that $79 trillion flowed to them instead of the working class.
The greatest trick of all is trickle-down economics.
Why? Because the top 1% ate up an increasingly larger share of the national income — so that $79 trillion flowed to them instead of the working class.
The greatest trick of all is trickle-down economics.
December 5, 2025 at 8:50 PM
The greatest policy failure of the last half-century, measured.
When we say the economy is rigged, this is what we mean—$79 trillion didn't disappear, it was systematically redirected upward while working people were told to be patient and let wealth trickle down.
When we say the economy is rigged, this is what we mean—$79 trillion didn't disappear, it was systematically redirected upward while working people were told to be patient and let wealth trickle down.
Research shows that 80% of corporate tax cut benefits flow to the top 10% w/ literally 0% going to lower-paid workers. Yet we keep implementing federal policies based on the fantasy that lining the pockets of the already-rich somehow helps everyone else.
7 Ways the Big Beautiful Bill Cuts Taxes for the Rich
Overall, the Big Beautiful Bill will harm poor Americans and raise the incomes of rich Americans—driving gains for the rich through cuts to marginal tax rates and the estate tax, along with tax breaks...
www.americanprogress.org
December 4, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Research shows that 80% of corporate tax cut benefits flow to the top 10% w/ literally 0% going to lower-paid workers. Yet we keep implementing federal policies based on the fantasy that lining the pockets of the already-rich somehow helps everyone else.
Reposted by The Middle Out Center
Corporations are pricing for the wealthy, which drives up costs for everyone else. Hard to ignore that a key source of higher costs is that half of all spending is done by the top 10%.
Americans are paying more for less almost everywhere. In this month’s issue of The American Prospect magazine, we dig into how surveillance capitalism, regulatory capture, and monopolization raise costs for everyone. From Robert Kutner: trib.al/yR1TPKy
Sources of America’s Hidden Inflation - The American Prospect
How market power jacks up prices, and how Trump’s policies add to the pressure
trib.al
December 3, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Corporations are pricing for the wealthy, which drives up costs for everyone else. Hard to ignore that a key source of higher costs is that half of all spending is done by the top 10%.
Reposted by The Middle Out Center
We too often look at prices when talking about affordability & not enough at wages. As Harold Meyerson explains, had the bottom 90% earned the same share of national income they did in 1975, by 2023 they would have made an additional $79 trillion!
prospect.org/2025/12/03/7...
prospect.org/2025/12/03/7...
The $79 Trillion Heist - The American Prospect
We’re in an affordability crisis because workers aren’t being paid at the same levels they earned in the past.
prospect.org
December 3, 2025 at 1:37 PM
We too often look at prices when talking about affordability & not enough at wages. As Harold Meyerson explains, had the bottom 90% earned the same share of national income they did in 1975, by 2023 they would have made an additional $79 trillion!
prospect.org/2025/12/03/7...
prospect.org/2025/12/03/7...
Black Friday may have looked strong, but dig deeper & it’s a warning sign.
▪️ Online prices ↑ 7%
▪️ Order volume ↓
▪️ Furniture $ ↑ 24% after the tariff hikes; the highest since 1935
Americans are spending more & getting less. That’s not a boom--that's a K-shaped economy squeezing working families.
▪️ Online prices ↑ 7%
▪️ Order volume ↓
▪️ Furniture $ ↑ 24% after the tariff hikes; the highest since 1935
Americans are spending more & getting less. That’s not a boom--that's a K-shaped economy squeezing working families.
You’re paying more for less this shopping season. Now there’s proof | CNN Business
Black Friday once again proved that Americans are willing to shop when they spot bargains.
www.cnn.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Black Friday may have looked strong, but dig deeper & it’s a warning sign.
▪️ Online prices ↑ 7%
▪️ Order volume ↓
▪️ Furniture $ ↑ 24% after the tariff hikes; the highest since 1935
Americans are spending more & getting less. That’s not a boom--that's a K-shaped economy squeezing working families.
▪️ Online prices ↑ 7%
▪️ Order volume ↓
▪️ Furniture $ ↑ 24% after the tariff hikes; the highest since 1935
Americans are spending more & getting less. That’s not a boom--that's a K-shaped economy squeezing working families.
The top 10% of U.S. households now control 67% of all wealth.
THE TOP 10% OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS NOW CONTROL 67% OF ALL WEALTH. 🤯
This isn’t an accident, or the natural result of market forces. It’s the predictable outcome of YEARS of trickle-down economic policy that was designed to do exactly this.
THE TOP 10% OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS NOW CONTROL 67% OF ALL WEALTH. 🤯
This isn’t an accident, or the natural result of market forces. It’s the predictable outcome of YEARS of trickle-down economic policy that was designed to do exactly this.
November 30, 2025 at 8:02 PM
The top 10% of U.S. households now control 67% of all wealth.
THE TOP 10% OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS NOW CONTROL 67% OF ALL WEALTH. 🤯
This isn’t an accident, or the natural result of market forces. It’s the predictable outcome of YEARS of trickle-down economic policy that was designed to do exactly this.
THE TOP 10% OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS NOW CONTROL 67% OF ALL WEALTH. 🤯
This isn’t an accident, or the natural result of market forces. It’s the predictable outcome of YEARS of trickle-down economic policy that was designed to do exactly this.
Your Thanksgiving dinner table reflects decades of policy choices.
November 28, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Your Thanksgiving dinner table reflects decades of policy choices.
It’s not in your head — your paycheck didn’t keep up. The federal minimum wage reached its highest value in 1968 — what would be the equivalent of $12.12 today.
In 2025, it’s still just $7.25.
This wasn’t inevitable. It’s not “the market.” It’s policy—that’s the legacy of trickle-down.
In 2025, it’s still just $7.25.
This wasn’t inevitable. It’s not “the market.” It’s policy—that’s the legacy of trickle-down.
November 26, 2025 at 10:38 PM
It’s not in your head — your paycheck didn’t keep up. The federal minimum wage reached its highest value in 1968 — what would be the equivalent of $12.12 today.
In 2025, it’s still just $7.25.
This wasn’t inevitable. It’s not “the market.” It’s policy—that’s the legacy of trickle-down.
In 2025, it’s still just $7.25.
This wasn’t inevitable. It’s not “the market.” It’s policy—that’s the legacy of trickle-down.
They called it inflation. They blamed supply chains. They pointed at labor costs.
But look at the data: McDonald's prices up 100%. Popeyes up 86%. Taco Bell up 81%.
Meanwhile, actual inflation? 31%. This isn't market forces—it's CEOs choosing to extract max profit from families already struggling.
But look at the data: McDonald's prices up 100%. Popeyes up 86%. Taco Bell up 81%.
Meanwhile, actual inflation? 31%. This isn't market forces—it's CEOs choosing to extract max profit from families already struggling.
November 25, 2025 at 7:41 PM
They called it inflation. They blamed supply chains. They pointed at labor costs.
But look at the data: McDonald's prices up 100%. Popeyes up 86%. Taco Bell up 81%.
Meanwhile, actual inflation? 31%. This isn't market forces—it's CEOs choosing to extract max profit from families already struggling.
But look at the data: McDonald's prices up 100%. Popeyes up 86%. Taco Bell up 81%.
Meanwhile, actual inflation? 31%. This isn't market forces—it's CEOs choosing to extract max profit from families already struggling.
Reposted by The Middle Out Center
This Thanksgiving, some politicians are pointing to hand-picked promotions to claim that “prices are way down.” But families know better.
The truth: food prices are still nearly 10% higher than last year, & families have already been stretched to the breaking point. New from @theguardian.com ⤵️
The truth: food prices are still nearly 10% higher than last year, & families have already been stretched to the breaking point. New from @theguardian.com ⤵️
Trump touts cheap groceries ahead of Thanksgiving. The reality is a mixed plate
President looks to Walmart’s promotion as proof he lowered cost of living. But holiday prices are volatile, economists say
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:41 PM
This Thanksgiving, some politicians are pointing to hand-picked promotions to claim that “prices are way down.” But families know better.
The truth: food prices are still nearly 10% higher than last year, & families have already been stretched to the breaking point. New from @theguardian.com ⤵️
The truth: food prices are still nearly 10% higher than last year, & families have already been stretched to the breaking point. New from @theguardian.com ⤵️
Reposted by The Middle Out Center
Extreme inequality is a major driver of democratic backsliding.
November 22, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Extreme inequality is a major driver of democratic backsliding.
Our paychecks power everything.
The economy runs on our work.
Yet politicians act like billionaires create jobs...all while our wages stagnate?!
The economy runs on our work.
Yet politicians act like billionaires create jobs...all while our wages stagnate?!
November 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Our paychecks power everything.
The economy runs on our work.
Yet politicians act like billionaires create jobs...all while our wages stagnate?!
The economy runs on our work.
Yet politicians act like billionaires create jobs...all while our wages stagnate?!
Reposted by The Middle Out Center
New Mexico introduces free child care and quickly discovers that it supercharges the economy by allowing both parents to work. www.economist.com/united-state...
One of the poorest states in America introduces free child care
Can New Mexico’s experiment work where others have failed?
www.economist.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:30 PM
New Mexico introduces free child care and quickly discovers that it supercharges the economy by allowing both parents to work. www.economist.com/united-state...