Institute for Policy Studies

In our integrated world, domestic workers provide the foundation that enables our economy to function. Despite this, these workers’ labor remains undervalued. It’s time for international forums—like the upcoming G20 summit—to stand up for domestic workers.

In a thinly-veiled act of profiteering, President Trump’s Transportation Secretary (and former corporate airline lobbyist) Sean Duffy is pushing to repeal the regulations meant to protect consumers from airlines’ junk fees, writes @jimhightower.com.

NEW: Making it easier to build data centers and fossil fuel infrastructure benefits no one except Big Tech and Big Oil. A bipartisan group of Senators wants to do it anyway. IPS scholar @basavsen.bsky.social in @commondreams.org:

Remember when Trump claimed his cruel deportation agenda would help American workers? He couldn’t be more wrong. Watch.

Brazil has adopted a National Care Policy with protections for care workers. Indonesia has developed a long-term roadmap bringing together child care and elder care. Uruguay ensures care workers mandatory overtime pay, minimum wage, and paid leave. More of this everywhere.

"I wrote up a proposal for a moratorium on AI data centers in Lochbuie. The ensuing public meeting drew more attendees than I had ever seen. They overwhelmingly supported it, and it passed easily." Mayor Jamie Jeffery believes you can pass a data center moratorium:

NEW: Residents of a small Pennsylvania town are being offered $10,000 each to accept a new Amazon Web Services data center in their community. They're rejecting it anyway. "Our property values are going to drop. Dramatically. If that’s not a bribe, I don’t know what is.”

Luxury private jets add to airspace congestion, delays, pilot shortages that contribute to cancellations and rising costs, and stress on the air traffic system. The "enshittification" of the commercial aviation experience is in part caused by luxury private jets. Enough.

NEW: The global economy already runs on care. It's time for our policies and our understanding of whose work has value to finally catch up. @aijenpoo.bsky.social of @domesticworkers.bsky.social in @inequality.org:

If poor and low-income Americans voted at the same rate as higher-income citizens, they could sway elections in every single state(!). Low-income Americans must unleash this power — and politicians must give them a powerful, tangible enough vision to draw them to the polls.

In Lochbuie, Colorado, where water is already in short supply, mayor Jamie Jeffrey banded together with the residents of her town to enact a moratorium on AI data centers. Now, she is sharing her experience and encouraging other towns to do the same.

If democracy means only voting every two or four years, it becomes something distant and theoretical. But if you ask people what they see for their future and give them tangible ways to improve their community, it can make democracy feel like something worth saving.

NEW: Private equity magnate Jeffrey Leerink has flown under the radar while pillaging health care and the life sciences. Now, he’s trying to expand an ecologically disastrous private-jet airport. Time to expose this oligarch. IPS scholar @chuck77.bsky.social in @thenation.com:

Trillion-dollar corporations will blow money on anything except the workers that keep them operational.

With the rise of paid content creators and more people turning to social media for news, journalism is experiencing a crisis at a time when we need it most. If we want to save our democracy, that must include investment in journalism. @ruwithsonali.bsky.social

Between higher utility bills, lower tax revenue, and more pollution, data centers are rarely a net positive for locals. Instead of earning our trust through transparency, Big Tech is still trying to ram these projects through with as much secrecy as possible -- and people aren't having it!

NEW: Trump’s EPA head, Lee Zeldin, is decreeing that there’s no need for local communities to be consulted or even notified of new AI data centers. Zeldin has unilaterally declared making the U.S. “the artificial intelligence capital of the world” a central priority for the EPA. @jimhightower.com:

The recent news of publishing giant McClatchy’s intent to undergo massive cuts to reporting staff across its 30 newspaper empire should serve as a warning of the danger AI poses to journalism—especially on the local level. @millsrodrigo.bsky.social on @techpolicypress.bsky.social

🎙️ EVENT: In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, neo-colonial leadership has forfeited the future. This #CongoWeek, hear from Congolese youths how they are organizing to win that future back. 📍 IPS office & online 📅 Friday, Oct 23 🕑 12 pm ET / 5 pm WAT Register:

While statistics show the income of New York City residents has grown in the last 5 years, most of that growth has been confined to the top percentile—while the majority of New Yorkers face an affordability crisis. Julian Villa on @inequality.org

NEW: Navi Pillay, renowned jurist who led the U.N. commission that found Israel guilty of genocide, just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Over her life, Pillay has defended human rights, no matter the population. Her example should inspire leaders worldwide. @szunes.bsky.social in @thenation.com:

NEW: Community life — places where you can walk in and know people, take responsibility for something, make decisions together — is collapsing all over the country. Defending democracy nationally requires rebuilding this locally. IPS fellow @katehesspace.bsky.social in @barnraiser.bsky.social:

One component of the increased isolation felt by many Americans today is the percent of people who eat their meals alone. To combat this, some communities are reviving an old staple—the potluck dinner. Chuck Collins and Tristan Roberts on @resilience.org

You may not have noticed it at first. Maybe it was the price of a cup of coffee — $4.25 for a drip, up 50 cents from last week. Across industries, corporations are using new technology to overcharge consumers on almost everything. We must stop them. @lindsayowens.bsky.social in @bostonglobe.com:

'Tis the season to make your money talk @ Starbucks: -Find your PSL elsewhere and share that newfound goodness with friends! -Buy your holiday mugs and tumblers from small creators, online and off. Get something quirkier AND more personal! Make fall about you & your community, not the 'Bucks.

In 2025, Kristen Crowell began traveling across the U.S. to talk with people affected by the cuts from President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” What she found were Americans of all backgrounds struggling to patch holes that shouldn’t be there to begin with.

Analysis from @itep.org shows that the rise in fuel prices caused by Trump’s war on Iran has cost the average American family $750 already—and could top $1,300 by the year’s end.

In the second article of a two-part series on, IPS foreign policy expert Phyllis Bennis looks at some of the global issues facing progressive politicians in the U.S. today—and the initiatives that may offer the best responses. @fpif.bsky.social

Yeah! I am a long time Starbucks customer whe has finally decided it's long overdue for a divorce! Good rittens! I will be supporting small local coffee shops privately owned! I wont help pay for your yachts, country home and vacations! DONE!

✊ La Liga Sindical Obrera Mexicana is the boldest and fastest-growing independent union in Mexico today, advancing Mexico's rising labor movement. Next week, join us in celebrating them in an evening of solidarity at the 50th annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards. 🎟️Tickets:

By rejecting the authority of the ICC, along with human rights declarations from nations like Britain, Canada, and France, the Trump administration is eroding a critical bond between the U.S. and some of its oldest allies. Jared O. Bell on @fpif.bsky.social

NEW: From rent to groceries to hotel rooms, new algorithmic tools have transformed how companies price nearly everything — eroding your trust and your savings account. In her jaw-dropping new book, GOUGED, @lindsayowens.bsky.social lays out how this works and how to stop it:

This year, @unidos-mn.bsky.social organized powerfully against ICE attacks in Minnesota, inspiring communities across the country. Next week, join us in celebrating them in an evening of solidarity at the 50th annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards in Washington, D.C. 🎟️Tickets:

NEW: The company behind New Jersey’s largest AI data center has been fined over $1 million for pollution after an investigation exposed that it was illegally running 62(!) large gas-burning generators near homes and schools. Hold polluters accountable.

EVENT: In dark times, culture is critical to resistance. Join this weekend for FASHION VS. FASCISM, a visually immersive evening of high fashion, music, and political theater. 📍 The Rotunda, Oakland, CA 📅 Saturday, Oct 3 🕑 7:00 pm PT Get your tickets: www.fashionvfascism.org