Suzanne Kahn

rooseveltinstitute.orgHow to Hold the Federal Reserve Accountable to the Public InterestThe Federal Reserve shapes interest rates, inflation, and employment. New Roosevelt Institute research outlines how greater transparency and stronger congressional oversight can make the Fed more acco...

The path to an accountable Fed (and a functioning democracy) runs through Congress

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

The Fed can put a home loan within reach, change how far savings go, and shift workers’ leverage with employers. So why do the people who live with its decisions have so little say? Our Good Life Residents argue the path to a more accountable Fed runs through Congress. 🧵

Suzanne Kahn reposted

New: Private equity has grown far beyond its traditional focus on restructuring big corporations. @charlieeaton.bsky.social & coauthors map 4 roles it plays in our economy: Corporate Raider, Main Street Invader, Monopoly Builder, and Shadow Owner. @ewarren.bsky.social explains why this matters: 🧵

Suzanne Kahn reposted

rooseveltinstitute.orgHomeownership Is Not a Solution to the Racial Wealth GapCan increasing Black homeownership close the racial wealth gap? Zawadi Rucks-Ahidiana examines how wealth inequality, housing discrimination, predatory lending, and unequal appreciation make homeowner...

Increasing Black homeownership sounds like an easy fix for the racial wealth gap. But that assumes a housing market that treats every buyer the same. New research from @zraresearch.bsky.social breaks down three assumptions behind that idea and why they don't hold up.🧵

rooseveltinstitute.orgWhere States Are Innovating on Childcare: Lessons for a National Universal Childcare Policy - Roosevelt InstituteStates are expanding public childcare through broader subsidies, investments in the childcare workforce, coordinated governance, capital funding, and community engagement. This brief examines Connecti...

I learned so much from this new brief by @lbilik.bsky.social!

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

The US ranks 40th out of 41 comparably wealthy nations on accessible, affordable, quality childcare. But even with the federal government stalled, some states have been showing what's possible. Our new brief from @lbilik.bsky.social looks at what a national system should learn from them:

Suzanne Kahn reposted

rooseveltinstitute.orgFinancial Crises Teach Us That AI Self-Regulation Must Not Replace a Broader Regulatory Framework - Roosevelt InstituteGraham Steele looks to lessons from financial regulation to examine whether self-regulatory organizations can help govern AI—and where democratic oversight must take the lead.

23 Sept

New from @grahamsteele.bsky.social: DC’s leading idea for AI oversight is a self-regulatory org modeled on FINRA. But finance's track record—see: credit ratings agencies, paid by the banks they rated—shows self-regulation invites capture. It can play a narrow role, but can't replace real oversight:

Suzanne Kahn reposted

rooseveltinstitute.orgReaganism Broke US Tax Brackets. It’s Time To Fix Them.The US once had dozens of income tax brackets. Samarth Gupta argues that restoring more brackets at the top would better address today’s extreme income inequality, raise revenue, and give policymakers...

14 Sept

New: The federal income tax has 7 brackets today. That may seem normal, but it’s a historical anomaly. There were once 56 brackets, and there were 14 as recently as the 1980s. But, like it did much else, Reaganism broke our brackets. @samarthgupta.bsky.social has a new brief on how to fix them: 🧵

Suzanne Kahn reposted

rooseveltinstitute.orgHow to Fund Social Security with the Economy We HaveThree Roosevelt resident authors explain how to restore the wage base, reach income beyond payroll taxes, and close gaps that allow labor income to escape Social Security contributions.

As Social Security’s financing shortfall draws closer, the debate over how to shore up the program is turning to revenue. Our Good Life Residents are out with new research on how to modernize the program’s financing without reneging on FDR’s promise. 🧵

nytimes.comTrump Officials Draft Plan to Pay At-Home Parents, Using Funds for Working OnesThe proposed benefit, a top policy priority for Vice President JD Vance, would apply only to married couples and tap a fund intended to provide federal child care subsidies to working parents.

Trump wants to use already inadequate childcare funds to pay married couples to have one parent stay home. Many of these families are really struggling; 75% live in households with yearly incomes under $50,000. But this is a policy to make struggling families fight over scraps.🧵

rooseveltinstitute.orgBuilding a Vision for Universal Public Childcare: Principles for a Childcare System That Works for Workers and Families - Roosevelt InstituteIn a new analysis, Lena Bilik and coauthors argue that the US needs bold, transformative public investments to create a universal early childhood care and education (ECE) system that can meet the need...

Our Government should make sure care exists when families need it, not pit one family’s needs against another’s. That means public investment that makes care affordable, actually builds supply, and pays childcare workers enough to stay in the field.

Also, let's be clear, this isn't a real care policy, it's a policy about women and where the Trump administration thinks we belong. (More than 80% of stay-at-home parents are mothers.) Real care policy requires building public capacity, not making women fight over an inadequate pot of money.

firesidestacks.comWe should copy this time-saving Bogotá policy (with Diana Rodriguez Franco)How Care Blocks are reshaping space and giving people time back.

3 Sept

A true highlight of my year was getting to talk to Diana about Care Blocks.

Roosevelt Forward@rooseveltforward.org

Bogotá, Colombia found a smart way to give caregivers time back: put the services they need in the same place. In our latest Fireside Stack, @suzmkahn.bsky.social speaks with Care Blocks creator Diana Rodriguez Franco about how this program works and what US cities can learn from it:

Suzanne Kahn reposted

rooseveltinstitute.orgParents Need Childcare They Can Count On: New Evidence on Childcare-Related Work Disruptions and Mothers’ EmploymentOne in six parents—and more than one in four mothers—had childcare disrupt their work. Reliable care gives families more choice and economic security.

27 Aug

Childcare is still shaping whether—and how much—women can work. Nearly 27% of mothers reported that caregiving limited their paid work in 2022 and 2023, compared with just 2.9% of fathers. New research from Sarah Jane (SJ) Glynn explores that gap:

Suzanne Kahn reposted

nytimes.comMamdani Gave These Parents a Night Off. This Is How They Spent It.New York City provided four hours of free babysitting to hundreds of families. Parents used the time to reconnect with each other and to tackle chores uninterrupted.

17 Aug

4 hours of free childcare gave hundreds of NYC parents time to have dinner together, run errands, exercise, and reconnect. That’s what a new @mayor.nyc.gov program offered—and a reminder that good economic policy can provide people not just with more money, but with more time of their time back.

Suzanne Kahn reposted

rooseveltinstitute.orgSocial Security Doesn’t Need Cuts. The Money Is There.The fiscal panic around Social Security is missing a big part of the story: rising inequality and income escaping taxation. Policymakers can raise revenue and strengthen Social Security without cuttin...

12 Aug

Earlier this week, the Washington Post editorial board argued that an aging America is pushing Social Security toward crisis. But that ignores the real drivers: decades of rising inequality, weak wage growth, and more income flowing to the top. New from Roosevelt’s Rey Fuentes:

rooseveltinstitute.orgSocial Security Reform Must Preserve Its Core PromisesSocial Security has endured because benefits are guaranteed, progressive, and broadly accessible. Its history offers a guide for strengthening the program today.

12 Aug

Social Security is the backbone of our social insurance system. Preserving and expanding it is table stakes for winning more robust public options. Check out Sarah Hastings and my new brief about what preserving Social Security requires.

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

Social Security has changed a lot since 1935. Our new report from @suzmkahn.bsky.social and Sarah Hastings looks at how the program evolved while preserving its fundamental promises: guaranteed benefits, greater protection for lower-income workers, and broad access. 🧵

Suzanne Kahn reposted

Kathryn Anne Edwards

@kedseconomist.com

11 Aug

Imagine the conversations we would have on social security if articles like this listened to the SSA Actuary and said “An increase in wage inequality in the 1980s, followed by mismanagement of the Great Recession, had meant that the program’s payment costs exceed its incoming tax revenue.”

rooseveltinstitute.orgWhat the 1983 Social Security Reform Missed—and 2032 Must Get RightKathryn Anne Edwards explains how wage inequality and economic mismanagement weakened Social Security—and what the next reform must get right before 2032.

4 Aug

New must read from @kedseconomist.com. We're all going to be hearing a lot more about Social Security in the next few years. Kathryn unpacks how the economy and Social Security are linked and what that should mean for reform.

rooseveltinstitute.orgBuilding Up in 2029: How to Make Green Statecraft DurableExplore 17 essays on durable US climate and industrial policy after Inflation Reduction Act rollbacks, covering governance, planning, finance, and production.

30 July

Given the summer we are having, very proud to have been a small part of getting this out in the world.

Todd Tucker@toddntucker.com

NEW @rooseveltinstitute.org: as wildfires & heatwaves rage, we are not powerless. As 19 authors argue in our 157-page "Building Up in 2029" report, we can adapt & expand Biden & Trump experiments to create lasting state capacity to tackle climate change. 🧵🧵 rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

gothamist.comMamdani’s city-run grocery stores to offer 30% price cuts on meat, produceThe first store won't open until 2027, but the mayor is seeking help now from grocers.

29 July

NYC’s plan for five municipal grocery stores is a useful test of a public option: government providing an affordable baseline alongside private grocers. The reaction has been predictable. But the idea itself is hardly unprecedented.🧵

federalnewsnetwork.comMilitary commissaries may soon open to DoD civilian employees | Federal News NetworkCommissaries offer groceries at lower prices than public stores, but the quality and availability of those goods can vary widely between bases.

29 July

The federal government has long operated military commissaries that sell groceries below commercial prices, and Congress is now considering expanding access to some civilian Defense Department employees.

rooseveltinstitute.orgThe Public Options Tool Kit: Ensuring Access, Public Value, and Accountability in the EconomyMarket-only solutions aren't enough. Suzanne Kahn shows how "Public Options" can fix our cost-of-living crisis and put people over corporate profits.

29 July

Public options are not about replacing private markets. They give government another way to ensure people can access essential goods at a fair price, especially when existing markets fall short. NYC’s grocery plan is one example of what that can look like. More on this from me ↙️

Suzanne Kahn reposted

rooseveltinstitute.orgWhat Vermont’s Historic Childcare Law Teaches Us: Interview with Sarah Kenney, Let’s Grow KidsLearn how Vermont's landmark childcare law expanded affordable care and what policymakers nationwide can learn from Sarah Kenney of Let's Grow Kids.

21 July

Care is economic infrastructure, but too often the people giving and receiving it are left out of the policy choices that dictate who bears the costs. That's why today's Day to Have Your Say centers those experiences through 1 Million Care Conversations. careconversations.com

Suzanne Kahn reposted

Lena Bilik

@lbilik.bsky.social

13 July

The latest in my series of interviews with state and local childcare experts - check it out. Those of us that think about childcare solutions at the national scale have so much to learn from these folks!

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

Vermont has quietly become one of the country’s strongest examples of ambitious childcare policy. @lbilik.bsky.social spoke with Sarah Kenney about the decade of organizing behind Act 76, why affordability and supply must grow together, and why passing a law is only the beginning.

7 July

Must read from @dsreddy.bsky.social. I love this exploration of the importance of coworkers to our social and democratic fabric.

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

NEW 📰: The future of work debate has overlooked one of employment's greatest strengths: its ability to build trust, cooperation, and social connection. In a new brief, @dsreddy.bsky.social makes the case for preserving and strengthening employment as a social institution. 🧵

rooseveltinstitute.orgThe Four Pillars of Green State CapacityMarkets alone cannot deliver decarbonization. Daniel Driscoll explains why the green transition requires capable states that can govern, finance, innovate, and protect people at the same time.

25 June

"The green transition, in short, requires capable states." New brief from @danieldrisc.com on what tools states need to successfully manage the green transition we need. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

Suzanne Kahn reposted

Lena Bilik

@lbilik.bsky.social

24 June

Check out the first installment of a series of interviews I'll be doing with state and local childcare experts -- Local implementors all over the country are proving that it is 100% possible to expand public childcare. We can learn a lot from them.

Suzanne Kahn@suzmkahn.bsky.social

New interview from @lbilik.bsky.social brings both inspirational vision and technical advice from Kristin Spanos: rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/applyin... "Everything that currently exists is a social construction, which tells me reimagining new and improved ways programming is also possible."

rooseveltinstitute.orgHow Childcare Happens—Applying a “Surgical Rigor” to Policy ImplementationIn our first installment of How Childcare Happens: Lessons from Frontline Implementers series, we speak with one of those experts: Kristin Spanos, Chief Executive Officer at First 5 Alameda and the ad...

23 June

@econspeakers.bsky.social

23 June

Start of the summer means parents (like me) are scrambling to figure out care arrangements in even more complex ways than during the school year. @jessicacalarco.com's new piece vividly shows how this isn't an individual problem but a collective and structrual one.

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

New 📰: Every society needs care. The question is who gets stuck doing it. @jessicacalarco.com's new paper argues that America's default answer has been: whoever has the least power to refuse. 🧵 rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

Suzanne Kahn reposted

Economic Speakers Bureau

22 June

New estimates show that Social Security's trust fund will be depleted in just six years. @bbkogan.bsky.social breaks down the cause: President Trump's tax and immigration policies are making a long-term shortfall even worse. @scrippsnews.bsky.social

rooseveltinstitute.orgHow US Policymaking Institutions Reinforce Inequality and Favor the Status QuoWhen income inequality is high, Congress passes fewer economic laws, and the gridlock itself makes inequality worse. A new Roosevelt Institute paper explains the structural reasons why.

17 June

Our political system is built to preserve the status quo, but the status quo right now is....not great. Check out this excellent new paper that unpacks how we got to our oligarchic moment. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

rooseveltinstitute.orgHow Did Universal Childcare Survive Attack?How did NYC's free Pre-K for All survive Eric Adams’s budget cuts and expand statewide? Josh Wallack's analysis offers a blueprint for progressive policies that last.

10 June

The story of UPK is a story of building programs that build countervailing power. It has critical lessons for @rooseveltinstitute.org's whole good life agenda.

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

New 📰: NYC's Pre-K for All is a rare success story and an example of building policy that can survive attack and expand. This new paper from Josh Wallack has lessons for anyone designing progressive policy to last.

Suzanne Kahn reposted

9 June

Today, the Trustees announced that the OASI Trust Fund—the reserve that helps pay full benefits when Social Security tax revenue falls short—will run out by 2032, a full quarter earlier than last year’s projection. This is not bankruptcy, but it is a warning: Congress must act. 🧵

nytimes.comThe American Family Is at a Breaking Point. Our Politics Have Finally Noticed.

8 June

"To be a parent in America is to race constantly in vain against the clock." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/m... This excellent piece is why I'm so excited that our new Good Life Agenda included a whole section on time. (rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...)

rooseveltinstitute.orgComment Letter Opposing the Department of Labor's Proposed Rulemaking Entitled “Fiduciary Duties in Selecting Designated Investment Alternatives”As explained in the Roosevelt Institute's comment, despite the proposal’s misleading name, this rulemaking is not really about investments in “alternative assets.” Rather, the Department of Labor is t...

5 June

The financialized retirement system puts people at risk, those who have retirement investment accounts & the 4 in 10 Americans who don't have these accounts. We should focus on how we get more people more stable and secure retirements (*cough* Social Security) not making their investments riskier.

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

As @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social says, this is part of a broader pattern—”allowing the kind of insatiable hunger for capital to erode our safeguards for ordinary savers.” Our recent comment letter raises similar concerns about a DOL proposal that could expose 401(k) savers to riskier investments.

Roosevelt's Good Life Agenda is out today. We argue that the only way to renew faith in democratic governance is to build a government that is committed to making people's lives better and equipped with the tools to do so by controlling costs, raising incomes, and creating more time in our days.

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

We’ve spent decades told that if the economy grows, people’s lives will get better. Millions are working harder, paying more, and losing faith that institutions can deliver. Imagine an economy and democracy that actually make life better. That’s why today, we’re launching The #GoodLife Agenda. 🧵

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We need to build the economic scaffolding that enables good lives in our own era. The Good Life Agenda tries to begin mapping our way there.

Huge appreciation to all the @rooseveltinstitute.org staff who helped get this out in the world--which is most of the staff! Extra special thanks to Noa Rosinplotz and @reyfuentes.bsky.social who team captained this together.

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

This is very much a project in FDR's legacy. FDR came to power at a moment when the ability of democracy to meet the challenges of the day was in question. He defended democracy by showing it could make people's lives better.

It builds on a core demand of 19thc labor: 8 hrs to work, 8 hrs to rest, and 8 hrs for what we will. "Winning that basic compact for many workers through the New Deal demonstrated to generations of Americans that democratic government could create the economic scaffolding that enables a good life."

Suzanne Kahn reposted

rooseveltinstitute.orgFederal Employment Standards as the Foundation of Economic Security: Revisiting Minimum Wage, Just Cause, and Tools to Combat Wage TheftPatrick Oakford proposes raising the minimum wage to 2/3 of median earnings ($20 per hour by 2030), implementing just-cause protections, and expanding wage theft enforcement to restore economic securi...

21 May

New 📰: Patrick Oakford explores how stronger labor standards are foundational to the economic security of working families—raising the federal minimum wage to $20/hr by 2030, establishing just cause protections, and strengthening enforcement against wage theft. 🧵

rooseveltinstitute.orgWho Makes Up the Labor Force?: Projecting Workforce Growth over the Next DecadeIn this brief describing the state of the labor force, Oskar Dye-Furstenberg analyzes the deepening “k-shaped” economy. His research shows that service industries drive 80% of GDP, and future job grow...

12 May

Lots of good context for the problems we need to tackle: rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

Both home care and fast-food workers are disproportionately non-white and predominantly female. The problem? Both of these fastest-growing jobs are also among the lowest-paying: less than $20 per hour.

Suzanne Kahn reposted

rooseveltinstitute.orgAgainst Manufacturing Doomerism: Why and How Making Stuff MattersThis report by Todd Tucker and Oskar Dye-Furstenberg examines US manufacturing’s evolving role, highlighting its continued importance for innovation, productivity, and exports despite a declining shar...

7 May

The US economy runs on childcare. Our new brief from Sarah Jane Glynn examines how families arrange care each week and what those patterns reveal about gaps in the system. 🧵 rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

Suzanne Kahn reposted

Todd Tucker

@toddntucker.com

5 May

NEW from me and Oskar Dye-Furstenberg for @rooseveltinstitute.org: Against Manufacturing Doomerism: Why and How Making Stuff Matters. In which we give you over 50 pages of charts and graphs showing why manufacturing still matters. 🧵with some highlights! rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

newrepublic.comUnions or Abundance? That’s a False Choice.A new report argues that the labor movement is a key ally in the movement to build things more quickly.

1 May

Alex Hertel-Fernandez@awhf.bsky.social

Excited that this piece with my colleague Kate Andrias is out in the world! On the anniversary of abundance the book and May Day, we lay out how worker power has to be part of any abundance movement. Grateful to @monicapotts.bsky.social for writing about the report: newrepublic.com/article/2096...

rooseveltinstitute.orgDemocratic Abundance: An Abundance That Works for WorkersKate Andrias and Alexander Hertel-Fernandez explore how centering organized labor can transform the "abundance agenda" into a truly democratic movement that delivers housing, energy, and infrastructur...

1 May

FDR stood for building lots of things and for labor unions. You can too.

Roosevelt Institute@rooseveltinstitute.org

The "abundance agenda" aims to solve our supply crises, but often ignores a critical factor: worker power. In our new report, Kate Andrias & @awhf.bsky.social argue for "Democratic Abundance"—a vision where workers shape the future they’re building.🏗️💪

Suzanne Kahn reposted

Lena Bilik

@lbilik.bsky.social

28 Apr

The latest ghoulish news from this admin: they want to decrease the # of adults to children in Headstart. This when the childcare crisis is named over&over as a major economic burden for families right now. Deregulation is NOT a solution to the childcare crisis: it will only make things worse. A 🧵:

nytimes.comTrump’s Top Child Care Official Wants a ‘Bonfire of Regulations’

Suzanne Kahn reposted

Todd Tucker

@toddntucker.com

16 Apr

NEW from @rooseveltinstitute.org: 🔥Major report from @betonyjones.bsky.social @joepeck.co.uk on how Biden pursued pro-labor clean energy policy. 🔥Me 👇on why this matters, and what a new World Bank about-face on industrial policy tells us about this era rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/what-th...

rooseveltinstitute.orgWhat the Biden Admin’s Labor-Forward Clean Energy Strategy Tells Us About Inclusive Industrial PoliciesAs a surprising new World Bank report further mainstreams industrial policy, the debate over incorporating labor standards persists.

Suzanne Kahn reposted

15 Apr

We’re excited to introduce the first wave of our 2026 Good Life Residents for Social Security and Fed cohorts. This program brings together leaders to tackle the most pressing questions in economic policy—from strengthening our safety net to financial accountability.