Senior Director @ThirdWayEcon & budget nerd | same @ blsky | always tired | tweets/opinions my own & possibly stupid
Joined October 2011
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May 5
New budget reconciliation bill. new opportunity to re-up
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Zach Moller retweeted
On the other hand, if we look at recent progressive revenue-raising packages...it's not much money compared to the combined sum of various affordability proposals.
Build Back Better--which raised too much in revenue for the U.S. Senate--raised the equivalent of $2.3T .
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Zach Moller retweeted
But let's move to the second question around opportunity cost.
Non-fiscal policies ( zoning reform, minimum wage) don't necessarily trade off against each other, but fiscal policies do.
So if a proposal costs money...does it mean we don't pursue another money-costing policy?
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Zach Moller retweeted
In a decade of think tanking, this is one of the papers I'm most proud of.
It's intended to help policymakers think through affordability proposals with a special eye toward the 2029 policymaking context. š§µ
NEW paper from me on two key questions policymakers should ask when evaluating affordability proposals:
cbpp.org/research/federal-buā¦
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Zach Moller retweeted
Trump saying his political rally on America's 250th birthday won't have "people that put you to sleep" feels a bit projection-y given his inability to stay awake at cabinet meetings, press availabilities, NBA games, etc.
The President of the United States announces that the gathering on the National Mall on July 4 will be a "TRUMP RALLY."
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Zach Moller retweeted
Congressional Democrats should simply not do this
The Jones Act is the bedrock of the U.S. maritime and shipping industry.
@TransportDems are protecting American-made ships and jobs as costs continue to rise from the Administrationās war with Iran.
Community note
The U.S. ship building industry is ānear collapseā according to the GAO, despite the Jones Act being in place since 1920.
Today, U.S. ships cost 5x as much as foreign ships.
U.S. flagged commercial ships declined 94% from 1960-2025, while the global fleet doubled.
gao.gov/assets/gao-25-ā¦
nytimes.com/2025/05/27/busā¦
maritime.dot.gov/sites/marad.doā¦?
kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/the-joā¦
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
Consumers are already paying the price for the governmentās debts, @marthagimbel arguesā"but few lawmakers seem to be suggesting the spending cuts and tax increases necessary to lower costs now": theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0ā¦
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Jun 12
Thank you @repkmr & @RepSusieLee for try to make progress on child care access and affordability!
America has a child care supply problemāmore than 4.2 million kids lack access to a formal care slot. The recent bipartisan Child Care Modernization Act is a meaningful step towards closing that gap. See more child care solutions here: thirdway.org/report/nine-ideā¦
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Zach Moller retweeted
America has a child care supply problemāmore than 4.2 million kids lack access to a formal care slot. The recent bipartisan Child Care Modernization Act is a meaningful step towards closing that gap. See more child care solutions here: thirdway.org/report/nine-ideā¦
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
Again, huge shoutout to @abhiecon for the research underlying the piece and the whole @The_Budget_Lab team. Piece is here: theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0ā¦
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
That being said, when we're talking the costs of rising national debt, we shouldn't talk as if they are hypothetical and in the future. They are already here /end
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
The few people who benefit from this tax break, however, in industries such as private equity and venture capital, very much do care, so they are far more likely to push hard to keep it than the millions of affected Americans are to push to end it. 7/
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
Doing so would lower interest rates by the tiniest smidge. But this collective benefit is too slight for most people to know or care about it. 6/
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
It's also the case that the costs of policies to close the deficit usually fall acutely on a specific population, while the broader population sees smaller benefits. Take for instance closing carried interest, which @The_Budget_Lab estimates could raise $100 billion over 10. 5/
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
The problem of course is that these costs are hidden. There's no line on your mortgage statement that says "percent of your payment that is due to higher deficit spending." The main remedies for these problemsāhigher taxes and spending cutsāare generally politically unpopular. 4/
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
For someone taking out a 30-year mortgage at last yearās median home price, this rise in long-term interest rates has increased their borrowing costs by about $2,500 a year, or roughly $76,000 over the life of the loan. 3/
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
@The_Budget_Lab (specifically @abhiecon!) recently estimated that congressional-spending decisions since 2015 have raised Treasury yields by almost a full percentage point, which affects what American households pay to borrow. 2/
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 12
New from me for @TheAtlantic: the consequences of rising national debt and high deficits feel far away, but actually they're already here. The governmentās deficits have saddled many American families with higher costs, largely from rising interest rates. 1/
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Jun 12
Wild. Of course in an era with rampant gambling you need to be cautious too.... Would the black sox scandal been as big today, could Pete Rose be punished as severly? i don't know
If your fingernails are bitten down to the nubs, youāre not alone. The average margin of victory in this NBA Finals series is statistically much, much tighter than any other in the past decade. nbcnews.com/data-graphics/nbā¦
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Zach Moller retweeted
From CBO's monthly budget review:
Net tariff revenues for May were close to zero -- tariff refunds were the same as total tariff revenue.
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Zach Moller retweeted
Jun 10
Oof - another half a point of inflation. We're now at 4.2% over the past year.
Graph via @katekgen at @BudgetHawks
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