Mechele Dickerson

New York Times best selling author of The Middle-Class New Deal | UT-Austin Law Professor & @TexasLonghorns Faculty Athletics Representative

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

Totally agree, except no one involved in recent talks seems willing to admit "one size fits all" just won't work with DI broadly or the P4 ... or even within the differently resourced schools in SEC/B10.

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

@EdLawDude Unrelated to SEC/B10, the Grambling (in Louisiana) AD & most HBCU commish'ners have warned that employment status will harm HBCUs/small schools & that classifying SAs as employees would have a devastating financial impact @ HBCUs & likely force them to cut teams/scholarships

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

Not holding my breath that the Texas Gov would turn over the Longhorns or the Aggies either, ijs

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

And the practical question of who has the authority to cede control over FB ops at public institutions (LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas, Bama) to a nonprofit membership association of private & public universities.

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

Attending my 1st #LawAndSociety meeting where I'll discuss my book on the middle class. Given this grim (and stunning) economic news, looks like I'll need to revise my comments.#LSASF2026

[Heather Long @byHeatherLong]

This is stunning.
Personal savings rate April 2025: 5.5%
Personal savings rate April 2026: 2.6%

That's a sharp plunge.
It underscores how squeezed Americans are right now with higher prices and incomes not keeping up.
Maybe you can explain some of this away by Baby Boomers retiring, but not all of it.

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

Why the U.S. job market is so hard, especially for recent college graduates https://t.co/DtFJQk6c48

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

A recent poll shows 45% of young adults overall report to be struggling financially but that jumps to 57% for people w/o a college degree. Young adults have lost faith in the American Dream & most politicians haven’t noticed or maybe just don’t care. https://t.co/ZixXdN9Ent

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

Progressive multi-millionaires (Kerr) & conservative nationalist billionaires (Thiel) don't agree on much, but both understand how hard it is for young adults to become and remain middle class & afford the markers of the MC (homeownership, a college degree, have savings etc.)

[NBA Base @TheNBABase]

Steve Kerr on his biggest concern about America Today

“When I finished college almost forty years ago, if you went to school and got a degree, you could get a job and you could buy a house. Now that's out of reach for most people between student debt and home prices and the economy slanted toward the very, very top one per cent. We don't really have a middle class, and we don't have what used to represent the American Dream, which was: you can do better than your parents. We're going backward on all that. Our family is lucky. I'm in a position where my family can live well. But there are millions of people out there, young people who are looking at the horizon and saying, "I did everything I was told I needed to do, and I can't buy a house, and I can't chase my dream." Think about what that means for the stability of communities and cities and a whole country.”

(Via @NewYorker h/t @warriorsworld )

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

Because political leaders created the middle class, they could restore it and help lower- and middle-income workers become financially stable. It’s not that nothing can be done, it’s that politicians have decided not to do anything.

Side note: Will & Josh were terrific hosts!!!

[🎙️🎧Faithful Politics Podcast 🐘🤝🫏 @FaithfulPolitik]

The middle class didn’t just happen. It was built.
In this episode, law professor @amdickerson explains how policy created economic stability—and why it’s breaking down today.

Why it’s harder to afford housing, college, and healthcare ⬇️
https://t.co/33UdRBILiP

Side note: Mechele was a delight! lol

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

On tax day (4/15) reminder: the mortgage interest deduction only helps people who itemize deductions & most itemizers are rich. Lower & middle-income taxpayers generally take the standard deduction & aren't itemizers. If you don't itemize, you don't get these housing benefits.

[The Bulwark @BulwarkOnline]

"When we give the mortgage interest deduction....what you are doing is favoring people that deduct, and those people are more likely to be upper income." What about a *housing* deduction?

@amdickerson joins @JohnAvlon on How To Fix It:

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

I haven’t been a Virginia citizen for 20+ years, but as I told @WalterIsaacson on @AmanpourCoPBS, it’s great to see @SenLouiseLucas spark a national debate on whether data centers/AI firms should pay the same sales taxes as businesses that don't kill jobs: https://t.co/L6Y2haWlNY

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

I wrote a book about the middle class. Millionaires are not "middle" class despite their feelings. Lower/middle-income families in our country are struggling to buy homes, send their kids to college, find stable & secure jobs w/ benefits. They have debts, not "nest eggs."

[The Washington Post @washingtonpost]

There are more American millionaires than ever before, but many of them don’t feel rich.

Rising costs are chipping away at the value of nest eggs and some millionaires say that they still feel undeniably middle-class. https://t.co/6jYAcYdGQS

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

Enjoyed chatting with @WalterIsaacson about my new book (The Middle-Class New Deal) and why we all should be concerned that so many young adults no longer believe in the American Dream of upward mobility.
https://t.co/L6Y2haVNYq

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

This piece oh so captures my publication experience with @ucpress & the zaniness of braving the Feb 2026 “Great Snowicaine” with friends, family, the book’s Executive Editor (Maura Roessner) & members of the @PressShopPR team to appear on @TheDailyShow.
https://t.co/gLnx5zNX8v

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

@BexelInitiative I'll defer mostly to the labor experts, but we just created a massive workforce of jobs w/ a signing bonus + good wages & benefits. Helped young workers b/c of student loan debt relief component. Expanding the ICE workforce shows it can be done ... if there's political will.

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

While AI won’t replace all jobs, most of the ones it can’t replace aren't valued. We underpay teachers, caregivers & social workers. Instead of stressing over future AI job losses, how about we raise wages for those essential workers we *said* were important during the pandemic?

[The Bulwark @BulwarkOnline]

The jobs that AI won't be able to replace are largely the ones our society undervalues.

@amdickerson joins @JohnAvlon on How To Fix It:

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

Great talk with @JohnAvlon. We discussed how housing rules, college costs & the structure of K-12 public schools make it hard for families to become & remain middle class. The best thing about our talk? We focused on solutions – not just rehashing the problems we all know exist.

[The Bulwark @BulwarkOnline]

@amdickerson @JohnAvlon Full episode of How To Fix It:

Substack: https://t.co/thP51mvsc2

YouTube: https://t.co/jef3TVvhGk

Apple: https://t.co/naklHdRPiT

Spotify: https://t.co/EpUdPJhAP7

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

As I argue in a forthcoming article re: pronatalist policies, middle-class families can't thrive financially without affordable child care, and fertility rates for young adults won't rise without accessible & affordable child care.

[Headquarters @HQNewsNow]

Mayor Mamdani: We are here at an active construction site that will be transformed into New York City's first ever on-site childcare program for municipal employees. This is a site that will be 100% free, full daycare for children as young as 6 weeks to 3 years old

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

This plan is a disaster for workers who already don’t have enough saved for retirement and could lose everything in these risky and unregulated markets. Good for Wall Street but not for Main Street.

[The Washington Post @washingtonpost]

Employees could use their workplace retirement plans to invest in cryptocurrencies, private equity and other “alternative assets” under a new proposal by the Trump administration.

The plan is a victory for Wall Street. https://t.co/PkI8EFLyOe

[Mechele Dickerson @amdickerson]

Great thinking outside the box! A win-win for middle-class teachers who are struggling to find affordable housing and K-12 schools that have struggled to hire & retain teachers. https://t.co/xLcm22pJeN