Women Unscrewing Screwnomics Series

It’s time to talk about women’s economics with attitude. It’s time to laugh at what is often absurd and call out what is dangerous. By focusing on voices not typically part of mainstream man-to-man economic discourse, Women Unscrewing Screwnomics will bring you news of hopeful and practical changes and celebrate an economy waged as life—not as war.

How Corporate Finance Took the Fun—and the Values—Out of Ben & Jerry’s

PUBLISHED 7/23/2026 by

I still remember standing in line outside the original Ben & Jerry’s, trading neighborhood gossip while debating which new flavor to try. Back then, the company stood for more than ice cream—it was proof that a business could put people, workers and communities alongside profits. That’s why watching its social mission slowly unravel under corporate ownership has felt like losing something much bigger than Cherry Garcia.

Ben & Jerry’s story isn’t just about one beloved brand. It’s a cautionary tale about what happens when Wall Street’s demand for ever-higher returns collides with a company built on “caring capitalism.”

The result is a lesson in how corporations redefine sustainability—not as a commitment to people or the planet, but as a strategy for maximizing shareholder value.

Trump, Venezuela and the High-Stakes Fight Over the U.S. Dollar

PUBLISHED 1/27/2026 by

You and I survived New Year’s Eve and tried to look ahead to a better 2026. Then came the invasion of Venezuela—along with a giant serving of lies.

Trump is not the president of Venezuela. The United States is not “running” the country. He never deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, and he never spoke to oil executives about fentanyl or democracy before invading. When reporters asked what the U.S. planned to do with seized Venezuelan oil, Trump answered with stunning casualness: “Well, we keep it, I guess.” And who exactly is “we”?

Behind the bluster lies something far more dangerous than incompetence: a high-stakes effort to seize oil, prop up the U.S. dollar and maintain global economic dominance as rival powers work aggressively to move beyond it.

Tradwives and ‘The People That People Come Out Of’

PUBLISHED 8/25/2025 by

For the first time in years, the number of U.S. mothers with young children in the workforce is shrinking—over 212,000 women left between January and June 2025 alone.

Childcare costs, in-office pressures, and a cultural nudge toward traditional gender roles are pushing moms out, while men in power nod along.

Meanwhile, the tradwife movement parades its perfect, baked-from-scratch, filtered-life versions of domesticity online, making the impossible look effortless.

It’s absurd. It’s dangerous. And it’s time we stop letting the economy treat raising kids as invisible labor.

From Alligator Alcatraz to National Guard Patrols: What Is the Cost of the Trump Administration’s Cruelty?

PUBLISHED 8/13/2025 by

Reserve forces of the U.S. Army, 800 National Guardsmen, and for some reason, 120 FBI agents, are being newly assigned by El Presidente to patrol our national capital—citing crime as his motive, though it’s dropped by a third in recent (Biden) years. He’s already done this in Los Angeles for the last 60 days and predicts other cities are on his list: Baltimore, Chicago, Oakland, New York City—all places that just happen to vote blue.

Early on, the Pentagon testified it would spend about $134 million for the LA deployment, which sounds like a low-ball figure to anyone who’s recently shopped for groceries to feed 5,000 hungry young men three meals a day. And now, California’s governor is asking for the total cost to taxpayers of this “unlawful” deployment—because whether it’s political theater or not, we’re the ones footing the bill.

Reclaiming the Economy: Women Take on Bitcoin, Private Equity, Debt Dollars and Billionaire Bros

PUBLISHED 1/18/2025 by

On Dec. 27, 2024, The New York Times published an article titled, “Wall Street is Minting Easy Money for Risky Loans. What Could Go Wrong?” The key word here is “Minting.” 

Why? Three days earlier, we had learned from The Washington Post how a “strategic bitcoin reserve” would work. Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, is being easily minted too. Unlike our government-backed dollars, crypto is privately created, the reason there are now about 9000 such currencies. Easy-peasy, they’re what your mom might call too good to be true.

The Post’s article recapped how president-elect Donald Trump, who once poo-pooed bitcoin for being “based on thin air,” had recently claimed it was “going to the moon.” He wants to make sure the U.S. leads the way. So Trump is now entertaining the idea of the U.S. government purchasing bitcoin and holding it in reserve. What does that mean?

Project 2025’s Holier-Than-Thou Plans for Your Health

PUBLISHED 7/30/2024 by

Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership is the radical vision for America’s future under the next Republican president. If you’re like me, you’re curious about where the $22 million to produce its 900-pages of planning and policy came from. The project claims it’s the product of over 100 organizations, headed by The Heritage Foundation, a tax-exempt nonprofit. It has a long and influential history with deep monied roots.

I focused on the health-related parts of Project 2025’s chapter on Health and Human Services—our nation’s department for medical and family concerns—as its authors rail against the Center for Disease Control, abortion access and abortion pills, childcare, fertility treatments, what makes a proper family, and more. It’s dystopian, to say the least.

How Derivatives Blew Up Our Economy—And Just Might Again

PUBLISHED 4/28/2024 by

You’ve probably heard of derivatives. In 2021, they were reportedly worth $600 trillion in face value. Some critics say it was only $12.4 trillion if you count only the money “netted.” By comparison, the entire U.S. national budget in 2021 totaled $6.8 trillion.

“Derivative” as an adjective means to be hackneyed and stale or even plagiarized or stolen. So how can a small group of Wall Street banks, hedge funds, private equity and investment firms make trillions selling and trading in derivatives, and not necessarily the stuff they’re derived from? What are they exactly?