Records · Verification table
Inequality pages: source verification, 2026-11-05
The working record behind the pages, published as written. Source file source/verify/inequality-2026-11-05.md. All records.
Scope. Every checkable claim on content/inequality.html, content/inequality-learn.html, content/inequality-do.html, content/inequality-practice.html, and the inequality entry of CORRECTIONS in tools/essays.py; the inequality rows of source/stale.tsv. Section 6 of source/research/inequality.md (figures added from memory: the average EITC credit, "NY minimum wage changes 1 January") was checked first; both are resolved below (P5, P4).
Method. Each source was fetched fresh on 2026-11-05, 20:52–21:12 EST (6 Nov 01:52–02:12 UTC), with WebFetch. PDFs that the fetcher saved as binary were read with pdftotext -layout; quotes are from the extracted text. Two machine-readable sources (Forbes' real-time billionaires JSON feed; the World Bank PIP API) and a few PDFs that returned 403 to the fetcher were pulled with curl from the organisation's own host and parsed with python3 -I. Where a fetch failed, the organisation's own alternative pages were tried and are listed per row; news pages were used only as a fallback and graded as such. Nothing below comes from memory. Web search ran out of budget for this session partway through (five searches were made; their results were used only to find URLs, never as evidence). "No newer coverage found" means none on the pages fetched.
Verdicts. CONFIRMED = the source's words support the page as written. CORRECTED = the page needs a wording change (fix given). NOT IN SOURCE = the cited source does not say it (what it does say is given). UNFETCHABLE = the source could not be read today. NEWER DATA = a later figure or edition exists (given); the page may still be right "as of" its edition. Rhetorical or definitional lines are listed but not counted.
Grades (the site's scale): primary · research · own figures (an organisation describing itself) · evaluator (GiveWell) · news · industry research · our arithmetic.
Source fetch log (one line per URL; dates are what the source prints):
- Oxfam, Resisting the Rule of the Super-Rich methodology note PDF, "OXFAM METHODOLOGY NOTE JANUARY 2026" (oxfam.se) — fetched, 907 lines extracted. primary (Oxfam's own calculation from Forbes + WID)
- Oxfam America report page "Resisting the Rule of the Rich" (January 18, 2026) and press release "Billionaire wealth jumps three times faster…" (January 18, 2026) — fetched. primary
- Oxfam International press releases: 18 January 2016 (62); 16 January 2017 (8); 22 January 2018 (42; 61 "not eight"; "cannot be compared"); 21 January 2019 (3.8bn; no "26" in the text, confirmed by grepping the raw HTML) — fetched. primary
- Oxfam report Public Good or Private Wealth? (Jan 2019) PDF — oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com serves only a JavaScript stub (827 bytes) to both fetcher and curl, with and without
?sequence=1&isAllowed=y; www-cdn.oxfam.org summary 403; Oxfam GB policy-practice page 404; Oxfam America/Canada/Australia 2019 release URLs 404/403. UNFETCHABLE - Nick Galasso, Oxfam America blog, January 26, 2015 (23% of bottom decile) — fetched. primary
- Duncan Green, Oxfam GB blog, January 16, 2017 (0.2%; $1.5tn; 56) — fetched. primary
- Forbes real-time billionaires JSON feed (forbes.com/forbesapi/person/rtb/0/position/true.json?limit=20) — WebFetch 503; curl 200 at 2026-11-06 02:05 UTC (5 Nov 21:05 EST); per-person timestamp 2026-11-06T02:05:02Z. primary (Forbes' own estimates)
- World Inequality Report 2026, Executive Summary (wir2026.wid.world/?p=183; undated page) — fetched. research
- WIR 2026 Technical Report PDF ("December 11, 2025") — fetched, 4,311 lines. research
- UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 press release ("Zurich, 30 June 2026") and report PDF (p. 6 and the "global wealth pyramid 2025" page; methods page) — fetched. industry research
- World Bank Poverty Overview (cites "September 2026 Global Poverty Update"); Data Blog "September 2026 Global Poverty Update…" (September 22, 2026); PIP API
pip-grp?country=WLD&year=2024&povline=3.0|4.2|8.3— fetched. primary - FAO, State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 publication page — fetched. primary
- CEA/OMB, Leiserson & Yagan, September 23, 2021 (archived) — fetched. primary
- US Census: CB23-150 (September 12, 2023); CB25-TPS.62 (September 09, 2025); P60-287 PDF "Poverty in the United States: 2024, Issued September 2025" — fetched. primary
- IRS: EITC participation rate by state (19-Aug-2026); Statistics for returns with EITC (28-Jul-2026); IR-2026-11 (Jan. 23, 2026); IRS tax volunteers (20-Aug-2026); Choose your tax volunteer role (31-Mar-2026); Link & Learn Taxes; EITC Central (23-Jan-2026); IR-2017-08 (archival); Publication 926 (2026) — fetched. The volunteer sign-up form (freetaxassistance.for.irs.gov) failed the fetcher's certificate check but answers HTTP 200 to curl. primary
- NBER w26600 (Egger et al.; Econometrica 90(6), Nov 2022), w32719 (Vivalt et al.; rev. Aug 2026; QJE 141(4) 2026), w33844 (Noble et al., May 2025), w24312 (Jones & Marinescu; AEJ:EP 14(2) 2022) — fetched. research
- Alaska: pfd.alaska.gov home ("September 21, 2026"); Summary of Dividend Applications & Payments table; APFC "FY26 Audit and Budget Proposal" (September 2, 2026); APFC Board of Trustees page — fetched. primary. UAA/ISER news release June 28, 2019 — fetched. research (university summary). Alaska's News Source (Sep. 30, 2026) and Anchorage Daily News (September 19, 2026) — fetched; Alaska Beacon 403. news
- IMF SDN/14/02 PDF ("February 2014", revised "April 2014") — fetched. research (staff views)
- Hsieh, Hurst, Jones & Klenow, Econometrica 87(5) Sept 2019 — fetched. research
- Forbes, AER 90(4) Sept 2000 — fetched (abstract). research
- Neves, Afonso & Silva, World Development 78 (2016) — fetched (abstract, EconPapers). research
- NY DOL: Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights page; Facts for Employers of Domestic Workers PDF; Minimum Wage page (table "as of 01/01/2027"); IA 98 (02/26); IA 318D (06/26); NY.gov minimum wage table; governor.ny.gov "New York State Minimum Wage for 2027" — fetched. primary
- NYS Labor Law §170 (nysenate.gov) — fetched. primary
- NY Workers' Compensation Board: coverage-required-db.jsp; coverage-required-wc.jsp — fetched. primary
- NYSIF DB premium rates; paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/2026 — fetched. primary
- NYC DCWP: "Protected Time Off Law: Frequently Asked Questions" PDF ("Updated 02/22/2026"); Become an NYC Free Tax Prep Volunteer; Free Tax Prep (file-your-taxes) — fetched. primary
- Hand in Hand, Sample Work Agreements — fetched. primary
- GiveDirectly homepage — fetched (donate.givedirectly.org returned 405). own figures
- GiveWell, GiveDirectly cash for poverty relief ("Published: November 2024, Updated: October 2025"); Top Charities (updated October 2026) — fetched. evaluator
- NCUA: Credit union and bank rates 2025 Q4 ("For December 26, 2025"; modified 01/15/26); rates index (modified 10/23/26; no 2026 quarter listed); mapping.ncua.gov (HTTP 200; labels read from its
main-*.jsbundle); MyCreditUnion.gov "What is a Credit Union?" — fetched. primary - Western Queens CLT "Queens Get the Land!" — fetched. own figures
- City Limits, October 22, 2026 (Patrick Spauster); City Limits COPA tag page; City Limits site search — fetched. news. NYCCLI COPA page (Int. 905-A; latest item October 23, 2026) — fetched. advocacy. NYC Council press index (to November 5, 2026) — fetched. primary. Legistar API (webapi.legistar.com) 403; Mayor's news page renders only placeholders. UNFETCHABLE for a primary bill-status record
- NCEO, Research on Employee Ownership and Corporate Performance (© 2026) — fetched. research/advocacy
- Certified EO companies directory; USFWC "Find a Worker Co-op" — fetched. own figures
- Congressional Management Foundation, Citizen-Centric Advocacy PDF (© 2017; "survey was conducted August 2015 – October 2015") — fetched via the Squarespace redirect. primary
- NY Senate bill pages 2025-S335 and 2025-S1477A; nyassembly.gov S00335 and S01477 with
&Actions=Y; Assembly Member Search — fetched. primary - DOJ "Report Antitrust Concerns to the Antitrust Division"; FTC "Antitrust Complaint Intake" — fetched. primary
- California Secretary of State returns API ("November 5, 2026, 5:47 p.m.") — fetched. primary
- World Economic Forum meeting pages (2026, 2027) — 403 to fetcher and curl. UNFETCHABLE
- CTV News, January 21, 2019 ("26 individuals…" headline) — fetched. news
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1. Overview — content/inequality.html
| # | Page text | Source | Quote from source | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O1 | "About a dozen people own more than the poorest half of humanity, by Oxfam's count in January 2026." | Oxfam methodology note, Jan 2026 (PDF) | "Statistic 4. The world's 12 richest billionaires have more wealth than the poorest half of humanity, or more than four billion people." / "As of the end of 30 November 2025, the richest 12 billionaires had combined wealth of US$2.635 trillion." | CONFIRMED | primary |
| O2 | "Five minutes: give cash directly. 71 to 85 cents of each dollar reaches a family." | GiveWell, GiveDirectly program page | Table "Transfers as a percentage of total cost": Kenya 84%, Malawi 84%, Mozambique 75%, Rwanda 85%, Uganda 71%. "Published: November 2024, Updated: October 2025". | CONFIRMED | evaluator |
| O3 | "Fifteen minutes, before 3 December: sign up for free tax prep training. No experience needed." | NYC DCWP, Become an NYC Free Tax Prep Volunteer | Online info sessions listed "October 27, October 29, November 5, November 10, November 19, November 24, December 1, and December 3, 2026"; in-person "November 17, 2026". "You do not need tax experience to become an NYC Free Tax Prep volunteer." No application deadline is stated. | CORRECTED — 3 December is the last info session, not a sign-up deadline. Fix: "Fifteen minutes: sign up for free tax prep training (the last info session is 3 December). No experience needed." | primary |
| O4 | Door text: "Sign up now · shifts Jan–Apr" | same | "NYC Free Tax Prep is now accepting volunteers for the 2027 tax season!" Volunteers serve "as a regular volunteer each week or every other week." No shift dates on the page. | NOT IN SOURCE for "shifts Jan–Apr" (sign-up "now" confirmed). Fix: "Sign up now · weekly shifts in tax season" | primary |
| O5 | "The essay page lists what has changed since it was written, starting with its first sentence." | tools/essays.py CORRECTIONS["inequality"][0] | "No source says five people own as much as the poorest half of humanity. Oxfam's count in January 2026 was twelve…" | CONFIRMED (internal) | — |
Not counted: "10 minutes", "Yearly rhythm", "It's the one floor that's entirely yours to set" (design/rhetoric).
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2. Learn — content/inequality-learn.html
Ten facts
| # | Page text | Source | Quote from source | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | "In January 2026, the 12 richest people held more wealth than the poorest half of humanity, 4.1 billion people." | Oxfam methodology note | "The poorest 50% of the world population – or 4.1 billion people in 2024 – held 0.52% of the global wealth, which is equivalent to US$2.567 trillion when adjusted to November 2025 prices." + Statistic 4 (O1). | CONFIRMED | primary |
| L2 | "$2.635 trillion against $2.567 trillion, by Oxfam's count." | same, Table 3 | "Bottom 50% of humanity (2024) 2,567 / Richest 12 billionaires (as of 30 November 2025) 2,635" (US$ billions, Nov 2025 prices). Source line: "Forbes. (n.d). The World's Real-Time Billionaires… World Inequality Database… and authors' calculations." | CONFIRMED. Wealth-to-wealth (both net wealth); 2.635/2.567 = 1.027. | primary |
| L3 | "On 5 November 2026 the same comparison took about ten people on Forbes' live list." | Forbes RTB JSON feed, curl 2026-11-06 02:05 UTC (5 Nov 21:05 EST) | finalWorth (US$bn), running total: 1 Musk 789.5 (789.5); 2 Bezos 378.9 (1,168.4); 3 Page 235.2 (1,403.5); 4 Brin 216.5 (1,620.1); 5 Zuckerberg 208.0 (1,828.1); 6 Dell 191.1 (2,019.2); 7 Ballmer 165.2 (2,184.4); 8 Buffett 162.2 (2,346.6); 9 Huang 157.9 (2,504.5); 10 Ortega 153.9 (2,658.4); 11 Ellison 153.3 (2,811.7); 12 R. Walton 150.2 (2,961.9). Nine people = $2,504.5bn < Oxfam's $2,567bn; ten = $2,658.4bn > $2,567bn. The research's 20:20 UTC snapshot also crossed at ten (2,675.9). | CONFIRMED (exactly ten on both snapshots). Note the bottom-half figure is Oxfam's Nov-2025 number, not updated. | our arithmetic on primary |
| L4 | "A trading week can move it by one or two." | same two snapshots | The nine-person total sits $62.5bn (2.4%) under the threshold; the tenth adds $153.9bn. Between the two snapshots (~6 h apart) the top-10 total moved −$17.5bn. A 2.5% move in the top nine flips 10↔9; a 6% move flips 10→11. Musk alone moved 797.7→789.5 (−1%) in six hours. | CONFIRMED as our arithmetic; the research's "Musk $784–917bn over two weeks" came from secondary reports and was not re-fetched. | our arithmetic |
| L5 | "The head count has been 62, then 8, then 42, 26 and 12 in successive Januaries." | Oxfam releases 18 Jan 2016, 16 Jan 2017, 22 Jan 2018, 21 Jan 2019; Oxfam note Jan 2026; CTV 21 Jan 2019 | 2016: "62 people own the same as half the world, reveals Oxfam Davos report". 2017: "Eight men own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity". 2018: "42 people now own the same wealth as the poorest half of humanity". 2019: Oxfam's release says "the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity saw their wealth decline by 11 percent" but contains no "26" (grepped); the report PDF is unfetchable; CTV headline: "26 individuals are as wealthy as half of all humanity combined: Oxfam report". 2026: 12. | CORRECTED — (a) not "successive": 2016–2019 are consecutive, then six Januaries (2020–2025) in which Oxfam compared other groups (2020: 2,153 billionaires vs 4.6bn = poorest 60%; 2022: ten men vs 3.1bn; 2024: five men doubled — per the research, not re-fetched). (b) The 26 is confirmed only at news grade. Fix: "The head count has been 62 (2016), 8 (2017), 42 (2018), 26 (2019) and 12 (2026); in the Januaries between, Oxfam compared different groups." Add a "2019 figure: news" grade or drop 26. | primary (62, 8, 42, 12); news (26) |
| L6 | "Oxfam itself says the years can't be compared." | Oxfam, 22 January 2018 | "This figure cannot be compared to figures from previous years" … "because it is based on an updated and expanded data set published by Credit Suisse in November 2017". | CONFIRMED | primary |
| L7 | "Its 2017 'eight men' became 61 when better data arrived a year later." | same | "we found that 61 people owned the same wealth as half the world in 2016 – and not eight". (The 2017 release had likewise revised 2016's 62: "Had this new data been available last year, it would have shown that nine billionaires owned the same wealth as the poorest half of the planet… and not 62".) | CONFIRMED | primary |
| L8 | "The data source changed again in 2026." | Oxfam note 2026; Oxfam 2016–2019 releases | 2026: "Data from the World Inequality Database shows that the total personal wealth in the world was US$479.7 trillion in 2024". 2016–2019: "Credit Suisse Global Wealth Datebook"; "Credit Suisse Wealth Databook". | CONFIRMED | primary |
| L9 | "The steadier fact: the richest 10% own about three-quarters of the world's wealth." | WIR 2026 Executive Summary | "Wealth is even more concentrated: the top 10% own three-quarters of global wealth, while the bottom half holds only 2%." | CONFIRMED. Wealth-to-wealth; PPP; adults over 20 (L36). | research |
| L10 | "The top 1.5% of adults own about half." | UBS GWR 2026 PDF, p. 6 and pyramid page | "As of 2025, 1.5% of adults in our sample own over USD 1 million"; pyramid: "> 1m … 58m (1.5%) … 250.59tn (48.4%)"; sample is "56 markets we estimate to represent over 92%" of global wealth. | CONFIRMED (48.4% of the 56-market sample's wealth) | industry research |
| L11 | "Every source agrees wealth is extremely concentrated; they disagree on the decimal places." | WIR (2%), Oxfam/WID (0.52%), UBS (0.6% for the under-$10k band) | as above | CONFIRMED (characterisation) | our reading |
| L12 | "Billionaires' wealth reached $18.3 trillion in 2025, up 16% in a year." | Oxfam note; Oxfam America release 18 Jan 2026 | "Between 30 November 2024 and 30 November 2025, billionaires' wealth increased from US$15.7 trillion (adjusted for inflation) to US$18.3 trillion; this is an increase of US$2.5 trillion or 16.2% annual growth." Release: "Billionaire wealth jumped by over 16 percent in 2025, three times faster than the past five-year average, to $18.3 trillion". | CONFIRMED (inflation-adjusted, Nov-to-Nov) | primary |
| L13 | "There are more than 3,000 of them." | Oxfam America release; note | "The number of billionaires topped 3,000 last year for the first time". Note: "402 women billionaires out of 3,028 billionaires" (2025 Forbes annual list). | CONFIRMED | primary |
| L14 | "About 811 million people live on less than $3 a day." | World Bank Poverty Overview; Data Blog 22 Sept 2026; PIP API | Overview: "the total number of people worldwide living in extreme poverty declined from around 2.3 billion to 811 million" (1990–2026), "$3.00 a day (2021 PPP)", "One in ten worldwide live in extreme poverty." Blog: "More than 824 million people, about one in ten worldwide, were living in extreme poverty in 2024"; "estimates through 2024 and nowcasts for 2025 and 2026"; "projected to decline marginally from 10.1 percent in 2024 to 9.8 percent in 2026". PIP (WLD, 2024, $3.00): 824,298,368; headcount 0.1012. | CONFIRMED (811m is the 2026 nowcast; latest estimate year is 2024 at 824m — say "about 811 million (2026 nowcast; 824 million in 2024)" if you want the measured figure) | primary |
| L15 | "About 645 million are hungry." | FAO SOFI 2026 publication page | "It is estimated that 645 million people faced hunger in 2025." | CONFIRMED; CORRECTED grade — the page labels this "seen through news coverage · news"; FAO's own page carries it → primary. | primary |
| L16 | "'Billions' in poverty is true only at higher poverty lines." | World Bank PIP API, WLD, 2024 | povline 3.0: 824,298,368 (10.12%); povline 4.2: 1,482,791,630 (18.21%); povline 8.3: 3,758,107,865 (46.16%) of reporting_pop 8,141,808,945. | CONFIRMED (was "not verified" in the research; now on World Bank data). Add to s3: "World Bank PIP: 1.48bn below $4.20, 3.76bn below $8.30, 2024". | primary |
| L17 | "The 400 wealthiest US families paid an average federal income tax rate of 8.2% from 2010 to 2018, counting gains on their investments as income." | CEA/OMB, 23 Sept 2021 | "we estimate an average Federal individual income tax rate of 8.2 percent for the period 2010-2018"; "the 400 wealthiest families paid an average Federal individual income tax rate of 8.2 percent"; the measure "include[s] untaxed ('unrealized') capital gains income"; sensitivity "in the 6-12 percent range". | CONFIRMED | primary |
| L18 | "Those gains aren't taxed until the asset is sold, and often it never is." | same | "Unrealized capital gains are the increase in the value of assets even before the assets are sold"; gains are "taxed at a low preferred rate, or never at all"; "those investment gains are wiped out for income tax purposes when those assets are passed on to their heirs." | CONFIRMED | primary |
| L19 | "US child poverty fell to 5.2% in 2021 under the expanded Child Tax Credit and rose to 12.4% in 2022 when it expired." | Census CB23-150, 12 Sept 2023; P60-287, Sept 2025 | "The SPM child poverty rate more than doubled, from 5.2% in 2021 to 12.4% in 2022." Attribution (to the overall SPM rise): "the expiration of temporary expansions to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)" and the end of stimulus payments. P60-287 SPM table: "Under 18 years … 13.4 … –0.3" (2024 rate 13.4%, change from 2023 −0.3, i.e. 13.7% in 2023). | CONFIRMED as written; NEWER DATA: 13.7% (2023), 13.4% (2024). Census attributes the SPM rise to tax changes generally, not the child rate specifically. Suggest adding "…and 13.4% in 2024". | primary |
| L20 | "About one in five eligible US workers never claims the Earned Income Tax Credit." | IRS EITC participation rate by state (19-Aug-2026); IR-2026-11 | "National … 80.8%" (TY2022); footnote: "Approximately, 19.2% of all eligible earned income taxpayers in TY2022 didn't claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)." IR-2026-11: "The IRS estimates that about one in five EITC-eligible taxpayers don't claim this valuable credit". | CONFIRMED (IRS unit: "eligible taxpayers") | primary |
| L21 | "…left on the table, largely because the paperwork is hard." | IRS participation page; IR-2026-11; IR-2017-08 | Participation page: "does not give reasons". IR-2026-11: no reasons given. IR-2017-08 (rural): "many of these taxpayers are often not aware that they may qualify for EITC." | NOT IN SOURCE — no IRS page fetched gives "paperwork" as the cause. Fix: "largely, the IRS says, because people don't know they qualify." | primary |
| L22 | "Free tax-prep volunteers close that gap one return at a time." | — | rhetoric | not counted | — |
| L23 | "One-time grants of about $1,000 in rural Kenya raised recipients' and neighbours' incomes, every dollar adding about $2.40 to local output, with little inflation." | NBER w26600 | "We provided one-time cash transfers of about USD 1000 to over 10,500 poor households across 653 randomized villages in rural Kenya."; "We find large impacts on consumption and assets for recipients."; "we document large positive spillovers on non-recipient households and firms, and minimal price inflation."; "We estimate a local transfer multiplier of 2.4." Published Econometrica 90(6), pp. 2603–2643, Nov 2022. | CONFIRMED; wording note: the abstract says consumption and assets (recipients) and spillovers (non-recipients), not "incomes". | research |
| L24 | "In the US, $1,000 a month for three years cut recipients' other income by about $1,900 a year and their work hours slightly; the wellbeing gain faded after a year." | NBER w32719 (rev. Aug 2026) | "total individual income excluding the transfers to fall by about $1,900/year relative to the control group"; "a 4.2 percentage point decrease in labor market participation"; hours cut "1 to 2 hours per week"; "Measures of subjective well-being are higher among treated participants in the first year of the transfers but then revert to control group levels." Published QJE 141(4), pp. 2675–2734, 2026. | CONFIRMED | research |
| L25 | "$333 a month from birth showed no detectable effect on children's development at four." | NBER w33844, May 2025 | "$333/month or $20/month"; "no statistically significant impacts of the cash transfers" on language, executive function, social-emotional problems and high-frequency brain activity (primary outcomes) or the secondary outcomes. | CONFIRMED | research |
| L26 | "Alaska has paid every resident an oil dividend for over forty years without reducing employment." | PFD Division payments table; NBER w24312 | Table: first row "1982 … $1,000.00 … 470,897" (applications paid); 2025: 618,863 paid. Jones & Marinescu: "the dividend had no effect on employment"; "increased part-time work by 1.8 percentage points (17%)". | CONFIRMED (44 years). Nuance: paid to eligible residents who apply, not literally every resident. | primary; research |
| L27 | "$1,000 in 2025, $1,200 in 2026." | PFD table; pfd.alaska.gov | "2025 … $1,000.00 … 618,863"; "September 21, 2026 – The 2026 PFD amount is $1,200, which includes a $200 energy relief payment." | CONFIRMED | primary |
| L28 | "It lowers poverty, but it also raises measured inequality" | UAA/ISER, 28 June 2019 (Guettabi) | "The PFD has resulted in substantial poverty reductions for rural Alaska Natives."; "recent evidence suggests that the PFD increases income inequality in both the short and long run." | CONFIRMED; scope note: the poverty finding is for rural Alaska Natives. | research (university summary) |
| L29 | "…and politicians, not residents, set the amount." | cited s8 (PFD Division, ISER) — neither says it; Alaska's News Source 30 Sept 2026; ADN 19 Sept 2026 | ISER page: absent. PFD page: absent. News: "This year's dividend was set at $1,000 by the Alaska Legislature in the state budget signed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy"; "The Legislature has not followed the statutory formula to calculate the dividend since 2016." | NOT IN SOURCE (cited sources); true on news sources. Fix: add a source — Alaska's News Source 30 Sept 2026 or ADN 19 Sept 2026 (news), or the FY2027 budget bill. | news |
Five words
| # | Page text | Source | Quote | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L30 | "Wealth vs income … wealth is far more concentrated." | WIR 2026 | Top 10%: "three-quarters of global wealth"; the income share (search summary: 53%) was not re-read on the WIR page. | CONFIRMED in substance (wealth figure primary; income share seen only in a search summary) | research |
| L31 | "Oxfam says about a quarter of the world's bottom tenth are indebted people in rich countries" | Galasso, Oxfam America, 26 Jan 2015 | "The bottom decile does, in fact, include about 158 million Americans and Europeans… who are currently in debt."; "But they only represent 23 percent of those comprising the decile."; "The other 77 percent of the decile represents about 540 million of the poorest people in the world". | CONFIRMED (2015 data; "Americans and Europeans"). Suggest "(Oxfam, 2015)". | primary |
| L32 | "ignoring debt raised the 2017 head count from 8 to 56." | Duncan Green, Oxfam GB, 16 Jan 2017 | "If you ignore the net debt, the wealth of the bottom 50% is $1.5 trillion."; "It still takes just 56 of the wealthiest individuals to equal the wealth of this group." | CONFIRMED | primary |
| L33 | "The same database gives the bottom half 0.52% of world wealth one way and about 2% the other." | Oxfam note (WID 2023 distribution); WIR 2026 (WID, PPP, 2025) | Oxfam: "The poorest half of humanity holds just 0.52% of the world's wealth"; Table 4 "Poorest 50% … 2,494 … 0.52%". WIR: "the bottom half holds only 2%". | CONFIRMED (different years as well as bases) | primary; research |
| L34 | "Oxfam uses the first [market rates]; the World Inequality Report uses the second [purchasing power]." | WIR Technical Report (Dec 11, 2025); Oxfam note | WIR: "All inequality estimates in our benchmark series are constructed using Purchasing Power Parity estimates." Oxfam's note never states its valuation basis; its only exchange-rate passage concerns converting poverty lines ("converted the two poverty lines into US dollars at the market exchange rate"). The research inferred market rates from the US$479.7tn total. | CORRECTED — WIR half confirmed; Oxfam half is an inference. Fix: "The World Inequality Report uses purchasing power; Oxfam's note doesn't say which it uses, and its total is consistent with market rates." | research; primary |
| L35 | "This is the biggest swing factor in every head count." | our arithmetic from L32–L33 | PPP vs market: 2% / 0.52% ≈ 3.8×. Debt: ignoring it moved the 2017 count 8 → 56 (bottom-half wealth ≈ $0.4tn → $1.5tn, ≈ 3.7×). | CORRECTED (our arithmetic) — the two factors are the same size. Fix: "one of the two biggest swing factors; counting debt is the other." | our arithmetic |
| L36 | "The wealth surveys count adults. '4.1 billion people' is half of everyone, children included." | WIR Technical Report; UBS; Oxfam note | WIR: "The population is comprised of individuals over age 20."; "net household wealth among adults (equal-split series)". UBS pyramid: "Number of adults". Oxfam: "4.1 billion people in 2024"; world population "8,161,000,000" (Table 2) → half = 4.08bn. | CONFIRMED | research; primary |
| L37 | "Correlation vs experiment" | — | interpretive | not counted | — |
Where the sources disagree
| # | Page text | Source | Quote | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L38 | "IMF staff find lower inequality 'robustly correlated' with faster, longer growth" | IMF SDN/14/02 | "Second, lower net inequality is robustly correlated with faster and more durable growth, for a given level of redistribution." Disclaimer: "does not necessarily represent IMF views or IMF policy." Dated February 2014, revised April 2014. | CONFIRMED | research (staff views) |
| L39 | "one study credits 20 to 40% of US growth from 1960 to 2010 to opening jobs to women and Black Americans" | Hsieh, Hurst, Jones & Klenow, Econometrica 87(5), Sept 2019 | "between 20% and 40% of growth in aggregate market output per person can be explained by the improved allocation of talent" (1960–2010; the paper's groups are white women, black men and black women). | CONFIRMED | research |
| L40 | "Another finds higher inequality went with higher growth in the short run." | Forbes, AER 90(4), Sept 2000 | "in the short and medium term, an increase in a country's level of income inequality has a significant positive relationship with subsequent economic growth." | CONFIRMED | research |
| L41 | "A meta-analysis finds a negative effect on average, strongest in poorer countries, with publication bias." | Neves, Afonso & Silva, World Development 78 (2016) 386–400 | "the effect of inequality on growth is negative and more pronounced in less developed countries than in rich countries"; "cross-section studies systematically report a stronger negative impact than panel data studies"; "traces of publication bias in this literature". | CONFIRMED (abstract only, as the page says) | research |
| L42 | "Does a universal cash floor work? Yes in the Kenyan trial; small or no effects in the recent US ones." | L23–L25 | as above | CONFIRMED | research |
| L43 | "Is the head count misleading? … Quote the share (top 10%, three-quarters)…" | L5–L9, L31–L34 | as above | CONFIRMED | mixed |
| L44 | "Its opening figure, 'five people', has no source" | research §1a; CORRECTIONS | No Oxfam document fetched today says five; Oxfam's own series is 62/8/42/(26)/12. | CONFIRMED (absence finding, as in the research) | — |
Read the originals / Sources
| # | Page text | Check | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| L45 | Four "Read the originals" links | oxfam.se PDF 200 (PDF); wir2026.wid.world/?p=183 200 ("Executive Summary - World Inequality Report 2026"); nber.org/papers/w26600 200; nber.org/papers/w32719 200. Reading times not checkable. | CONFIRMED |
| L46 | s1: "Resisting the Rule of the Rich … methodology note, January 2026 (Forbes data to 30 November 2025; World Inequality Database); billionaire wealth release, 18 January 2026; January 2018 release (61, 'not eight'); Forbes real-time list, 5 November 2026 20:20 UTC" | Report page title "Resisting the Rule of the Rich"; note title "RESISTING THE RULE OF THE SUPER-RICH Methodology note", "OXFAM METHODOLOGY NOTE JANUARY 2026"; footnote 1 "Forbes… Accessed 30 November 2025"; release "January 18, 2026"; 2018 release "Published: 22nd January 2018". Forbes human page 403/503 to fetchers; the JSON feed is the readable source (re-snapshot 02:05 UTC 6 Nov confirms ten). | CONFIRMED (consider citing the feed URL and the new timestamp) |
| L47 | s2: "World Inequality Report 2026, December 2025 (purchasing-power basis)"; "UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 (top 1.5% of adults hold 48.4%)" | WIR Technical Report dated "December 11, 2025"; PPP sentence (L34). UBS release "Zurich, 30 June 2026"; pyramid 1.5%/48.4%. | CONFIRMED |
| L48 | s3: "World Bank, Poverty overview, September 2026 nowcast ($3 a day, 2021 prices)"; "FAO SOFI 2026, 645 million, seen through news coverage · news" | WB: "September 2026 Global Poverty Update"; "$3.00 a day (2021 PPP)". FAO: own page confirms 645 million. | CORRECTED (grade: FAO is primary now; drop "seen through news coverage") |
| L49 | s4: CEA/OMB, 23 September 2021 (archived) | "September 23, 2021"; Leiserson (CEA) and Yagan (OMB). | CONFIRMED |
| L50 | s5: Census, 12 September 2023 (SPM) | "Press Release Number: CB23-150"; "Tuesday, September 12, 2023". | CONFIRMED (add P60-287, Sept 2025, if L19 is extended) |
| L51 | s6: IRS 80.8% TY2022, reviewed 19 August 2026 | "Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 19-Aug-2026"; 80.8%. | CONFIRMED |
| L52 | s7: Egger et al. Econometrica 2022; Vivalt et al. NBER 2024, QJE 2026; Baby's First Years NBER 33844, May 2025 | Econometrica 90(6) Nov 2022; WP 32719 July 2024, rev. Aug 2026, QJE 141(4) 2026; WP 33844 May 2025 (Noble et al.). | CONFIRMED |
| L53 | s8: APFC FY26 audit, September 2026; PFD Division, 21 September 2026; Jones & Marinescu 2022; ISER June 2019 | APFC post "September 2, 2026": "audited total Fund balance of $91.9 billion", "12.42% net of fees", "FY26 POMV draw… $3.8 billion". PFD "September 21, 2026". AEJ:EP 14(2) 2022. UAA "June 28, 2019". | CONFIRMED |
| L54 | s9: Hsieh et al. 2019; Ostry, Berg & Tsangarides IMF 2014; Forbes 2000; Neves et al. 2016 (abstract only) | all fetched (L38–L41) | CONFIRMED |
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3. Do — content/inequality-do.html
The whole thing / 1. Free tax prep
| # | Page text | Source | Quote | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Lede: dozen people, Oxfam Jan 2026 | = O1 | CONFIRMED | primary | |
| D2 | "About one in five eligible workers never claim the Earned Income Tax Credit" | = L20 | "19.2% … didn't claim" | CONFIRMED ("eligible taxpayers") | primary |
| D3 | "8–10 hours of training, then shifts · $0" | DCWP volunteer page; IRS Choose your tax volunteer role (31-Mar-2026) | "The training and certification process takes approximately 8 to 10 hours."; IRS: "The hours are flexible, the training is free, and the time commitment is up to you." | CONFIRMED | primary |
| D4 | "In New York it costs about 11% on top of wages." | = D19 (10.82%) | CONFIRMED | our arithmetic on primary rates | |
| D5 | "In a large trial in Kenya… every dollar adding about $2.40 to the local economy, with little inflation." | = L23 | "local transfer multiplier of 2.4"; "minimal price inflation" | CONFIRMED | research |
| D6 | "NYC Free Tax Prep is recruiting for the 2027 season now. About 8–10 hours of training, no experience, age 16 and up. Info sessions run through 3 December 2026." | DCWP volunteer page (title "Become an NYC Free Tax Prep Volunteer") | "NYC Free Tax Prep is now accepting volunteers for the 2027 tax season!"; "approximately 8 to 10 hours"; "You do not need tax experience"; "Anyone over the age of 16 can volunteer."; "A parent or guardian must complete a consent form for any volunteer under 18."; last listed session "December 3, 2026"; contact "freetaxprep@dcwp.nyc.gov". | CORRECTED (one word): the page says "over the age of 16", and under-18s need a consent form. Fix: "over 16 (under-18s with a parent's consent form)". Rest confirmed. | primary |
| D7 | "sign up at the IRS volunteer form; the IRS matches you with a local site. Certify free on Link & Learn Taxes. Greeters, interpreters and IT help need no tax training." | IRS tax volunteers (20-Aug-2026); sign-up form (HTTP 200); Link & Learn; Choose your tax volunteer role (31-Mar-2026) | "We will share your volunteer interest with sponsoring organizations in your area for follow-up contact."; L&L: "Link & Learn Taxes is self-paced e-learning for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance…" (the L&L page itself does not say "free"); roles page: "the training is free"; Greeter/Screener: "Tax law certification is not required for this position."; Interpreter: "Basic tax knowledge is helpful, but it is not required for this position."; Computer specialist: "Tax law certification is not required for this position." | CONFIRMED. Add the roles page URL (irs.gov/individuals/choose-your-tax-volunteer-role) to the sources — the page has no citation for this bullet. | primary |
| D8 | "in the 2026 season it served households with children earning up to $97,000, or up to $68,000 without." | DCWP Free Tax Prep (file-your-taxes), "read 5 Nov 2026" | "$97,000 or less and file as an individual or married couple with qualifying children and/or dependents"; "$68,000 or less … without qualifying children and/or dependents"; "The IRS deadline to file a tax return for your 2025 taxes was April 15, 2026"; "Check this page in November 2026 for information for the 2027 tax season!" | CORRECTED (scope): the higher limit covers any qualifying dependent, not only children. Fix: "households with children or other dependents earning up to $97,000". 2027 limits not yet posted. | primary |
2. Someone who works in your home
| # | Page text | Source | Quote | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D9 | "New York's Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights sets the floor" | NY DOL DWBR page | page exists; lists the rights below | CONFIRMED | primary |
| D10 | "At least $17.00 an hour in New York City, Long Island and Westchester ($16.00 elsewhere in the state)." | NY DOL Minimum Wage page; NY.gov table; governor.ny.gov | DOL table "Minimum Wage as of 01/01/2027": NYC, Long Island & Westchester $17.00; Remainder of NYS $16.00. "On January 1, 2027, New York's minimum wage will stay the same."; "For 2027, the conditions for one of the off-ramps has been met." NY.gov: 2024 $16.00/$15.00, 2025 $16.50/$15.50, 2026 $17.00/$16.00. Governor: "If approved by the State Legislature, new rates would take effect on March 1, 2027" at "$17.60 per hour in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County" and "$16.55 per hour in the rest of New York State". | CONFIRMED, and holds on 1 Jan 2027. The cited s3 (DWBR page, §170) does not carry the wage; add dol.ny.gov/minimum-wage-0. | primary |
| D11 | "Overtime at time and a half after 40 hours a week (44 if they live in)." | DOL DWBR; Labor Law §170 | "The right to overtime pay at time-and-a-half after 40 hours of work in a week, or 44 hours for workers who live in their employer's home."; §170: "more than forty hours in a week, or forty-four hours in a week for domestic workers who reside in the home of their employer… at least one and one-half times the worker's normal wage rate." | CONFIRMED | primary |
| D12 | "24 hours off every week." | DOL DWBR; DOL Facts for Employers | "A day of rest (24 hours) every seven days."; Facts: "Provide one day (24 hours) of rest per week. If your employee agrees to work on that day, you must pay overtime." | CONFIRMED | primary |
| D13 | "3 paid days of rest after a year." | same | "Three paid days of rest each year after one year of work for the same employer." | CONFIRMED | primary |
| D14 | "Paid sick leave in NYC: 1 hour for every 30 worked, up to 40 hours a year." | NYC DCWP FAQ PDF, "Updated 02/22/2026" | "Domestic workers receive 32 immediately available hours of unpaid protected time off on the first day of employment and at the start of each Calendar Year. They also accrue paid protected time off at the rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of: 40 hours per Calendar Year if their employer employs 1-99 employees". | CONFIRMED. The law is now the "Protected Time Off Law" (amendments effective 22 Feb 2026); consider adding the 32 unpaid hours. | primary |
| D15 | "Weekly pay with a written pay statement. No deductions for breakage." | NY DOL, Facts for Employers of Domestic Workers (PDF) | "Employers must pay domestic workers each week."; "Each week, employees must get a written statement that shows: The number of hours worked; Gross pay…; Any deductions…"; "You cannot charge the employee for breakage, supplies, and equipment." | CONFIRMED (document's internal date is 2021 per the research; add its URL to s3) | primary |
| D16 | "Over $3,000 in a year: Social Security and Medicare, filed on Schedule H with your own return." | IRS Pub 926 (2026) | "Pay cash wages of $3,000 or more in 2026 to any one household employee."; "File Schedule H (Form 1040) with your 2026 federal income tax return by April 15, 2027." | CORRECTED (threshold is inclusive): "$3,000 or more in a year". | primary |
| D17 | "Over 20 hours a week: disability and paid family leave coverage." | NY WCB coverage-required-db; DOL Facts | WCB: "Disability and Paid Family Leave benefits coverage is required if the domestic worker is employed 20 or more hours per week by the same employer (including full-time sitters or companions, and live-in maids) and they work 30 or more days in a calendar year for that employer."; "not required if… domestic workers… individually work less than 20 hours per week… and do not live on premises." DOL Facts: "If an employee works 20 or more hours per week or lives in the residence, you are also required to provide statutory disability and paid family leave benefits." | CORRECTED (inclusive, plus live-in): "20 or more hours a week (and 30 or more days a year), or live-in". Omission to fix: workers' compensation is required at 40 or more hours a week or live-in — WCB: "Workers' Compensation coverage is required if the domestic worker is employed forty or more hours per week by the same employer."; DOL Facts: "If your employee works at least 40 hours per week, or lives in your residence, you must provide Workers' Compensation Insurance." The 20-hour example doesn't trigger it; a full-time nanny does. | primary |
| D18 | "Hand in Hand has templates for nannies and house cleaners." | Hand in Hand, "Sample Work Agreements" | Lists "New York Nanny Work Agreement", "National Nanny Share Work Agreement", "National House Cleaner Work Agreement", home attendant agreements, DOL agreements. | CONFIRMED | primary |
| D19 | "A New York City cleaner, 20 hours a week at $25 an hour: $26,000 a year in wages, plus about $2,800 in employer taxes and insurance. That's 10.8% on top." | Pub 926 (2026); IA 98 (02/26); IA 318D (06/26); NYSIF | 20 × $25 × 52 = $26,000. FICA: Pub 926 "Your share is 7.65% (6.2% for social security tax and 1.45% for Medicare tax)" → $1,989.00. FUTA: "net tax rate of 0.6%" on "the first $7,000 of cash wages" → $42.00. NY UI: IA 98 new-employer "UI Rate 4.025%" for 2026 ("Normal Rate 3.4%" + "Subsidiary Rate 0.625%") plus "Employers must contribute 0.075% of their quarterly payroll… to the RSF" = 4.1%; IA 318D: "The wage base for 2026 is $17,600." → $721.60. DBL: NYSIF "$0.10 per $100 of payroll" = $26, but "A $60.00 minimum premium will apply." → $60. Total $2,812.60 = 10.82%. | CONFIRMED (every rate on a primary document; PFL is employee-paid, 0.432% capped at $411.91, correctly excluded; workers' comp not triggered at 20 h) | our arithmetic on primary |
3. Cash, directly
| # | Page text | Source | Quote | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D20 | "GiveDirectly → Give." | givedirectly.org homepage | Top navigation: "Donate" (→ donate.givedirectly.org); buttons "Give now" (twice); widget "Give $60 monthly"; default program shown "Poverty relief - Africa". No control labelled "Give". Homepage also claims ">87% of funds are delivered to those in need through our flagship program" and, elsewhere, "85%" (own figures). | CORRECTED click path: "GiveDirectly → Donate" (or "Give now"). | own figures |
| D21 | "GiveWell's independent check finds 71% to 85% of every dollar reaches recipients, depending on the country." | = O2 | Uganda 71% … Rwanda 85% | CONFIRMED | evaluator |
| D22 | "GiveWell rates its top charities (malaria, vitamin A, vaccines) above cash." | GiveWell GiveDirectly page; Top Charities (updated October 2026) | "around ~30-40% as cost-effective as our marginal funding opportunity"; footnote: "As of August 2024, our bar for funding Top Charities is 8x cash". Top Charities: Malaria Consortium (seasonal malaria chemoprevention), Against Malaria Foundation (nets), Helen Keller Intl (vitamin A supplementation), New Incentives (cash incentives for routine childhood vaccinations). | CONFIRMED | evaluator |
Everything else, graded
| # | Page text | Source | Quote | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D23 | "Lower loan rates on average (5.44% against 7.41% on a new-car loan in late 2025) and a member vote." | NCUA rates 2025 Q4; NCUA rates index; MyCreditUnion.gov | "For December 26, 2025": "New car loan, 60 months 5.44% 7.41%"; "Credit card, Classic 12.58% 15.27%"; "Last modified on 01/15/26". Index "Last modified on 10/23/26" lists Q4 2025 as the latest quarter (no 2026 page). MyCreditUnion: "Credit unions are owned and controlled by their members."; "Member-elected volunteer board of directors manage credit unions." | CONFIRMED and still the latest NCUA release. Add MyCreditUnion.gov for the vote. | primary |
| D24 | "Find one at mapping.ncua.gov; tick 'Low Income Designation'" | mapping.ncua.gov (HTTP 200; Angular app; labels in main-SFFXENF5.js) | Bundle strings: "Low Income Designation:" and "SELECT LOW INCOME DESIGNATION" — a dropdown, not a checkbox. | CORRECTED: "choose 'Select Low Income Designation'". | primary |
| D25 | "Land held for good keeps homes affordable when they're resold." | definitional (research: Lincoln Institute) | not re-fetched | not counted | — |
| D26 | "In Queens, Western Queens CLT takes monthly sustainers and volunteers." | wqclt.org "Queens Get the Land!" | "BECOME A MONTHLY SUSTAINER"; "Monthly sustainers and one-time gifts fund the day-to-day organizing"; "Get into the work. No matter what your skill set is, there's definitely a way you can help our community." button "Get in touch". | CONFIRMED | own figures |
| D27 | "NYC's Council passed COPA on 22 October 2026, giving nonprofits like these first chance to buy distressed buildings; it was awaiting the mayor's signature when we checked." | City Limits 22 Oct 2026; NYC Council press 22 Oct 2026; NYCCLI COPA page; Legistar (403) | City Limits: vote "38–9, with two abstentions"; pre-qualified nonprofits get an early chance to bid; owners "aren't required to sell to them, but must notify them and give them a chance to match or make a competing offer"; HPD estimate "About 3,400 eligible buildings"; Mamdani: "I look forward to signing this bill into law." Council release 22 Oct 2026 subtitle names "Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA)". NYCCLI: "Int. 905-A"; "The bill next heads to Mayor Mamdani, who has committed to signing it into law." No signing on City Limits' COPA tag (latest 22 Oct), the Council press index (to 5 Nov) or NYCCLI; Legistar API 403. | CONFIRMED as of 5 Nov (still unsigned as far as any published page shows; primary status record UNFETCHABLE). Wording: "first chance to bid" is closer than "buy" (owners may refuse). Add "Int. 905-A". | news; advocacy |
| D28 | "They lay off far fewer people (1.9% against 5.1%) and perform slightly better, though stronger firms are the ones that convert." | NCEO research page (© 2026) | "They are also significantly less likely to be laid off (1.9% vs. 5.1%)" (General Social Survey 2002–2022; 2023 Rutgers study); meta-analysis "102 studies representing 56,984 firms… a small but positive and statistically significant relationship to firm performance" (r = 0.04); "Correlation is not causation."; "ESOPs may perform better because only companies that are performing solidly can become ESOPs." | CONFIRMED; scope note: the evidence is about employee-owned firms (ESOPs), not co-ops; the layoff figure is for employee-owners as individuals. | research (NCEO summary of GSS and a peer-reviewed meta-analysis; NCEO is an advocacy body) |
| D29 | Directories: Certified EO; US worker co-ops | certifiedeo.com/companies; usworker.coop/directory | "EO Companies / Certified EO", filters "Sector", "State", "EO Type"; "Find a Worker Co-op – U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives", "joint project of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives and the Democracy at Work Institute". | CONFIRMED | own figures |
| D30 | "Congressional staff rank a personal email far above a form letter (92% against 56%)." | CMF, Citizen-Centric Advocacy (© 2017; survey Aug–Oct 2015) | Chart: "In-Person Issue Visits from Constituents 94%", "Individualized Email Messages 92%", "Individualized Postal Letters 88%", "Phone Calls 84%", "Form Email Messages 56%"; "Source: Congressional Management Foundation 2015 survey of congressional staff". | CORRECTED (one word): 56% is for form email, not "form letter" (individualized letters score 88%). Fix: "far above a form email (92% against 56%)". | primary |
| D31 | "In New York, two bills sit in the Assembly after passing the Senate: the Twenty-First Century Anti-Trust Act and the sovereign-debt 'Champerty Fix'." | NY Senate 2025-S335, 2025-S1477A; nyassembly.gov actions | S335: title "Twenty-First Century Anti-Trust Act"; status "In Assembly Committee"; "06/05/2025 PASSED SENATE", "05/06/2026 PASSED SENATE", "05/06/2026 referred to economic development" (most recent). S1477A: "In Assembly Committee"; "06/04/2025 PASSED SENATE", "06/02/2026 PASSED SENATE", "06/02/2026 referred to judiciary" (most recent); intent: "restore the champerty defense in sovereign debt lawsuits for claims greater than $500,000". | CONFIRMED. "Champerty Fix" is the advocates' name (Jubilee USA), not the bill's; the quotation marks on the page are right. | primary |
| D32 | "Both die when the session ends unless reintroduced." | bill histories | Both show "01/07/2026 died in assembly" / "returned to senate" at the start of the term's second year; the 2025–26 term ends with 2026. | CONFIRMED (structural; visible in the actions) | primary |
| D33 | "Find your member at nyassembly.gov" | nyassembly.gov/mem/search/ | "Assembly Member Search / New York State Assembly"; control "Search Address". | CONFIRMED | primary |
| D34 | "the Justice Department and the FTC take reports." | DOJ; FTC pages | DOJ "Report Antitrust Concerns to the Antitrust Division": "Antitrust Reports can be submitted online, by mail, or phone."; FTC "Antitrust Complaint Intake": "please submit it to the Bureau of Competition by using this webform." | CONFIRMED (the no-poach / exclusive-dealing examples are the page's own) | primary |
Questions people ask
| # | Page text | Source | Quote | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D35 | "Oxfam's 2017 'eight men' was later revised to 61 people when better data arrived." / "the richest 10% own about three-quarters" | = L7, L9 | CONFIRMED | primary; research | |
| D36 | "One study finds 20% to 40% of US growth from 1960 to 2010 came from opening jobs to women and Black Americans." / "Other studies find the opposite in the short run" | = L39, L40 | CONFIRMED | research | |
| D37 | "no study measures what one person's deposit changes" | research §2 (negative finding) | not fetchable; absence claim | CONFIRMED as the research's finding (unfalsified today) | our research |
| D38 | "The live fights are in the states, decided by votes like California's billionaire tax on 3 November." | CA Secretary of State returns API | "November 5, 2026, 5:47 p.m."; "100.0% (23,860 of 23,860) precincts reporting"; Proposition 40 (One-Time Tax On Certain Taxpayers): Yes 3,904,402 (45.4%), No 4,703,548 (54.6%); Prop 42 (Prohibits New State Personal Property Taxes): Yes 53.4%; Prop 3: Yes 59.4%. | CONFIRMED; NEWER DATA than the research (45.0/55.0 → 45.4/54.6; ballots still being counted, certification 11 Dec per research). | primary |
| D39 | "In Kenya it raised what families ate and owned, and their neighbours' incomes too." / "recent monthly-payment trials found small effects or none." | = L23–L25 | "large impacts on consumption and assets"; "large positive spillovers on non-recipient households and firms" | CONFIRMED | research |
| D40 | "It has paid every resident for over forty years without reducing employment, and it lowers poverty. But politicians set the amount ($1,000 in 2025, $1,200 in 2026), residents don't govern the fund, and it came from an oil windfall" | = L26–L29; APFC Board page; APFC audit | APFC: "APFC is governed by a six-member Board of Trustees"; "Two members who lead state departments, including the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue"; "Four public members with recognized expertise in finance, investments, or business management". Audit: "mineral royalty deposits to the corpus of $535 million". | CONFIRMED; the "politicians set the amount" part rests on news (L29), not the cited s13. | primary; news |
Sources list and footer
| # | Page text | Check | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| D41 | s1 Oxfam ($2.635tn / $2.567tn; Jan 2018) | as L2, L6 | CONFIRMED |
| D42 | s2 IRS 80.8%, reviewed 19 Aug 2026 | as L51 | CONFIRMED |
| D43 | s3 NY DOL DWBR; Labor Law §170; "FICA, federal and state unemployment and disability insurance at 2026 rates" | DWBR and §170 fetched; the cost example's rates are from Pub 926, IA 98, IA 318D, NYSIF. | CORRECTED (add sources): dol.ny.gov/minimum-wage-0 (the $17/$16), dol.ny.gov/facts-employers-domestic-workers (weekly pay, statements, deductions), wcb.ny.gov coverage-required-db.jsp (20 h), IA 98 and IA 318D, NYSIF DB rates. |
| D44 | s4 Egger et al.; GiveWell "updated October 2025" | "Published: November 2024, Updated: October 2025" | CONFIRMED |
| D45 | s5 NYC DCWP Free Tax Prep, read 5 Nov 2026 | fetched | CONFIRMED |
| D46 | s6 "NYC DCWP, Earned Safe and Sick Time FAQ, updated 22 February 2026" | Document title: "Protected Time Off Law: Frequently Asked Questions"; "Updated 02/22/2026". | CORRECTED title: "Protected Time Off Law FAQ (formerly Earned Safe and Sick Time)". |
| D47 | s7 IRS Publication 926, 2026 | "Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer's Tax Guide", "For use in 2026" | CONFIRMED |
| D48 | s8 NCUA Q4 2025 | fetched | CONFIRMED |
| D49 | s9 City Limits, 22 October 2026 · news | "October 22, 2026, by Patrick Spauster" | CONFIRMED |
| D50 | s10 CMF, Citizen-Centric Advocacy, 2017 | © 2017; 2015 survey | CONFIRMED |
| D51 | s11 WIR 2026, December 2025 | Technical Report "December 11, 2025" | CONFIRMED |
| D52 | s12 Hsieh et al. 2019; Forbes 2000 | fetched | CONFIRMED |
| D53 | s13 Alaska PFD Division, 21 September 2026 | fetched | CONFIRMED |
| D54 | Footer: "The election results and the bills' status were current on 5 Nov 2026" | D31, D38 | CONFIRMED |
| D55 | Footer: "Oxfam's next count is due in January 2027." | Oxfam America release: the report was released as the World Economic Forum opened in Davos (18 Jan 2026); Oxfam's releases 2016–2019 are dated 16–22 January. WEF 2027 meeting page 403. | UNFETCHABLE for the 2027 Davos dates; the January pattern is Oxfam's own. Fix: "Oxfam's next count is expected in January 2027." |
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4. Practice — content/inequality-practice.html
| # | Page text | Source | Quote | Verdict | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | "NYC info sessions run to 3 December 2026; the IRS form is open year-round. Training is 8 to 10 hours, online, before January." | DCWP volunteer page; IRS tax volunteers; sign-up form (HTTP 200) | Sessions to "December 3, 2026"; "approximately 8 to 10 hours"; training "in-person and self-paced online", exams "online through the IRS"; "Training information will be updated in Fall 2026 for the upcoming tax season." IRS pages state no season or deadline for the form. | NOT IN SOURCE for "open year-round" and "before January" (3 Dec, 8–10 h, online: confirmed). Fix: "the IRS form has no deadline. Training is 8 to 10 hours, in person or online." | primary |
| P2 | "Set the monthly gift to GiveDirectly" | givedirectly.org | widget "Give $60 monthly" | CONFIRMED (monthly giving offered; path is "Donate", see D20) | own figures |
| P3 | "Oxfam publishes its count the week of Davos." | Oxfam America release 18 Jan 2026; Oxfam releases 2016–2019 | Release text: the report was released as the World Economic Forum opened in Davos; dates 18 Jan 2016, 16 Jan 2017, 22 Jan 2018, 21 Jan 2019, 18 Jan 2026. WEF pages 403. | CONFIRMED (on Oxfam's own wording; WEF dates unfetchable) | primary |
| P4 | "New York's minimum wage changes on 1 January. If someone works in your home, check their rate against the new floor." | NY DOL Minimum Wage; governor.ny.gov | "On January 1, 2027, New York's minimum wage will stay the same."; "the minimum wage will not receive an inflation-based increase on January 1, 2027."; home care aides: "The minimum wage for home care aides will increase on January 1, 2027, to:" $20.00 (NYC/LI/Westchester) and $19.00 (rest of state). Governor: "could allow minimum wage rates to rise with inflation starting March 1, 2027, if the Legislature approves it" — $17.60 / $16.55. | CORRECTED (section-6 item). Fix: "New York's minimum wage has risen each 1 January since 2024, but on 1 January 2027 it stays at $17.00 downstate and $16.00 upstate; a rise to $17.60 from 1 March 2027 needs the Legislature. (Home care aides' floor does rise on 1 January 2027, to $20.00 downstate.) If someone works in your home, check their rate against the current floor." | primary |
| P5 | "Each return you finish for a family that qualifies for the EITC is, on average, a few thousand dollars they wouldn't otherwise get." + s1: "the IRS's published average credit, about $2,700, recalled rather than re-read… average: unverified" | IRS Statistics for returns with EITC (28-Jul-2026); IR-2026-11 (23 Jan 2026) | "The average amount of EITC received nationwide in TY 2024 was $2,894." ("As of December 2025, approximately 24 million workers and families received ~$70 billion in EITC."); TY 2023: "$2,743"; New York TY 2024: "1.5 M $4.2 B $2,753". IR-2026-11: "The average EITC amount received nationwide for tax year 2024 was $2,916."; "23.5 million workers and families benefited from approximately $68.5 billion". | NEWER DATA / CORRECTED (section-6 item). Fix s1: "The 'few thousand dollars' is the IRS's average EITC for tax year 2024: $2,894 nationally, $2,753 in New York (IRS statistics page, as of December 2025); the IRS's January 2026 release gives $2,916." Drop the "unverified" label. Framing: "they wouldn't otherwise get" is strictly true only of the one-in-five non-claimers; suggest "money that one in five eligible families never claims". | primary |
| P6 | "Household employer? Schedule H goes in with your own return by 15 April." | Pub 926 (2026) | "File Schedule H (Form 1040) with your 2026 federal income tax return by April 15, 2027." | CONFIRMED | primary |
| P7 | "Staff rank it far above a form letter." | CMF | 92% vs 56% ("Form Email Messages") | CORRECTED (as D30): "form email" | primary |
| P8 | "a written agreement first. Templates." | Hand in Hand | as D18 | CONFIRMED | primary |
| P9 | Drill 1: "Twelve, by Oxfam's January 2026 count, about ten on today's stock prices… the richest 10% own about three-quarters" | = L1, L3, L9 | CONFIRMED | primary; our arithmetic; research | |
| P10 | Drill 2: Kenya $2.40, little inflation, neighbours; US trials small or no effects | = L23–L25 | CONFIRMED | research | |
| P11 | Drill 3: 20–40% 1960–2010; "IMF staff find lower inequality goes with longer growth spells"; "Other studies find the opposite in the short run" | = L38–L40 | IMF: "faster and more durable growth" | CONFIRMED | research |
| P12 | Drill 4: lower loan rates and a vote; "No study shows one person's deposit changes anyone's fortune." | = D23, D37 | CONFIRMED | primary; our research | |
| P13 | Drill 5: "EITC participation is about 81%. The missing fifth is mostly paperwork and fear of the IRS." | IRS participation page; IR-2026-11; IR-2017-08 | 80.8% confirmed. No IRS page fetched gives a reason; the only stated cause (IR-2017-08, rural): "many of these taxpayers are often not aware that they may qualify for EITC." | NOT IN SOURCE for "mostly paperwork and fear of the IRS". Fix: "EITC participation is about 81%. The IRS's own explanation for the missing fifth is that many don't know they qualify." | primary |
| P14 | Drill 6: "Forty-plus years, no drop in employment, lower poverty. But it's $1,000 to $1,200 a year, set by politicians, from an oil windfall… and it raises measured inequality in the state." | = L26–L29; PFD table | PFD table: 2016 $1,022; 2022 $3,284; 2024 $1,702; 2025 $1,000. | CORRECTED (precision): "$1,000 to $1,200 a year" describes 2025–26 only; it was $3,284 in 2022. Fix: "it's been $1,000 to $1,200 the last two years ($3,284 in 2022), set by politicians…". "Lower poverty" is the rural-Alaska-Native finding. | primary; research; news |
| P15 | Say it: "about one in five working families never claims the tax credit they're owed" | IRS | 19.2% of "eligible earned income taxpayers" | CONFIRMED (spoken gloss of "eligible taxpayers") | primary |
| P16 | Sources s1–s8 | the sources named in each line, all fetched | s1 IRS 80.8% ✔; DCWP ✔; IRS sign-up read 5 Nov (HTTP 200) ✔; "$2,700 recalled" → counted at P5. s2 ✔. s3 ✔ (add dol.ny.gov/minimum-wage-0). s4 CMF "personal email 92% vs form email 56%" ✔ (this source line already says "form email"). s5 ✔. s6 ✔. s7 ✔. s8 ✔. | CONFIRMED (the $2,700 line is counted at P5) | primary; research |
| P17 | Footer: "The 3 December date, the New York wage floor and the bills' status all change on a schedule; the January items above are when to re-check them." | D6, D10, D31 | CONFIRMED (note: the wage floor does not change on 1 Jan 2027; re-check 1 March 2027 instead) | — |
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5. CORRECTIONS["inequality"] in tools/essays.py
| # | Text | Source | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | "No source says five people own as much as the poorest half of humanity. Oxfam's count in January 2026 was twelve, and the number moves with data and stock prices." | Oxfam note (12); Oxfam 2018 ("cannot be compared… updated and expanded data set"); Forbes feed (daily movement) | CONFIRMED |
| C2 | "The evidence that broad participation drives growth leans the essay's way, but it's mixed and mostly correlation rather than experiment." | IMF 2014; Hsieh et al. 2019; Forbes 2000; Neves et al. 2016 | CONFIRMED (interpretive; matches the four sources) |
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6. Dated items — source/stale.tsv
| Date | Item | Status on 2026-11-05 |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-12-03 | NYC Free Tax Prep volunteer info sessions end (inequality/do, inequality/practice, index) | Still correct: the DCWP page lists the last online session on December 3, 2026 (in-person November 17). It is the last session, not an application deadline (O3). DCWP also says: "Check this page in November 2026 for information for the 2027 tax season!" — the 2027 income limits (D8) will appear there. |
| 2026-12-05 | Monthly: re-read every app menu path | For this topic: GiveDirectly's control is "Donate" / "Give now", not "Give" (D20); NCUA's locator uses a "Select Low Income Designation" dropdown (D24). |
| 2027-01-01 | New York minimum wage and domestic-worker rates for 2027 | Already known: the standard floor stays $17.00 / $16.00 on 1 Jan 2027 (DOL); home care aides rise to $20.00 / $19.00. The governor's $17.60 / $16.55 proposal would take effect 1 March 2027 if the Legislature approves — add a 2027-03-01 line. Also due in January–February 2027: Pub 926 (2027) threshold, IA 98 (02/27) UI rates, the 2027 UI wage base (18% of the state average wage), NYSIF/PFL 2027 rates. |
| 2027-01-20 | Oxfam's January 2027 count replaces "twelve" | Oxfam's pattern is a release as Davos opens (16–22 January in 2016–2019 and 2026). WEF's 2027 meeting page could not be fetched (403), so the exact week is unconfirmed. |
| (add) 2026-11-21 | COPA (Int. 905-A): mayor's action | Passed 22 Oct 2026, 38–9; "heads to Mayor Mamdani, who has committed to signing it" (NYCCLI). No signing published as of 5 Nov on City Limits, the Council press index or NYCCLI; Legistar unreadable. Re-check the Do page's "awaiting the mayor's signature" line. |
| (add) 2026-12-11 | California certifies the 3 Nov results (Prop 40 at 45.4% yes as of 5 Nov 5:47 p.m.) | from the research; the Do page only names the vote, so nothing changes on the page unless the result flips. |
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7. Arithmetic the pages do themselves
- "About a dozen" = Oxfam's 12. Holds. Wealth-to-wealth: 12 billionaires' net worth (Forbes, 30 Nov 2025) vs the bottom 50% of adults' net wealth (WID 2023 distribution scaled to 2024 total, Nov 2025 prices). $2.635tn vs $2.567tn: a 2.6% margin.
- "About ten people" today: cumulative Forbes net worth passes $2,567bn at rank 10 ($2,658.4bn; rank 9 = $2,504.5bn), 02:05 UTC 6 Nov. Holds, with the bottom-half figure frozen at Oxfam's Nov-2025 estimate. Top five = $1,828.1bn = 71% of the bottom-half figure.
- "A trading week can move it by one or two": the 9-person total is 2.4% under the threshold; the 11th person would be needed after a 6% fall in the top ten. Plausible; our arithmetic, not measured over a week.
- "4.1 billion people" = half of Oxfam's 8.161bn world population (Table 2) = 4.08bn. Holds (people, not adults — WID's unit is adults over 20).
- "$18.3 trillion, up 16%": $15.731tn → $18.276tn = +16.2%, inflation-adjusted, Nov 2024–Nov 2025. Holds.
- "About 811 million… one in ten": PIP 2024: 824.3m / 8,141.8m = 10.12%; 2026 nowcast 811m at 9.8%. Holds.
- "'Billions' only at higher lines": $4.20 → 1.48bn (18.2%); $8.30 → 3.76bn (46.2%), 2024. Holds.
- "Three-quarters" (WIR, PPP, adults over 20, wealth) and "top 1.5% … about half" (UBS 48.4%, market exchange rates, adults, 56-market sample). Both wealth-to-wealth; different bases, so not to be combined. Hold separately.
- "0.52% one way and about 2% the other": ≈3.8×. Debt adjustment (2017): $0.4tn → $1.5tn ≈ 3.7×, 8 → 56 people. The page's "biggest swing factor" overstates — the two are equal (L35).
- Child poverty "fell to 5.2%… rose to 12.4%": Census SPM; "more than doubled". Holds; 2024 is 13.4%.
- "One in five" = 19.2% non-claim (TY2022). Holds. "About 81%" = 80.8%. Holds.
- "Every dollar adding about $2.40": multiplier 2.4. Holds. "$1,900 a year"; "4.2 points"; "1–2 hours a week". Hold.
- Household cost: $26,000 wages; $1,989.00 + $42.00 + $721.60 + $60.00 = $2,812.60 = 10.82% → "about $2,800", "10.8%", "about 11%". Holds on 2026 rates (Pub 926; IA 98 4.025% + RSF 0.075% on a $17,600 base; NYSIF $60 minimum). Not included and not owed by the employer: PFL (employee-paid, 0.432%, cap $411.91). Not triggered at 20 h: workers' comp (40 h+).
- "Over forty years": 1982 → 2026 = 44 years of dividends. Holds. "$1,000 to $1,200": 2025 and 2026 only (2022: $3,284; 2024: $1,702).
- "92% against 56%": individualized email vs form email (CMF 2015). Holds (the page's "form letter" is the wrong noun).
- "5.44% against 7.41%"; "1.9% against 5.1%". Hold.
- Counts: Learn "Ten facts" (10), "Five words" (5). Practice "six claims"/six drills (6). Hold.
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8. Summary by verdict
Counted rows: 5 (Overview: O1–O5) + 52 (Learn: L1–L54 less L22, L37 not counted) + 54 (Do: D1–D55 less D25 not counted; D17 counted once) + 17 (Practice: P1–P17) + 2 (Corrections) = 130. Rows carrying two verdicts are counted under the one that requires an edit (NEWER DATA for L19, D38, P5).
| Verdict | Count | Rows |
|---|---|---|
| CONFIRMED | 103 | all rows not listed below |
| CORRECTED | 18 | O3, L5, L15 (grade), L34, L35, L48 (grade), D6, D8, D16, D17, D20, D24, D30, D43 (sources), D46 (title), P4, P7, P14 |
| NOT IN SOURCE | 5 | O4 (shifts Jan–Apr), L21 (paperwork), L29 (politicians set the amount — cited sources silent; true on news), P1 (year-round; before January), P13 (fear of the IRS) |
| NEWER DATA | 3 | L19 (child SPM 13.7% 2023, 13.4% 2024), P5 (average EITC $2,894 TY2024; $2,916 in IR-2026-11), D38 (Prop 40 at 45.4/54.6) |
| UNFETCHABLE | 1 | D55 (WEF 2027 dates; Oxfam 2027 timing is inference). Partial: D27's primary status record for COPA (Legistar 403; the status itself is confirmed on news/advocacy pages, row counted CONFIRMED) and the Oxfam 2019 report PDF behind L5 (row counted CORRECTED; the 26 stands at news grade). |
Distinct fixes: 14 (L15/L48 are one fix — the FAO grade; D30/P7 one — "form email"; D17's two parts one row; D43 is a sources-list addition).
Weakest links on the pages, by grade: the 2019 head count "26" (news only — Oxfam's 2019 release lacks it and its report is behind a JavaScript-only repository); "politicians set the amount" (news; cited sources silent); COPA's signature status (news/advocacy, no primary record readable); the Davos 2027 timing (inference). Everything else that carries a number is on a primary document, a peer-reviewed paper, or GiveWell's evaluation read today.
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