The Economic Policy Institute

EPI in the news

• Wis. Sen. Johnson slams Obama for economic policy “failure”

  In the Republican weekly address, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) blamed the president for American “dependence on government.”

  “Instead of concentrating on job creation, President Obama has concentrated on growing government and increasing its control over our lives,” Johnson said. “Because of his policies, dependence on government has increased, and individual opportunity has declined.”

  At least one analysis takes issue with Senator Johnson’s statement. According to the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, government jobs have decreased by 584,000 at the federal, state and local level since June of 2009.

  CBS News | May 24, 2012
• One Chart That Shows How the Great Recession Has Whacked the Young
  The economy is missing between 5 million and 6 million workers. That’s how much bigger our labor force would be if there had been no Great Recession, per the Congressional Budget Office.

  So, who are the missing five million? That’s the question Greg Ip of The Economist recently asked. The above chart from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) gives us a hint of at least part of the answer: the young.
  The Atlantic | May 24, 2012
• The Commencement Address That Won’t Be Given

  Last year’s young college graduates lucky enough to land jobs had an average hourly wage of only $16.81, according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute. That’s about $35,000 a year — lower than the yearly earnings of young college graduates in 2007, before the Great Recession. The typical wage of young college graduates dropped 4.6 percent between 2007 and 2011, adjusted for inflation.

  The Huffington Post | May 24, 2012
• Guess who’s making $16.81 an hour?

  If you’re wondering why so many young college graduatesare living at home, you only have to look at the kind of salaries that they are earning.

  These college graduates (ages 21-24) are making an average hourly wage of $16.81 per hour, which equals a yearly salary of roughly $35,000, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

  CBS News | May 24, 2012
• Hundreds Of Thousands Of Students To See Pell Grants Cut In July Due To 2011 Debt Ceiling Deal

  The bill that ended last August’s standoff over the debt ceiling — when House Republicans held the nation’s creditworthiness hostage for spending cuts — will cause hundreds of thousands of students to face reductions in their Pell Grants or to lose the grants entirely. As the San Jose Mercury News reported today, “Among those who will lose Pell Grants in the summer are at least 65,000 new college students without high school diplomas…Changes in income requirements will reduce or eliminate grants for nearly 300,000 others.” Those cuts also cost the economy 1.8 million jobs, according to estimates from the Economic Policy Institute. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) is already preparing another debt ceiling showdown for this winter.

  Think Progress | May 24, 2012
• Paul Ryan’s Plan To ‘Prevent European-Style Austerity’ Adds To Debt, Throws 4.1 Million Out Of Work

  Not only would Ryan’s plan add to the debt, it would also increase the number of people who are looking for a job, resulting in a net loss of 4.1 million jobs over the next two years, according to the Economic Policy Institute:

  The Ryan budget would nevertheless immediately enact aggressive spending cuts — particularly to the social safety net — which would reduce employment by 1.3 million jobs in fiscal 2013 and 2.8 million jobs in fiscal 2014, relative to current budget policies.

  Think Progress | May 24, 2012
• Coming This Summer: For $24.95, George W. Bush Will Share His ‘Strategies For Economic Growth’

  That Bush believes the country needs his thoughts on how to create economic growth is laughable. After all, under his watch, “growth in investment, GDP, and employment all posted their worst performance of any post-war expansion,” while “overall monthly job growth was the worst of any cycle since at least February 1945, and household income growth was negative for the first cycle since tracking began in 1967.” As the Economic Policy Institute found, “between the end of the 2001 recession (2001Q4) and the peak of that expansion (2007Q4), the U.S. economy experienced the worst economic expansion of the post-war era.”

  Think Progress | May 17, 2012

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