An estimated 4.5 million of the country’s lowest-paid workers will get a raise when the federal minimum wage increases this month, providing a badly needed boost to the economy. Why critics of a higher minimum wage are wrong. READ MORE
History shows that tax cuts, particularly high-end cuts, don’t work well to stimulate the demand for goods and services needed to create jobs in a downturn. READ MORE
To critics who argue that a second stimulus would be like putting a second turkey in the oven before the first one is cooked, EPI policy analyst Ethan Pollack points to all the additional people who are showing up at the table. READ MORE
American employers and workers looking for common ground in union contract negotiations could borrow a page from Canada’s practices. READ MORE
A new report recommends a more comprehensive approach to evaluating schools that incorporates arts and physical fitness, physical health, and social development. READ MORE
As unemployment mounts, stimulating the economy becomes a moving target. READ MORE
Differences in education, or even in criminal records, can’t explain why the unemployment rate is so much higher for blacks than whites. READ MORE
A strong public health insurance option is the key to large cost savings and universal coverage. READ MORE
EPI’s new edition of The State of Working America outlines how, for most working families, job shortages and weak wages predated the current recession, and will probably outlast it. READ MORE
May unemployment hits 14.1% in Michigan and a 33-year high of 12.4% in Oregon. Ohio’s eroding manufacturing base helped push unemployment up to 10.8% READ MORE
The official unemployment rate is close to 10%, but that figure does not count the millions of other people without jobs who are too discouraged to look for work. READ MORE
In a June 17 testimony before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, EPI Reseach and Policy director John Irons argued that raising the cap on social security taxes would be preferable to cutting benefits or raising revenue through other means. READ MORE
A diverse group representing everyone from land grant universities to high tech firms and farm employers recently gathered to discuss ways to maintain the tradition of immigration in the United States while also protecting the jobs of American-born workers. READ MORE
Small community banks say they played by the rules, but are now the ones suffering from the risky business activities, and the bailouts on Wall Street. READ MORE
There’s not much talk about credit default swaps on the unemployment line, but critics say a pattern of gambling that many Wall Street firms disguised as legitimate investing was a major cause of lost jobs, home foreclosures, and general economic instability. READ MORE
The U.S. government's role in the General Motors bankruptcy has been the subject of widespread attack ... and misinterpretation. Why much of the criticism is inaccurate. READ MORE
Contrary to common belief, performance-based pay for teachers may have more in common with Soviet Central Planning than the U.S. private sector. READ MORE
Today’s release of state unemployment and jobs numbers shows that the recession is affecting all states, but some much more than others. READ MORE
Rite-Aid union organizer says management intimidation put workers in harm's way. READ MORE
EPI President Lawrence Mishel projects that even small increases to the already high unemployment rate will be devastating to children and minorities. READ MORE
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