EPI News

JUNE 2003

Grading the Bush "jobs and growth plan"
With the economy continuing to lose jobs, unemployment above 6%, and periods of joblessness growing longer for more and more working people, the economy needs to grow fast enough to get people back to work. The Bush Administration's "jobs and growth" tax cut plan was sold to the public with the promise that it will add 1.4 million more new jobs by the end of 2004 in addition to the 4.1 million new jobs the administration projects the economy would generate without any tax cuts. EPI's four-page primer on Bush's jobs plan explains why the administration's tax cuts will actually generate fewer jobs than would have been created without the "jobs and growth" plan. EPI President Lawrence Mishel's testimony on Bush's "jobs and growth plan" given before the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee on June 6 can be read online in Viewpoints.

States move on minimum wage
The need for a minimum wage increase is clear: without an increase since 1997, the loss in purchasing power for low-wage workers has been severe. States, however, are trying to alleviate the impact of federal neglect, with several of them raising their local wage floor above the federal level. Some states have even decided on longer-lasting solutions rather than relying on one-time increases. EPI Policy Analyst Jeff Chapman's Issue Brief, States Move on Minimum Wage, provides a full analysis of state minimum wage policies.

The broad reach of long-term unemployment
Long-term unemployment rates are on the rise—in April 2003, 21.8% of jobless workers had been out of work for more than six months, as compared to only 18.3% in 2002. This rise in long-term unemployment is particularly affecting college graduates, white-collar workers, and workers over 45 years old. EPI economist Jeffrey Wenger co-wrote the Issue Brief, The Broad Reach of Long-term Unemployment, which describes the characteristics of today's long-term unemployed workers and recommends policy improvements to help reverse the trend.

The benefits of a lower dollar
Although the current decline in the dollar has provided a much-needed stimulus to the U.S. economy, the dollar still has not lost most of the value it has gained since the mid-1990s compared to the euro and other major currencies. The overvaluation of the dollar in recent years has been especially damaging to the manufacturing industry, resulting in lost jobs, reduced profits, and decreased investment. In his Briefing Paper, The Benefits of a Lower Dollar, EPI research associate Robert Blecker describes how more active management of the dollar's decline is vital to ensure a full and sustainable recovery of the global economy.

As media attention turned away from war, unemployment returned as a consistent theme in stories about the economy. Stories on unemployment citing EPI research were carried in major daily newspapers such as New York Newsday, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Boston Globe, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, and by CNN and the Associated Press.
EPI analysis and critique of the Bush Administration's tax cut plan was featured on Nightly Business Report (PBS) and CNNfn and quoted by Gannett News Service, UPI, New York Times, Washington Post, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Arizona Republic, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Boston Globe, and other daily papers.
The recent drop in the dollar coincided with EPI's publication of The Benefits of a Lower Dollar, by EPI research associate Robert Blecker. Media coverage of EPI research on the subject of the falling dollar included CNN, Miami Herald, Newhouse News Service, Sidney Morning Herald (Australia), Washington Monthly, Dallas Morning News, Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Florida), Entrepreneur Magazine, and The Washington Times.
On May 21, EPI economist Max Sawicky testified before the New York City Council, State and Federal Legislative Committee about methods for speeding up job growth to improve the nation's economy.
EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey's op-ed on how proposed changes to comp time would result in less family-friendly work schedules appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on May 4.

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and education in order to promote a prosperous, fair, and sustainable economy.
The Institute stresses real world analysis and a concern for the living standards
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