July 2, 2009
EPI's analysis of the latest jobs report shows that this is the only recession since the Great Depression to wipe out all jobs growth from the previous business cycle, a testament both to the enormity of the current crisis and to the extremely poor job growth during the 2000s.
June 26, 2009
A recent Department of Treasury report contains contains an outline of the retirement system reforms President Obama will pursue. Read EPI's latest Policy Memo for a sense of how adequately they address the problems.
June 25, 2009
Canada's use of arbitration to resolve negotiations of a first contract in a newly unionized workplace can teach us a lot about how the process could work in the United States. Read this Issue Brief for answers to some common questions about first-contract arbitrations.
June 25, 2009
A new report from the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education campaign recommends a more comprehensive assessment of student performance beyond just math and science.
June 17, 2009
In testimony to the Congressional Steel Caucus, EPI Senior International Economist, Robert E. Scott, makes the case for increased US attention to and enforcement of trade law.
June 17, 2009
A "play or pay" employer contribution policy for health care would not result in significant job losses, and could help create new jobs, a new EPI report concludes.
June 11, 2009
Under current law, employer contributions to health insurance premiums are excluded, without limit, from workers' taxable income. Proposals to end or cap this tax exclusion are emerging in the discussions of how to pay for health care reform. A new Briefing Paper looks at how cross-state variations in health costs change the likelihood of being directly affected by a tax cap.
June 9, 2009
New data shows that the continued decline in job openings means that job seekers are facing ever worsening prospects for finding a new one. There are now over five job seekers for every job opening in the labor market. READ MORE
June 5, 2009
Though last months jobs report was an improvement over previous months, it was still one of the worst in a quarter century. For a full analysis of the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data, read EPI's Jobs Picture.
May 28, 2009
While taxing health premiums to any extent may erode access to employer-sponsored insurance, policymakers should also be wary of changes to the tax treatment that disproportionately weaken families’ access to insurance. In a paper jointly published with First Focus, EPI Economist Elise Gould concludes that taxing health care benefits should be considered only after comprehensive reform produces universal coverage.
May 28, 2009
EPI’s Issue Brief, A Stealthy Stimulus: How Boosting the Minimum Wage is Helping to Support the Economy, looks at how the three-step increase in the minimum wage is adding billions of dollars to consumer spending and stimulating the economy.
May 20, 2009
EPI's Briefing Paper, No Holds Barred--The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing, provides a comprehensive analysis of employer behavior in union representation elections. In the past several years, employers have aggressively resorted to coercive tactics and threats in an effort to make it much more difficult for workers to exercise their freedom to organize and bargain collectively.
May 14, 2009
This first book in EPI's Series on Alternative Teacher Compensation Systems brings expert analysis to the debate over performance-based pay in America's public schools, and as a starting point includes one of the first systematic analyses of pay-for-performance practices in the private sector. Teachers, Performance Pay, and Accountability -- What Education Should Learn From Other Sectors provides important lessons from other industries on designing and implementing such systems in education at a time when states and school districts are contemplating how to evaluate teacher performance.
May 14, 2009
The history of Medicare Advantage plans shows that a public plan is a necessary but insufficient component of real health care reform.
May 12, 2009
The latest data show that the number of job seekers per opening in the labor market has continued to worsen. There are now almost 5 unemployed workers for every job opening.
May 8, 2009
EPI's monthly analysis of the latest jobs data finds the labor market is still in a recession that is shedding jobs at a stunning pace.
May 7, 2009
The U.S. awaits new April employment data amid signs of unrelenting job losses: 24.4 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed.
May 5, 2009
EPI economist Monique Morrissey, along with Emily Garr, look at whether postponing retirement is a viable "fix" for Social Security, since Americans are already working longer into old age. Raising Social Security's early and normal retirement age would be especially hard on lower-income and minority workers, given large and growing disparities in life expectancy.
May 1, 2009
The crisis in the financial system is the result of "regulatory, institutional, product, and market" failures, writes Jane D'Arista, an EPI research associate. In a briefing paper she explores how the current crisis should inform the development of a new architecture for the financial system that is linked with the real economy.
April 29, 2009
EPI's Josh Bivens provides analysis of the latest Commerce Department gross domestic product (GDP) report.
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