Media clips

---

• Unseparate and Unequal

  A recent special issue of The Journal of Law and Political Economy casts a jaundiced eye on the convenient fiction that employment contracts reflect the free choices of employees. The issue was conceived and edited by Lawrence Mishel, the former president of the Economic Policy Institute.

  “This is Econ 101 silliness, that any transaction between consenting adults is optimal,” Mishel said. “The basis of at-will employment is that if a worker can quit then an employer has to be able to quit a worker. That’s the logic. If you articulate it like that, people would be something between horrified and laughing.”

  The main power workers do have is the threat to quit. But, Mishel wrote in his introduction to the special issue, “The death on the job of eight workers at a Kentucky candle factory and six in an Amazon warehouse when tornadoes struck the Midwest in December 2021 vividly illustrates the ineffectiveness of quitting, either as a constraint on employer exploitation or as a protection of basic worker freedoms.” (The final death toll in the Kentucky factory was nine.)

  New York Times October 21, 2022
• SOME TEACHERS ARE STRESSING OVER LOW PAY

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, in 2019 teachers made about 20% less than other college-educated workers with similar experiences.

  WVUA 23 October 21, 2022
• Latest US inflation data raises questions about Fed’s interest rate hikes

  An April analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive economic think tank, put numbers behind the theory that corporate pricing is an inflationary driver.

  Prices have risen at an annualized rate of over 6% since 2020’s second quarter compared with 1.8% during the pre-pandemic business cycle of 2007-2019. EPI broke prices in the non-financial corporate sector into three main components: labor costs, non-labor inputs and profit margins.

  Over half of the Covid recovery era increase “can be attributed to fatter profit margins” while labor costs represented less than 8%, the report’s author, Josh Bivens, wrote.

  That’s nearly an exact flip of what was seen in the decades leading up to Covid, the report found.

  “Companies are taking higher inputs, putting a bigger markup on them than they were previously, then passing that on to customers,” Bivens said.

  Skyrocketing demand for durable goods coupled with supply chain problems has created “enormous pricing power” for companies that had stock on hand, Bivens said. Typically corporations attempt to widen margins by suppressing wages, but that changed during the Covid recovery, he added.

  The situation is ever-evolving. Wages are falling, which should mean people are buying less and eroding corporations’ pricing power, Bivens said, and some supply chain issues are resolving themselves – the cost of some shipping containers is down by 64% from the same week last year.

  Guardian October 21, 2022
• You can make more money if you know how much your job is worth

  “There is no silver bullet,” Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said. “But I think pay transparency moves us in the right direction.”

  VOX October 21, 2022
• After decades of ‘quiet fleecing,’ Philadelphia could lead a workers’ revolution

  Average wages in the U.S. have been stagnant for years, while the cost of living has grown and worker productivity has fueled increasing corporate profits. “Quiet fleecing” is the term the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank, recently came up with to describe the situation. It’s a play on the more-viral term “quiet quitting” — the idea that workers do what’s required of them to keep their job and nothing more.

  In recent years, any growth in wages has been outpaced by growth in worker productivity. Instead, that productivity has been funneled into greater corporate profits and ballooning executive salaries, according to data from EPI.

  Billy Penn October 21, 2022
• https://en.as.com/latest_news/which-states-have-the-highest-minimum-wage-n/?omnil=resrelrecomv

  According to research by the Economic Policy Institute in 2019, gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would have directly lifted the wages of 28.1 million workers. The average directly affected worker who works all year would receive a $3,900 increase in annual wage income, equal to a raise of 20.9 percent.

  AS USA October 21, 2022
• Indiana struggles with ongoing teacher shortage

  Economists point to the gap between what teachers are paid compared to their peers with similar education. Economic Policy Institute research said in 1979, teachers made 7% less than those peers, but this year, the pay gap has grown to 23%, a record high.

  Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, citing 300,000 public education vacancies nationwide, said the issue boils down to two factors.

  “What’s happening is that it’s becoming more and more difficult to find teachers, and other education personnel, who will take those jobs under current working conditions and at current wages,” Shierholz observed.

  95.3 MNC October 21, 2022
• Agency battling wage theft in California is too short-staffed to do its job

  California stands out among states for its efforts and policies to tackle wage theft given its union density, number of worker centers and public dollars committed to combating the problem, said David Cooper, a researcher who has studied wage theft at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, which is based in Washington, D.C.

  Union members accounted for 15.9% of wage and salary workers in California, compared to 10.3% nationally. That higher than average membership helps workers identify wage theft, Cooper said.

  “California has far more immigrants than a lot of other places, and we know that immigrants, and people of color generally, tend to more likely be victims of wage theft,” said Cooper, who is director of the institute’s Economic Analysis and Research Network, which coordinates nearly 60 state and local research and advocacy efforts nationally. 

  “Immigrants who are either undocumented, or may have family who are undocumented, are not going to speak up as vocally if their rights are being violated.”

  Cooper said the thousands of wage theft claims filed in California each year are likely an undercount of stolen pay cases.

  Cal Matters October 21, 2022
• October 21, 2022
  October 21, 2022
• Iowa Employers Steal $900M A Year From Workers

  Dave Kamper, a senior state policy coordinator at the Economic Policy Institute, said researchers don’t have more accurate estimates for how many wage theft cases occur because he believes most victims do not report problems. He said social service organizations begin to discover cases that investigators don’t once former employees at How much do Iowa workers lose to wage theft? Millions, report says 

  Des Moines Register October 21, 2022
• GOP Plan on Threatening Recession if They Can’t Cut Medicare, Social Security

  If they pull a similar move in 2023, it could be similar to 2011, when the GOP manufactured a debt ceiling crisis that ultimately “led directly to the worst recovery following a recession since World War II,” according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Truthout October 19, 2022
• Tense Debate Between Abrams, Kemp Shows Continued Political Conflict in Georgia Gubernatorial Election

  “We have the lowest unemployment rate in the country for African Americans,” said Kemp, which is true based on what has been reported by the Economic Policy Institute, but its map also shows many states that did not report Black unemployment figures. “We’re also in the top ten of the states for Black entrepreneurship in the state of Georgia…we will continue to work with all of those entrepreneurs in the days ahead and working class Georgians.”

  BET October 19, 2022
• Labor Unions on Defense in Tennessee, on Offense in Illinois

  “Over the past two decades, there has not been a single minimum wage ballot initiative that has failed, when eventually put to a vote,” Ben Zipperer, Economic Policy Institute economist, said in an email.

  Bloomberg October 19, 2022
• Inflation is still voters’ top concern. We took a look at what Fetterman and Oz say they would do.

  “In terms of things that would lower prices on store shelves, it’s pretty tough to act that quickly,” said Josh Bivens, director of research at the liberal Economic Policy Institute.

  Philadelphia Inquirer October 19, 2022
• Industrial Policy: Now Comes the Hard Part

  A third element was a long-overdue ideological shift in the Democratic Party, especially its presidential wing. Before Biden, economic advisers to Democratic presidents were free-traders, counseling that the nature and location of production was the proper business of the market, not the state. With Biden, voices long in the wilderness on industrial targeting, such as the labor movement, the Roosevelt Institute, and the Economic Policy Institute, have had the heady experience of actually influencing and making policy.

  American Prospect October 19, 2022
• Employers Are Fearing A Hard Truth About Quiet Quitting

  Bottom line: Employers Could Be Quitting On Workers

  There is a truth behind the idea of “quiet quitting,” but the truth is that employers are quitting on workers. The evidence points in the direction of workers feeling increased pressure and working too much instead of too little. The Economic Policy Institute has argued that “quiet fleecing” would be a better term.

  Forbes October 19, 2022
• Must be nice to be a CEO

  CEO pay rose more than 11% in 2021, a new record, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute; JOSH BIVENS, EPI Director of Research, reports.

  Your Rights at Work October 14, 2022
• What’s at Stake in the 2022 Midterm Elections

  As the country deals with inflation and a looming recession, the economy is top of mind for Americans in the 2022 midterm elections. However, when researching candidates, it’s important to remember that policy makers did not cause inflation. Inflation was caused by global and public health issues, like supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19, port shutdowns, a shift of spending from services to goods, and the war in Ukraine. Knowing this, Economic Policy Institute(opens in new tab) President Heidi Shierholz advises voters to elect candidates based on their willingness to boost living standards and eliminate inequalities, which directly impacts the economy. 

  Marie Claire October 14, 2022
• Lowe’s Workers in New Orleans Petition to Form Company’s First-Ever Union

  Data shows that workers at Lowe’s Home Improvement stores are often paid low wages. According to the Economic Policy Institute, about half of Lowe’s workers are paid less than $15 an hour. Other research has found that, in 2020, the median salary for full time retail workers at the chain was a mere $24,000, or only about $11.50 an hour.

  Truthout October 14, 2022
• How the gig economy could change as the nature of work evolves

  A survey from the Economic Policy Institute from June of this year reported that about 1 in 7 gig workers said they earned less than the hourly federal minimum wage, and about 1 in 5 have gone hungry because they didn’t make enough money to eat regularly.

  Marketplace October 14, 2022
• 6 Risks You Face If You Retire in a Recession

  The problem is that both the Great Recession and the pandemic showed that employment outcomes tend to be much worse for older employees — particularly part-time workers — during economic downturns. Steep job losses and high unemployment are hallmarks of recessions, and according to reports from the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) and the Economic Policy Institute, older part-time workers are often the first to lose their jobs when businesses cut back during lean times.

  Nasdaq October 14, 2022
• Poll: Many pessimistic about improving standard of living

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, the federal minimum wage in 2021 was worth 34% less than in 1968, when its purchasing power peaked.

  Click on Detroit October 14, 2022
• CEO Pay Has Soared by Nearly 1,500% Since 1978, While Workers Have Been Left Behind

  Between 1978 and 2021, according to new research from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), CEO compensation at the 350 largest publicly traded U.S. companies rose by an inflation-adjusted 1,460%, far outstripping the 18.1% pay increase that the nation’s typical worker saw during that period.

  The trend of soaring CEO pay has continued during the coronavirus pandemic, which caused mass economic chaos and job loss among ordinary workers. EPI found that ​“while millions lost jobs in the first year of the pandemic and suffered real wage declines due to inflation in the second year, CEOs’ realized compensation jumped 30.3% between 2019 and 2021.”

  “Typical worker compensation among those who remained employed rose 3.9% over the same time span,” note EPI’s Josh Bivens and Jori Kandra, the authors of the new report.

  Bivens and Kandra write in their new analysis that the chief executive pay surge in recent decades is not the ​“result of a competitive market for talent but rather reflect[s] the power of CEOs to extract concessions.”

  In 2021, the CEOs of top U.S. companies raked in nearly 400 times more pay than the typical worker.

  “Some observers argue that exorbitant CEO compensation is merely a symbolic issue, with no consequences for the vast majority of workers,” Bivens and Kandra note. ​“However, the escalation of CEO compensation, and of executive compensation more generally, has fueled the growth of top 1% and top 0.1% incomes, generating widespread inequality.”

  Bivens and Kandra write in their new analysis that the chief executive pay surge in recent decades is not the ​“result of a competitive market for talent but rather reflect[s] the power of CEOs to extract concessions.”

  In 2021, the CEOs of top U.S. companies raked in nearly 400 times more pay than the typical worker.

  “Some observers argue that exorbitant CEO compensation is merely a symbolic issue, with no consequences for the vast majority of workers,” Bivens and Kandra note. ​“However, the escalation of CEO compensation, and of executive compensation more generally, has fueled the growth of top 1% and top 0.1% incomes, generating widespread inequality.”

  “Another option,” Bivens and Kandra write, ​“is to set corporate tax rates higher for firms that have higher ratios of CEO-to-worker compensation,” an idea proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in his 2021 Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act.

  In These Times October 14, 2022
• The coalition argues a flat tax is fundamentally unfair in a state with a high wealth gap. According to the Economic Policy Institute, Massachusetts has the sixth highest income gap of any state.

  David Cooper, the director of the economic analysis and research network at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, contends that when wage laws are changed to a single-tier system, business owners can have the assurance that “every single person they compete with is making the same exact adjustment,” reducing the specter of a competitive disadvantage.

  “This is not costless,” Mr. Cooper said. “But for a long time, we haven’t been internalizing the costs of paying workers less than they can live on.”

  New York Times October 14, 2022
• What to know about Question 1, which asks voters if Mass.’ top earners should pay higher taxes

  The coalition argues a flat tax is fundamentally unfair in a state with a high wealth gap. According to the Economic Policy Institute, Massachusetts has the sixth highest income gap of any state.

  WBUR October 14, 2022
• Maryland School Districts Navigate Teacher Shortage

  Economic Policy Institute research said in 1979, teachers made 7% less than those peers, but this year, the pay gap has grown to 23%, a record high.

  Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, citing 300,000 public education vacancies nationwide, said the issue boils down to two factors.

  “What’s happening is that it’s becoming more and more difficult to find teachers, and other education personnel, who will take those jobs under current working conditions and at current wages,” Shierholz explained.

  Public News Service October 14, 2022
• Social Security benefits will jump next year. Here’s why.

  It’s counterintuitive, but higher inflation is actually good for the Social Security Trust Fund, said Monique Morrissey, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

  When prices rise while the number of Social Security recipients and the benefits paid to them increase, it would seem like a bad thing for the trust fund. But the opposite is true, Morrissey said, because one of the main drivers of inflation is rising wages. Since wages and COLAs are increasing, more money is taxable, both from payroll taxes and some of the increased Social Security benefits.

  “Generally speaking, the actuaries will say it’s a wash,” Morrissey said, “but to the extent that it has an impact, it’s a positive one.”

   
  The Washington Post October 14, 2022
• What is inflation? Understanding why prices rise, what causes it and who it hurts most.

  Inflation is a “generalized rise in prices,” said Josh Bivens, the director of research at the Economic Policy Institute. For example, goods like gas, rent or food can be impacted by inflation. 

  USA Today October 14, 2022
• Short-term rentals ‘gobbled up’ homes, worsening housing supply, Philly Fed president says. But Airbnb pushes back, saying it’s too easy an explanation.

  But when Airbnbs pop up in residential neighborhoods, that hits housing supply as it takes away properties from the long-term residential market into the short-term travel market, a 2019 report from the Economic Policy Institute said. 

  MarketWatch October 14, 2022
• Where Is the Minimum Wage Going Up in 2023?

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, 30 of America’s 50 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted minimum wages that are higher than the federal standard. That leaves 20 where employers are still allowed to pay their workers as little as $7.25 an hour. Five of them — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee — have no minimum wage at all. Two others — Georgia and Wyoming — still have their minimum wages set at $5.15 an hour. In all seven of those states, the federal threshold of $7.25 applies.

  Yahoo Finance October 14, 2022