Media clips

• Marc Goldwein and the Limits of Deficit Scolding

  I’m far from the first person to notice Goldwein’s hypocrisy. Economist Heidi Shierholz, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, tweeted back in May, citing a CRFB paper, “If student debt cancellation is not good stimulus, that means it is also not very inflationary.” She also pointed out that the current debt payment moratorium, which has been going on for two and a half years—in other words, the entire inflationary cycle—meant that “even if somebody’s debt is entirely cancelled under a new policy, their monthly costs won’t decrease relative to what they currently are. This will dramatically limit any impact on new spending and hence provide no upward inflation pressure relative to the status quo.”

  American Prospect August 26, 2022
• California Fights to Set Minimum Work Standards in Fast Food Establishments Statewide

  “This could be a historic turning point,” said Jennifer Sherer, a senior state policy coordinator with the pro-labor Economic Policy Institute. “The bill is a very important acknowledgement that our federal labor law, which we know is supposed to protect the right of local workers to organize, is broken. We cannot wait for federal reform.”

  Capital and Main August 26, 2022
• New Report Shows Colorado Teachers Losing Ground In Pay Penalties

  A new report out from the Economic Policy Institute found that the so-called teacher pay penalty is at an all time high, but that gap is even higher right here in Colorado. KGNU News Director Shannon Young spoke with report author and Economic Policy Institute research associate, Sylvia Allegretto.

  KGNU August 26, 2022
• Wage thieves will soon face criminal prosecution in Multnomah County

  The union-backed think tank Economic Policy Institute reported last year that district attorneys in at least 15 states had brought criminal charges against employers for wage theft or other workplace issues. The report noted a small but growing number of district attorneys are creating labor units specifically to prosecute employer crimes against workers.

  NW Labor Press August 26, 2022
• Economists Fear Fed Minutes Show Central Bank Bent on ‘Unleashing Mass Unemployment’

  “We have a supply-side problem, but rather than trying to restore or raise supply-side capacity the Fed is aiming to push demand down to the level where supply is currently constrained by pandemic, war, and climate crises,” noted Adam Hersh, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

  Common Dreams August 26, 2022
• Opinion: Ford’s job cuts are just the beginning of another EV earthquake

  The Economic Policy Institute, a U.S.-based liberal think tank, estimated a loss of 75,000 U.S. automotive jobs by 2030 if, as President Joe Biden envisions, half of all car sales are battery electric vehicles by that year — unless the U.S. subsidizes reshoring of jobs and supports industries critical to electric vehicle production.

  MarketWatch August 26, 2022
• Ford is slashing thousands of jobs as it goes electric. Experts say a tidal wave of layoffs will rock the industry as it undergoes a seismic shift.

  In a September study, the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said that the US could shed 75,000 auto jobs by 2030 if electric cars rise to 50% of domestic sales. (Today, they account for around 5%.) European automotive suppliers estimate that rapid electrification could cost them 275,000 jobs by 2040, even accounting for new positions that arise making EV parts.

  Business Insider August 26, 2022
• Teacher Pay Penalty Reaches Record High. What’s at Stake?

  The disparity between what teachers are paid and what their peers in other, comparable professions earn has reached an all-time high, according to findings published this month by the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

  For decades—indeed, almost every year since the EPI first began documenting the teacher pay penalty in 1996—the pay of teachers has slipped further behind that of their non-teacher counterparts, adjusted for education, experience and demographics.

  In 2020 and 2021, the two years whose data has been newly considered in this most recent EPI report, that gap reached new heights, with teachers earning 23.5 percent less than their professional peers. (The two data sources for this analysis come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

  What that means is that teachers in the United States earn, on average, about 76.5 cents on the dollar compared to similar professionals who have bachelor’s degrees

  EdSurge August 26, 2022
• H-2B visa holders at risk for wage exploitation, EPI says
  • Industries that employ the majority of H-2B visa holders have accounted for nearly $1.8 billion in wage and hour violations during the past two decades, creating an environment that is likely exploitative of migrant employees and U.S. citizens who work beside them, according to an Aug. 18 Economic Policy Institute report. 
  • EPI pointed to more than 180,000 violations between the fiscal years of 2000 and 2021 across a list of seven industries, including amusement; construction; food services; forestry; hotels and motels; janitorial services; and landscaping services. In all, more than 1.6 million employees were owed back wages.
  • EPI said its data represented violations and back wages owed to any employees in the select industries, including U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, H-2B workers and workers of any other immigration status.
  HR Dive August 26, 2022
• Ford slashing 3,000 jobs as it looks to make EV transition

  The open question, Smith said, is whether the major policy shifts embedded in the climate package President Biden signed last week will offset those losses with new jobs. The legislation provides incentives for automakers to move their production lines away from China and other countries and back to the United States. Before the legislation passed, the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank, projected that 75,000 autoworker jobs could be lost by 2030 in the transition to electric cars and trucks without strong federal policies that protect and promote American employment.

   
  The Washington Post August 26, 2022
• Why teachers seem more willing to go on strike

  Teachers pay a ‘wage penalty’

  The Economic Policy Institute used government data to argue that average weekly wages for teachers, when adjusted for inflation, increased about $29 in the 25 years between 1996 and 2021.

  The weekly wages of all other college graduates rose by $445 over the same time period using the same inflation-adjusted figures. See the full argument.

  While teachers do get non-salary compensation, like time off in the summer and health and retirement benefits, they are still paying a “wage penalty” compared with other college-educated workers, according to EPI.
  CNN August 26, 2022
• The Gap Between Teacher Pay and Other Professions Hits a New High. How Bad Is It?

  Teachers are paid less than their college-educated peers in other professions—a trend that’s only getting worse over time.

  That’s according to a new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank supported partially by teachers’ unions. The institute has been tracking the “teacher pay penalty” for 18 years, and in 2021, it reached a new high: Teachers earn 23.5 percent less than comparable college graduates.

  Education Week August 26, 2022
• Ohio teachers make 14.4% less than other college grads

  Although Columbus’ striking teachers say compensation isn’t their top issue at the bargaining table, new data illustrates the widening pay gap between Buckeye State educators and their college-educated peers.

  Why it matters: Low pay is one reason why school districts nationwide are struggling to find teachers.

  Details: Ohio teachers make 14.4% less than other college graduates here, per the Economic Policy Institute.

  The big picture: The disparity is even wider on the national level, which saw a record-high 23.5% gap in 2021.

  • The gap was just 6% in 1996. But while other college-educated career salaries have risen over the past four decades, teachers’ salaries have remained flat.
  Axios August 26, 2022
• CNBC Marathon

  CNBC Marathon explores if why the education system in the U.S. is struggling by taking a hard look at the Common Core, teacher’s salaries and sex education. First implemented in 2009, Common Core was an ambitious initiative to revolutionize the American education system. National leaders from Bill Gates to President Obama supported the idea and it cost an estimated $15.8 billion to implement. Years later, research showed the new curriculum had minimal impact on student performance. So why did Common Core fail? Can a common curriculum be successful for all students? At the same time, teachers earn nearly 20% less than other professionals with similar education and experience, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In many states, their wages are below the living wage, forcing teachers to seek secondary jobs to supplement their income or leave the profession all together. So why are teachers paid so little and how can the U.S. fix that? 

  CNBC August 26, 2022
• Teacher ‘pay penalty’ hits new high

  Amid what is being called crisis-level teacher shortages in public school districts across the country, a new report offers a partial explanation: Average weekly wages of teachers increased just $29 — repeat, $29 — from 1996 to 2021, compared with a $445 increase in weekly wages of other college graduates. (The figures were adjusted only for inflation.)

   

  It’s what’s called the “teacher wage penalty,” which the nonprofit and nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has been tracking for years. According to the EPI report, the penalty grew to a record high in 2021: to 23.5 percent, meaning that teachers earn that much less than other college graduates.

  In 1996, the teacher wage penalty was 6.1 percent. Average weekly wages for teachers went from $1,319 in 1996 to $1,348 in 2021; for other college graduates, average weekly pay rose from $1,564 to $2,009 over the same period (both in 2021 dollars).

  “Over the last 18 years, EPI has closely tracked trends in teacher pay,” the report says. “Over these nearly two decades, a picture of increasingly alarming trends has emerged. Simply put, teachers are paid less (in weekly wages and total compensation) than their nonteacher college-educated counterparts, and the situation has worsened considerably over time.”

  The Washington Post August 26, 2022
• Are Colorado teachers the nation’s most underpaid?

  That finding comes from the Economic Policy Institute, a union-backed progressive think tank, that for years has studied the teacher wage penalty, meaning the earnings that teachers forego by not going into another profession that requires similar training and education.

  When adjusted for inflation, average teacher weekly earnings have increased just $29 since 1996, according to the Economic Policy Institute, while weekly wages for other college-educated workers have gone up $445 in the same time period.

  Chalkbeat Colorado August 26, 2022
• Illinois teachers paid much less than college educated peers

  Why it matters: The district, like much of the country, is struggling to find teachers.

  • One reason might be salaries.

  Driving the news: A new study by the Economic Policy Institute looks at how much teachers make compared with other careers that require a college degree.

  • Illinois teachers are paid 23.4% less than their college-educated peers on average, worse than Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
  • Illinois also fares worse than other states with big districts like California (17.6%) and New York (13.2%).
  Axios August 26, 2022
• Fed Diversity Is Improving. It Still Has a Long Way to Go

  “Seeing Lisa Cook be the first Black woman on the Board of Governors is amazing — that’s been great to see and inspiring,” said Kyle Moore, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. “There are efforts at the Fed to diversity, this is evidence of that.”

  Bloomberg August 26, 2022
• ‘Starting to turn’: Cooling labor market shifts power back to bosses

  “I would love to believe something structural happened and [has] given those workers more power,” economist Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute, said. But “I don’t think we changed anything all that structural to give them a lot of leverage” for good.

  Politico August 26, 2022
• Virginia teachers have one of the biggest pay gaps in the country

  Virginia is the third worst in the nation when it comes to the teacher pay gap, which measures teacher pay compared to other college-educated professionals.

  By the numbers: Virginia teachers make 32.7% less than college-educated workers in other fields, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute.

  • The national average teacher pay gap is 23.5%.
  • Only Colorado and Oklahoma have a pay gap larger than Virginia’s.

  Context: EPI’s report looks at weekly wages as opposed to annual salary to factor in the “‘summers off’ issue for teachers.”

  Why it matters: Virginia, like most of the rest of the country, is facing a teacher shortage, and most districts in the Richmond-area will start the year with vacancies and larger class sizes.

  Axios August 26, 2022
• August 26, 2022
  August 26, 2022
• Your boss is scared he’s overpaid and doesn’t want anyone to know

  There’s evidence of that gap in the numbers: CEO pay has skyrocketed by 1,322% since 1978, the Economic Policy Institute reported last year; …(paywall).

  Fortune August 19, 2022
• Teachers Make 23.5 Percent Less Than Other College Graduates, a New High

  A report published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) on Tuesday finds that, while there has long been a pay gap between teachers and comparable college graduates, that gap has recently reached its highest level since EPI began recording such data.

  Truthout August 19, 2022
• Pennsylvania teachers get shortchanged

  That’s according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, which advocates for fair pay for low- and middle-income workers.

  Axios August 19, 2022
• Dan Price, CEO who cut his pay so workers made at least $70,000, resigns

  In 2015, the year Price cut his pay, the nation’s CEOs were collecting 276 times the annual pay of the typical worker, according to the Economic Policy Institute. A 2021 analysis found that gap has widened, to 351 times as much as the average worker. Compensation for top executives has soared nearly 1,300 percent in he past four decades, after adjusting for inflation. The study found that average pay for top businesses leaders at the country’s 350 largest companies was $24.2 million in 2020, when the realized value of stock options are factored in.

  The Washington Post August 19, 2022
• Are teachers leaving the classroom en masse?

  Still, the “teacher pay penalty,” the reality that teachers are paid less than their non-teacher college-educated counterparts, has gotten worse over time. A new study from the Economic Policy Institute, an independent nonprofit think tank, found that the weekly wages of teachers have remained relatively flat for nearly three decades.

  VOX August 19, 2022
• Colorado teachers have the largest pay disparity in the country

  A report by the Economic Policy Institute published a report highlighting pay disparity between teachers and college-educated nonteachers. Colorado was the worst.

  9 News (Colorado TV) August 19, 2022
• Fed Meeting Minutes Show the Bank May Unleash Mass Unemployment, Economists Say

  “We have a supply-side problem, but rather than trying to restore or raise supply-side capacity the Fed is aiming to push demand down to the level where supply is currently constrained by pandemic, war, and climate crises,” noted Adam Hersh, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

  Truthout August 19, 2022
• Arizona teachers make 32% less than other college grads in the state

  Arizona teachers made about 32% less than comparable college-educated workers in the state last year, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

  Axios August 19, 2022
• Taking from Afghanistan’s poor

  Driving the news: A group of 70 international economists, including Joe Stiglitz of Columbia and Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute, is urging the U.S. government to give the Afghan central bank its money back — but there’s no indication that anyone at Treasury is sympathetic.

  • What they’re saying: “Without access to its foreign reserves, the central bank of Afghanistan cannot carry out its normal, essential functions. Without a functioning central bank, the economy of Afghanistan has, predictably, collapsed. The people of Afghanistan have been made to suffer doubly for a government they did not choose.”
  Axios August 19, 2022