News release archive: Topic: Government and the economy

Browse EPI news by topic

Government & The Economy
Return to topic index

EPI's analyses of GOVERNMENT DATA & ACTIONS cover: trends & indicators, federal budget & taxes, the Federal Reserve and other government agencies, and state & local government.

Trends & Indicators

2007

JANUARY 24 | Recent low employment rates reflect weak economy

2006

AUGUST 4 | Unemployment Rate Rises as Job Growth Slows (Jobs Picture)

AUGUST 2 | What's Pushing Inflation? (Snapshot)

JUNE 30 | U.S. Deeper in Debt to Foreign Countries (International Picture)

JULY 7 | Job Growth Slows Again, Indicating Trend (Jobs Picture)

JUNE 16 | Trade deficit improves, but overvalued dollar needs careful management (Current Account Picture)

JUNE 12 | 5 Economic Trouble Spots (Policy Memo)

JUNE 9 | Soaring Oil Prices Spur Trade Deficit (Brief Analysis)

JUNE 2 | Job Growth Disappoints — Again (Jobs Picture)

MAY 25 | Profits Squeeze Compensation (Brief Analysis)

MAY 11 | Swim Together or Sink Alone? (Book)

MAY 10 | Economic Growth Stats from White House are Misleading (Snapshot)

MAY 5 | Wage Growth is Bright Spot in Jobs Report (Jobs Picture)

APRIL 28 | Strong GDP Masks Failing Wage Gains (GDP Picture)

APRIL 20 | Median Income Still Lagging (Brief Anaylsis)

MARCH 30 | Gross Domestic Income: Bigger Pie, Smaller Slice (Snapshot)

MARCH 16 | Wage Growth Almost Beats Inflation, but Just Misses (Short Analysis)

MARCH 14 | Trade Deficit Hits Record High — Again (Current Account Picture)

MARCH 10 | Good News for Jobs and Wages (Jobs Picture)

FEBRUARY 23 | EPI Analyzes Survey of Consumer Finances (Short Analysis)

FEBRUARY 10 | Record High Trade Deficit Driven by Oil Prices (Trade Picture)

JANUARY 31 | Wages and Compensation Down in Real Terms for 2005 (Wages Picture)

JANUARY 31 | Inflationary Pressure Overstated (Issue Brief)

JANUARY 27 | GDP - Full Analysis of Last Quarter's Disappointing Growth (GDP Picture)

JANUARY 27 | State of the Economy (Issue Brief and Snapshot)

JANUARY 27 | GDP - Bad News All Around

JANUARY 26 | Income Inequality on the Rise (Report)

JANUARY 6 | 2005 Job Growth Mediocre (Jobs Picture)

2005

DECEMBER 16 | “Hurricane Effect” Felt in Trade Deficit (Current Account Picture)

DECEMBER 13 | Will the Fed Continue Hammering Inflation? (Snapshot)

DECEMBER 2 | Job Growth Can't Match Past Recoveries (Jobs Picture)

NOVEMBER 4 | Katrina Evacuees Hit Hard by Unemployment (Jobs Picture)

OCTOBER 31 | The Katrina Effect Reverses Rosy Income Picture

OCTOBER 26 | Tax Cuts Undercut the Economy (Snapshot)

OCTOBER 25 | Tax Cuts Do Much Harm, Little Good (Briefing Paper)

OCTOBER 7 | Assessing Katrina's Impact on Jobs (Jobs Picture)

SEPTEMBER 23 | Trade deficit improves, but for the wrong reason (Current Account Picture)

SEPTEMBER 2 | What Ails Wages? (Briefing Paper)

SEPTEMBER 2 | EPI NewsFlash: Moderate job growth, but unemployment rate down (Jobs Picture)

AUGUST 31 | EPI NewsFlash: Expanded Analysis of Census Poverty and Income Report for 2004
The Economic Policy Institute’s Income Picture, released today, is an expanded analysis of yesterday’s Census Poverty and Income Report.

AUGUST 5 | EPI NewsFlash: Overall job market expands
Analysis by the Economic Policy Institute of today’s BLS jobs report shows solid employment gains reaching most industries, as employers appear to be shedding their cautious ways and hiring to meet expanded demand. Today’s Jobs Picture, by EPI economist Jared Bernstein, examines these favorable trends, with the exception of manufacturing, where job losses continue to accumulate. In today’s JobWatch, EPI economist Sylvia Allegretto illustrates the lingering effects on employment in IT-producing industries after the bubble burst in mid-2000. Some IT-related occupations, such as those in computer-related fields, have shown recent signs of improvement, but IT employment is growing slower than overall payrolls.

JULY 29 | EPI NewsFlash: GDP fueled by falling trade deficit, weak wage growth continues
A shrinking trade deficit added the largest positive contribution of trade flows to GDP since 1996. In today's GDP Picture, Economic Policy Institute economist Josh Bivens analyzes this morning’s release of BEA's GDP report, which tempers the good news about the shrinking trade deficit with the disheartening news of continued weakness in labor income, particularly private-sector wage and salary growth.

JULY 20 | EPI NewsFlash: Job Growth Poor Compared to Previous Cycles
Although there were more payroll jobs in June of this year than in June of last year, the overall growth rate for jobs in this recovery lags behind the previous five post-World War II recoveries of this length. Economic Policy Institute researchers Lee Price and Sujan Vasavada illustrate this comparison in today's Snapshot.

JULY 8 | EPI NewsFlash: Jobs grow, but full-time work lags
Analysis by the Economic Policy Institute of today’s BLS jobs report looks at two areas in the labor market: analysis of this month’s jobs report in Jobs Picture, and the growth of full-time vs. part-time employment at JobWatch.org.

JUNE 30 | EPI NewsFlash: Major Business Rankings Inaccurate
Business climate indices, which rank states and cities according to how business-friendly they are, claim to offer valuable guidance to businesses seeking a place to locate and policymakers seeking to attract them. But just how reliable are they? "Grading Places," a new book published by the Economic Policy Institute finds that five major business ranking indices do not truly measure economic growth, and instead push an anti-tax political agenda. Read news release and link to book here.

JUNE 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Where the Jobs Are
It took an unprecedented 50 months, but jobs in the private sector have finally regained their pre-recession levels. But not all industrial sectors are making a comeback. In today's JobWatch, Economic Policy Institute economist Sylvia Allegretto charts which sectors are hot and which are not. Get the full analysis on private sector job growth on the JobWatch.org Web site.

JUNE 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Job Growth Well Below Expectations
After April's strong showing, May's disappointing job growth suggests that a convincingly strong labor market recovery has yet to take hold. In today's Jobs Picture, Economic Policy Institute senior economist Jared Bernstein tracks the stop-and-go nature of monthly job growth to give insightful analysis of the trends and patterns in this atypical labor market.

MAY 6 | EPI NewsFlash: Job growth beats expectations
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a surprisingly upbeat report with 274,000 new payroll jobs added in April. For a full analysis of jobs, unemployment, and wages from today’s BLS report, see EPI economist Jared Bernstein’s Job Picture.

MAY 6 | EPI NewsFlash: Young college grads face weak labor market
Even with today’s report of the creation of 274,000 new payroll jobs in April, young college graduates are preparing to jump into a much weaker job market than in 2000. Economic Policy Institute economist Elise Gould analyzes today’s job market from the viewpoint of a young college graduate on the JobWatch.org website.

APRIL 29 | EPI News Alert: Employment Cost Index shows wages stuck in cellar
Today’s release of the Employment Cost Index shows that wage growth remains stuck at its slowest rate on record as a persistently slack job market, and faster inflation continues to squeeze workers’ paychecks. Click here for analysis.

APRIL 28 | EPI NewsFlash: Slow Growth in GDP and Wages
The sharp decline in the growth rate of the gross domestic product is mirrored in listless wage and salary growth. See the analysis in today’s GDP Picture.

APRIL 20 | EPI NewsFlash: Consumer Prices Outpace Wages Again
Today’s release of the consumer price index (CPI) data for March confirms that real wages continue to deteriorate for many U.S. workers, according to analysis by senior economist Jared Bernstein at the Economic Policy Institute. The inflation-adjusted hourly wage of the 80 percent of the workforce in blue-collar and non-managerial jobs fell 0.5 percent over the past year, (from March 2004 and March 2005). This marks the 11th consecutive month wherein annual wage growth failed to outpace inflation. Click here for the EPI Snapshot.

APRIL 1 | EPI NewsFlash: Jobs Up, But Only Half as Much as Expected
Economic Policy Institute senior economist Jared Bernstein measures the strength of the economic recovery as indicated by job growth, unemployment, and wages. In today's Jobs Picture, Bernstein points out that while the recession started exactly four years ago last month, private-sector payrolls remain 389,000 below their pre-recession level, an historically unprecedented example of weak employment growth.

MARCH 16 | EPI NewsFlash: U.S. deficit increasingly financed by foreign governments
The U.S. trade deficit, which reached an all-time high of $666 billion in 2004, is increasingly being propped up by investments from foreign governments, according to a new Economic Snapshot by the Economic Policy Institute.

FEBRUARY 4 | EPI NewsFlash: Longest stretch to regain lost jobs
In the State of the Union Address this week, the president boasted that 2.3 million new jobs were created in 2004. But todays employment data show that growth remains well behind the usual pace. In todays Jobs Picture, Economic Policy Institute senior economist Jared Bernstein compares job growth rates in previous recoveries and finds that, on average, it has taken 21 months to surpass the prior employment peak after a recession. In this case it took 46 months, making this the longest slump of this type on record.

JANUARY 28 | EPI NewsFlash- GDP to Trade Deficit: What a drag!
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004. In todays illustrated GDP Picture, Economic Policy Institute economist Josh Bivens looks at the traits that distinguished the economy for the entire year.

JANUARY 25 | EPI NewsFlash: Bush Tax Cuts Fail States
With todays release of data on state-level jobs created last month, it is now possible to assess the full impact of the Bush Administrations Jobs and Growth tax cut on states. The plan failed in 48 states and the District of Columbia. The administration fell 3.1 million jobs short of the 5.5 million jobs they projected would be generated nationally over the last 18 months due to the tax cut. JobWatch has monitored that projection against the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly national and state-level job reports to clearly measure the effectiveness of the tax cut.

2004

JANUARY 19 | EPI NewsFlash: Jobless Recovery Becomes Wageless Recovery
In 2004, unemployment fell. But here's the bad news: Wage growth fell, too - at a record rate. The labor market remained slack as inflation accelerated while wages grew more slowly. This week's Snapshot shows how any real income growth many working families achieved last year was a function of more work at lower hourly wages, not real wage growth.

JANUARY 7 | EPI NewsFlash: Jobs Growth-Year in Review
December saw 157,000 new payroll jobs, closing out the year with job growth in every month for the first time since 1999. Economic Policy Institutes Jared Bernstein puts the years job growth in historical perspective in todays Jobs Picture.

JANUARY 7 | EPI NewsFlash: 3.1 Million Jobs Short of Prediction
With todays release of the 157,000 payroll jobs created last month, it is now possible to assess that the Bush administrations jobs and growth tax cut fell 3.1 million jobs short of the 5.1 million jobs the administration projected would be generated over the last 18 months. Visit JobWatch for EPIs full and final analysis.

JANUARY 6 | EPI Advisory: Grading the Tax Cut
Tomorrow morning the Economic Policy Institutes JobWatch will tally the final score on how the jobs and growth tax cut measured up to the administrations own projections.

DECEMBER 14 | EPI NewsAlert: Trouble Ahead as Foreign Borrowing Surges
Foreign debt may reach 64% of GDP in the next ten years. EPI's new Issue Brief gives crucial context to the upcoming announcement of third-quarter current account figures. To read the news release, click here. To read the report, click here.

OCTOBER 29 | EPI NewsFlash: Debt drives growth, wages fall short
Two new government reports out today show the current expansion is driven by rising debt, not wage growth. These reports are examined in two Economic Policy Institute analyses that will be available online today: GDP Picture. Economic Snapshot.

SEPTEMBER 29 | EPI NewsFlash: Cracking the Interest Rate Puzzle
Why have interest rates stayed so low so long?
Todays Snapshot, by Lee Price, the Economic Policy Institutes research director, examines one big factor: an unusual withdrawal by corporations from the capital markets over the past four years. In contrast to 2000, when corporate expenditures outpaced cash flow by some $309 billion (nearly 50 percent higher), corporations now find themselves with evenly matched cash flow and expenditures that are rising in tandem and, consequently, presenting no need to re-enter the capital markets to finance expenditures.

AUGUST 26 | EPIdeas
This Labor Day weekend, the Economic Policy Institute will release its authoritative book on today's economy and its impact on working Americans and their families. The State of Working America offers an in-depth look at who's winning, who's losing, and where the trends are pointing in an economic cycle that has been unusually hard on working people and their wages. See EPIdeas for Labor Day topics.

JULY 30 | EPI NewsFlash: GDP Slows, Past Growth Revised Down
Todays GDP growth rate of 3 percent does not produce enough fuel to create new jobs. In addition, Economic Policy Institute analysis shows that downward revisions to previous GDP growth data confirm that the economic recovery is slightly weaker than originally reported.

JULY 16 | EPI NewsFlash: Inflation Adjusted Earnings Down Again
With the release of inflation data today, an Economic Policy Institute report finds that real hourly and weekly earnings have fallen for six out of the last seven months.

JUNE 30 | EPI NewsFlash: US International Debt Threatens Recovery
The bulging domestic budget deficit isnt the only debt worry for the US. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the nation is racking up a large and growing trade deficit it is financing by selling off US assets like government securities, companies, and property. Todays Economic Snapshot by EPI economist Robert Scott charts the downward slide in the US international investment position and offers ways to fix the problem.

APRIL 29 | EPI NewsFlash: GDP Uptick Could Give Way To Risks
The latest gross domestic product numbers indicate a brisk growth of 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2004, but there are warning signs that the economy may slow later this year. Lee Price, Economic Policy Institute's research director, examines these trends in the GDP picture .

APRIL 21 | EPI NewsFlash: Sex and the Unemployment Rate
Recently the labor force participation rate of college educated men and women fell by the same amount.This challenges the notion that many women are voluntarily withdrawing from the labor force to stay home to care for young children. Research director Lee Price's Snapshot looks at unemployment rates by gender and offers insights into the missing labor force.

APRIL 20 | EPI NewsFlash: Comparing Japan and U.S. Growth
Read the latest economic Snapshot from EPI senior economist Robert Scott if you count yourself among those who assumed the U.S. economy soared in comparison to the Japanese economy in the 1990s. Japanese workers achieved a productivity growth rate of 2.5 percent during the 1990s while working 191 fewer hours per year.

APRIL 12 | EPI NewsFlash: Profits To Corporations - Not Workers - Can Hurt Growth
EPI research director Lee Price 's Snapshot shows how the rise in corporate profits - which have expanded by 57.5% since the first quarter of 2001 - has gone hand in hand with a decline in private wage and salary income that has contracted by 1.7%.

JANUARY 30 | GDP cools as mortgage fuel dwindles

JANUARY 16 | Correcting the record on the economy

2003

DECEMBER 3 | EPI SNAPSHOT:GDP Growth Unbalanced

NOVEMBER 12 | EPI SNAPSHOT: U.S. Economy Still Slack, Despite GDP Spike

NOVEMBER 4 | EPI OP-ED: Decoding the GDP Spike (published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution)

OCTOBER 30 | GDP FACTS:Fast growth unlikely to continue

OCTOBER 8 | EPI SNAPSHOT: Why the recovery is still jobless?

SEPTEMBER 10 | Don't blame the economy on 9-11

AUGUST 27 | EPI SNAPSHOT:Weak Demand Constrains Job Growth

AUGUST 14 | EPI SNAPSHOT:GDP Growth Driven By Defense Spending

AUGUST 12 | EPI Conference Call today:Leading economists to assess US economy
Click here to read the transcript:
http://www.epinet.org/webfeatures/viewpoints/economy_transcript_20030812.pdf

JULY 31 | GDP FACTS:Trade Deficit Soars, Labor Recovery Stalled

JULY 22 | EPI NewsFlash:Reverse Outdated Dollar Policy & Gain Good Jobs

MAY 2 | Jobless recovery catches up with wages, stifles growth

APRIL 30 | EPI SNAPSHOT: Jobless Recovery Leads to Real Wage Losses

APRIL 16 | EPIdeas - The Economy: What Happened While No One Was Looking

APRIL 9 | World Bank and IMF Overlook Key Factor In Global Economic Growth: Labor Standards

MARCH 5 | EPIdeas - Survivor: The State Budget Episodes

JANUARY 29 | EPI SNAPSHOT:Economic recessions typically follow wars

JANUARY 28 | EPI NewsAlert: Bush Plan Fails Jobs Test

JANUARY 24 | Labor Secretary Urged to Reinstate Reports on Mass Layoffs

2002

DECEMBER 18 | EPI SNAPSHOT: Why the Recession's Not Over

DECEMBER 9 | Mishel Offers Plan to Kick-start Economy with New Growth, Lower Unemployment, and 1.5 Million Jobs

OCTOBER 31 | EPI GDP PICTURE: GDP growth saved by the consumer, again

OCTOBER 30 | EPIdeas: New Indicators Will Measure Our Economic Health Just Before Nov. 5 Elections

OCTOBER 15 | Rx for Our Ailing Economy? Gephardt to Address EPI Forum at Press Club

OCTOBER 2 | Bush economic stimulus proposals - Too little, too late

Federal Budget & Taxes

2006

MAY 31 | Tax Cuts Mostly Benefit the Rich (Snapshot)

MAY 17 | How the Rich Will Get Richer (Snaphsot)

APRIL 6 | Tax Enforcement Crisis Grows (Book)

MARCH 8 | Government Interest on Foreign Debt to Double by 2011 (Snapshot)

FEBRUARY 16 | Bush's Tax and Budget Policies Fail to Promote Economic Growth (Policy Memo)

FEBRUARY 7 | Making the Budget Real - Compared to What? (Snapshot)

JANUARY 27 | State of the Economy (Issue Brief and Snapshot)

2005

DECEMBER 21 | Economy Still Underperforming (Briefing Paper)

DECEMBER 7 | More Tax Cuts Proposed Despite Deficits (Snapshot)

NOVEMBER 21 | Of Mortgage Interest Deductions and Equity (Snapshot)

OCTOBER 31 | Tax Shift Would Mean More for the Haves, Less for the Rest (Briefing Paper)

OCTOBER 28 | Two Analyses, One Message to the Fed (GDP and Wages Pictures)

OCTOBER 26 | Tax Cuts Undercut the Economy (Snapshot)

OCTOBER 25 | Tax Cuts Do Much Harm, Little Good (Briefing Paper)

OCTOBER 19 | Budget Cuts Threaten Health Insurance for Children (Snapshot)

SEPTEMBER 21 | EPI NewsFlash: Budget, Deficit Picture Worse Than Bush Projections (Snapshot)

SEPTEMBER 12 | Alternative to Eliminating the Estate Tax (Snapshot)

SEPTEMBER 8 | Parsing Estate Tax Fact from Fiction (Snapshot)

AUGUST 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Defense Jobs Take Up Labor Market Slack
The economy has roughly a million more jobs now than four years ago, despite the job losses in teh private sector over the same period. Government spending has saved the day by creating more than 2 million jobs over that time period. In today's Snapshot, EPI research director Lee Price estimates that the private sector has 1.2 million fewer non-defense-related jobs than four years ago. He explains that the 2.1 million jobs created by government spending in the last four years has proved invaluable in the labor market progress that has occurred. Perhaps more tellingly, the report demonstrates the profound weakness of private sector job creation for most of the last four years and the capacity of government spending to offset some of that weakness.

JUNE 1 | EPI NewsFlash: Bush-endorsed privatization deepens SS cuts
In his push to privatize Social Security, President Bush has endorsed a plan proposed by Robert Pozen — a member of Bush’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security — that would blend the current wage indexing of benefits with price indexing. A crucial point lost so far in the discussion is that the Pozen proposal would lead to substantial and ever-increasing benefit cuts for more than 70 percent of Social Security beneficiaries, including future retirees, widows, and surviving children. Click here to download the report and the accompanying tables of data on benefit cuts.

MAY 11 | EPI NewsFlash: High Productivity Will Bolster Social Security
President Bush has wrongly declared that Social Security benefits are becoming a burden on working people. A new EPI Issue Brief finds that, although the share of the population in retirement will rise in coming decades, we can maintain a strong Social Security program because productivity will rise even faster and create a higher standard of living.

APRIL 13, 2005 | EPI NewsFlash: Mapping missing tax dollars
While the federal tax season is winding down, new Internal Revenue Service data show that the federal tax evasion season just keeps gathering momentum. In todays Economic Policy Institute snapshot, economist Max Sawicky breaks down the annual $353 billion tax gap into its component parts.

APRIL 12 | EPI NewsFlash: Tax enforcement in crisis
If taxpayers run true to form this week, the combined total they pay in taxes will be significantly less than what they actually owe. Most taxpayers are honest, but they are carrying a significant burden for those who do not pay all they owe. Two new reports released by the Economic Policy Institute at a news forum at the National Press Club today offer details on this story.

APRIL 6 | EPI Advisory: Tax Enforcement in Crisis - News Forum April 12
If taxpayers run true to form next week, the combined total they pay in taxes will be significantly less than what they actually owe. The majority of honest taxpayers are carrying a significant burden for those who are not paying their full share. The Economic Policy Institute will convene a panel of experts, including former IRS Commissioners, to examine this problem and possible solutions at a tax week news forum. Two new reports will be released at the forum, which is open to the media and others interested in issues of taxation and budget. Click here for a list of speakers.

MARCH 23 | EPI NewsFlash: Putting Social Security Trustees report in context
The annual report released today by the Social Security Trustees predicts that starting in 2017 the program will need to supplement trust fund cash receipts with general revenues in order to pay promised benefits, a 'problem' seized on by administration officials to buttress their case for major changes to the program. However, economist Max Sawicky shows, in today's Economic Snapshot, that the Social Security 'problem' pales beside the overall budget deficits created largely by the administration's tax cuts.

MARCH 16 | EPI NewsFlash: Bush budget threatens those over 55
To build support for its Social Security plan, the administration has argued that the program is moving toward a crisis in 2018 (when benefit payments are expected to exceed revenues), but that everyone over age 55 can rest assured that they have nothing to worry about. Today's Economic Snapshot, by Research Director Lee Price, shows that over the years the Social Security Trust Fund has, in fact, switched back and forth between surplus and deficit and often much deeper deficits than the one forecast for 2018.

MARCH 9 | EPI NewsFlash: Social Security Cap, Boon for Top Earners
Most earners around the country make less than the $90,000 earnings cap on Social Security taxes. Meaning that roughly 94 percent of Americans over the last 22 years have paid the tax on 100 percent of their earnings to receive the maximum benefits. Economic Policy Institute senior fellow, William Spriggs, illustrates in today's Economic Snapshot that the remaining six percent who earn over $90,000 are taxed at an ever lower rate the higher their earnings go.

FEBRUARY 17 | EPI NewsFlash: Removing the Social Security Cap
In this Snapshot, EPI economist Josh Bivens examines the impact that eliminating the current $90,000 salary cap on both Social Security wages and benefits would have on the anticipated Social Security shortfall.

FEBRUARY 2 | EPI NewsFlash: Issue Guide Clarifies Impact of Social Security Privatization
Just in time to answer all the important questions that will be raised during tonights State of the Union message, the Economic Policy Institute has expanded its Social Security Issue Guide with new information in a question and answer format specifically about privatization. The presidents speech is expected to give details about the administrations plans for the program. The Basic Facts about Social Security Privatization and its Impact addresses the impact of one proposal by the Presidents Commission to Strengthen Social Security known as Plan 2.

JANUARY 26 | EPI NewsFlash: Private accounts no answer for young workers
Replacing part of Social Security payments with private accounts would leave todays young generation of workers farther behind in retirement than if nothing was done to head off an anticipated shortfall in funding, which has been predicted to occur right around the time theyre hitting retirement age. In todays Economic Policy Institute Snapshot, economist Josh Bivens examines the impact of partial privatization of Social Security on todays 25- to 35-year-old workers.

JANUARY 12 | EPI NewsFlash: Social Security Proposal Cuts Income Replacement
A key proposal by President Bush's commission on Social Security would cause Social Security benefits to erode over time and result in larger income declines for retirees, the disabled, and survivors, hurting low- and middle-income families. Read the EPI Snapshot.

2004

DECEMBER 22 | EPI NewsFlash: Private accounts put deep retirement income cuts on menu
The administrations proposal to divert funds from Social Security to private retirement savings accounts will serve up an ever shrinking portion for U.S. retirees, according to projections by both the Presidents commission on Social Security and Goldman Sachs. Read EPI analysis of both projections in this weeks EPI Snapshot.

DECEMBER 8 | EPI NewsFlash: Deficit Reduction Doubtful
The federal budget deficit level is currently 3.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), or $413 billion. In February, the Bush administration set a goal of reducing the federal budget deficit to 1.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in five years, by fiscal year 2009. Todays SNAPSHOT, examines how likely that goal is to be met, given current policies and trends.

OCTOBER 21 | EPI NewsFlash: New Report Maps Middle-Class Squeeze
From 2000 to 2003, typical middle-income families lost ground before taxes, after taxes, and especially after taxes and health care expenditures. A new analysis by the Economic Policy Institutes Lawrence Mishel, Michael Ettlinger, and Elise Gould examines income trends for four kinds of families: married couples with children; single mothers; elderly couples 65 and older; and young singles age 25-34.

OCTOBER 13 | EPI NewsFlash: Budget Reality Check
The goal of balancing the budget in 10 years implies an utterly untenable fiscal policy that would require discretionary spending outside of defense and homeland security to be cut by nearly 90% in inflation-adjusted, per capita terms. Todays Economic Snapshot by Economic Policy Institute economist Max B. Sawicky illustrates the harsh realities in balancing the budget.

OCTOBER 13 | EPI NewsFlash: The Federal Budget's Looming Crisis
A new EPI report shows how the federal budget is being destabilized by an explosive concoction of huge tax cuts, unmanageable deficits, and fiscal policy that ignores the rules of arithmetic. The Budget Arithmetic Test, written by research director Lee Price and economist Max Sawicky, examines the policies that led us down this path and discusses recommendations for a more sound budget.

SEPTEMBER 22 | EPI NewsFlash: Balanced Budget Amendment Still a Bad Idea
EPI economist Max Sawicky presents a detailed view on why a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget would be ill advised. Sawicky explains how moderate-sized deficits have historically been an important tool for stimulating economies, especially in recessions, and he points out that even the weak growth eked out in the recent recovery would have been choked off if this amendment had already been in place. Read the full text of Sawickys letter.

JULY 14 | EPI NewsFlash: Falling Corporate Tax Revenues Push Deficits Higher
Proceeds from corporate tax income are steadily eroding, and the federal budget is paying the steep price in higher deficits. Read the EPI Snapshot for a comparison of the trend in corporate income tax revenue to profits and GDP.

JUNE 23 | EPI NewsFlash: US Child Poverty Rate High, Social Spending Low
From a look at 17 rich, industrialized countries, the United States' child poverty rate 22 percent is by far the highest, and one reason appears to be the relative lack of spending our country commits to social services for disadvantaged families. In an insightful Snapshot, Economic Policy Institute economist Sylvia Allegretto finds that countries with higher social expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) have dramatically lower poverty rates among children.

APRIL 27 | EPI NewsFlash: Budget Cuts Compassion
Does the Bush administration mean to keep its tax cuts, as well as to honor its commitments to support Social Security, Medicare, defense and homeland security and to stand by its implied promise to balance the budget in ten years? If so, it will force a 63% cut by 2014 in the part of the budget that pays for things like education, environmental protection, federal law enforcement, and new technology. Read the Snapshot by EPI research director Lee Price.

MARCH 31 | EPI NewsFlash: Budget Deficits Go From Bad To Worse
The budget resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives doesn't look like it will help our budget woes - in fact, it proposes changes that will leave the country with an additional $1.3 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years. Economist Max Sawicky's Snapshot looks at how this resolution and its Senate companion would produce cuts in domestic programs.

MARCH 4 | EPI NewsFlash: 2005 Budget Shortchanges Workers
The 2005 Department of Labor budget proposed by the president and the secretary of labor will shortchange working people, according to Ross Eisenbrey, vice president and policy director of the Economic Policy Institute. In a statement to the House Ways and Means Committee, Eisenbrey notes that unemployment remains high, long-term unemployment is nearing record levels, and job losses from globalization and offshoring are on the rise. Eisenbreys Statement

FEBRUARY 18 | EPI NewsFlash: Budget Sleight of Hand
The Bush administration's budget shows spending increases in key areas like education and veterans affairs for this election year. But closer examination shows cuts or much smaller increases for the remainder of the budget years (2006 2009). This unusual zig-zag funding is laid out in a color graph and explained by EPI economist Max Sawicky in today's Snapshot .

FEBRUARY 13 | EPI NewsFlash: The Budget and the Children
EPI economist Max Sawicky took part in a briefing this week organized bythe U.S. House Democratic Force on Children and Working Families toexplore the impact of the administration's proposed budget on children. The full text of Sawicky's presentation.

2003

OCTOBER 21 | Administration Reneges on Job Promise

OCTOBER 9 | OMB Claims Of Cost Savings To Be Gained Through Privatization Are Faulty New Analysis Shows