EPI in the news

• Report: Public development subsidy deals should guarantee better jobs, working conditions

  “Cities and other localities are seeing improving people’s working conditions and setting standards as a core part of their mission,” says Gerstein, who wrote about the trend with LiJia Gong of Local Progress in a report published by the Economic Policy Institute.

  But in some states, including Wisconsin, state legislatures have forbidden such local labor standards. Private sector agreements could offer an alternative when that happens. 

  “What is so promising about this approach is that the state pre-empting the city from setting higher standards doesn’t in any way prevent private parties from agreeing to higher standards,” Gerstein says.

  Wisconsin Examiner | December 2, 2022
• A 10-year fight to raise the minimum wage has slashed the Black-White wealth gap in half in some states. The South still has a long way to go.

  Meanwhile, Latinx workers in states paying more than the minimum saw their median net worth increase by 211%. Minimum wage laws disproportionally affect workers of color.  The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, has found that 31% of Black workers and 26% of Latinx workers would be impacted by a raise to $15.

  Business Insider | December 2, 2022
• Student loan forgiveness impact on Black homebuyers

  Black households also lag in earnings, making only 61 cents for every dollar that comparable white households earn, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute of the latest Census Bureau data. With lower earnings on average, Black Americans are denied mortgages at double the national average, accordingto a 2022 LendingTree study.

     

   

  The Miami Times | December 2, 2022
• Inflation and credit-card debt are on the rise, despite a strong job market. Tell us how the economy is affecting you.

  Given all the conflicting signals, economists say it can be difficult for consumers to know exactly how to feel about the economy at the moment. “It’s not new, this disparity between the actual facts on the ground about what’s going on in the economy and the sentiment,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

  “I remember this summer it was just unambiguously the strongest jobs recovery we’ve had in decades,” she added. “There’s just absolutely zero chance that we were in a recession — not only were we not in a recession, we were in just an extraordinarily fast recovery — and the polling, a huge share of people actually thought we were in a recession. It’s just mind-boggling, the disconnect that we’ve seen.”

  MarketWatch | December 2, 2022
• ILLINOIS ALREADY HAS MOST EXTREME LABOR LAWS IN U.S.

  In addition to giving some government union contracts more power than law, Illinois also provides other extensive labor laws. Pro-labor sources agree. For example, the Economic Policy Institute, citing the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, considers Illinois a state with “comprehensive bargaining rights.”

  Illinois Policy | December 2, 2022
• Inflation and credit-card debt are on the rise, despite a strong job market. Tell us how the economy is affecting you.

  Given all the conflicting signals, economists say it can be difficult for consumers to know exactly how to feel about the economy at the moment. “It’s not new, this disparity between the actual facts on the ground about what’s going on in the economy and the sentiment,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

  MarketWatch | December 2, 2022
• Memphis needs more apartments, but neighbors are getting in the way

  After the Supreme Court ruled against explicitly racist zoning in 1917, cities sought other ways of keeping Black families out of middle-class neighborhoods or suburbs. Realizing that limiting the housing supply could keep neighborhoods too expensive for Black families, many cities passed rules against building apartments or putting homes too close together, according to Economic Policy Institute distinguished fellow Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law. 

  MLK 50 | December 2, 2022

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