EPI in the news

• Bank Failures For All

  As union membership has declined, income inequality has increased. (Source: Economic Policy Institute)

  The Lever | March 19, 2025
• Report: Minnesota has the third highest average cost of infant child care in the country

  Minnesota has the third highest average cost of infant child care in this country, according to a new study out of the Economic Policy Institute. Its average cost in the state is $22,000 per year. That’s 18 percent of the median family income in Minnesota.

  MPR News | March 19, 2025
• Tariffs: what are they, who pays, and why does it matter?

  According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), targeted tariffs can help to protect certain U.S. manufacturing industries.

  Tariffs on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) imports have been in place since March 2018 under national security provisions of U.S. trade law, though exemptions were put in place.
  Trump’s latest proclamation raises the tariff on aluminum and resets those national exemptions and exclusions.

  According to the EPI, evidence suggests the 2018 tariffs have been effective in preserving and expanding the domestic steel industry.

  WBFO (Buffalo) | March 19, 2025
• Postal Service Cut of 10,000 Jobs Sparks Talk of Privatization

  Trump is unlikely to privatize USPS in one fell swoop because of economic and political considerations, but he could chip away at it and slowly cripple the agency, said Monique Morrissey, a senior economist at the pro-labor think tank Economic Policy Institute.

  “This is going to backfire against him but the question is, ‘How much damage can he do in the meantime?’” she said. “They can scare everybody into thinking that full-frontal privatization is on the table so they’ll accept partial privatization that will be more on the fringes and less politically toxic.”

  Bloomberg Law | March 19, 2025
• Over a third of Americans feel stuck in their jobs. Here’s why.

  Nearly 40% of Americans felt stuck in their current jobs, according to a recent Harris Poll. Economic Policy Institute senior economist Elise Gould summarizes US worker sentiments on the difficulty in finding a new job and the challenges seeking out higher wages.

  Yahoo Finance TV | March 19, 2025
• Senate Bill 427 would loosen child labor laws in West Virginia

  Paywall. 

  Charleston Gazette-Mail | March 19, 2025
• Trump’s voucher plan could help embattled Native American students. But at what cost?

  The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think-tank, developed a tool designed to predict how expected enrollment declines in public schools would reduce per-pupil funds in individual school districts across the country. 

  That tool doesn’t include BIE schools, but it indicates that if Todd County School District were to lose 5% of its students due to voucher programs, each of the remaining students would see a  $592 decline in funding. The district did not respond to requests for comment about the order and its potential effects. 

  Hilary Wething, an EPI economist, said such declines can undermine the public school system more broadly.

  “Public dollars allocated to education should go to boosting spending in public systems, not subsidizing private education,” Wething wrote in a recent paper. 

  The Daily Progress | March 19, 2025

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