EPI Explainers
Minimum wage
Reconciliation 2025
Globalization

Interest in recessions has been elevated lately. Americans often tell pollsters that they think the economy is in recession to express frustration with the state of economic rewards in this country. By economists’ definition, recessions rarely occur. When they do, recessions hurt workers and their families most.

EPI’s Recession FAQ will help you understand what is a recession, what causes a recession, who recessions hurt most and why, among other questions. Get recession informed

The budget reconciliation bill currently being forced through Congress by the Trump regime includes a “no tax on tips” provision that gives the illusion of helping lower-income workers while handing huge giveaways to the rich at the expense of the working class.

We compare the estimated impact of no tax on tips with the Raise the Wage Act of 2025 which would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $17 an hour. Can you guess which one benefits workers far more? Read more

Six Nobel laureate economists sign on to EPI’s open letter condemning the Republican regime’s destructive debt reconciliation bill. 

The United States has…pressing economic challenges to address…The House bill addresses none of the nation’s key economic challenges usefully and exacerbates many of them. The Senate should refuse to pass this bill and start over from scratch.

Read more and join them

Globalization has created a challenging landscape for U.S. workers. Led by corporate interests, U.S. trade agreements from NAFTA onward have made matters worse rather than improving them. 

The Trump regime recklessly promotes historically high, broad-based tariffs as a magic bullet. The reality is that it will take a range of domestic and international policy levers to make the global economy deliver broadly shared benefits to workers in the U.S. and abroadnot a short-sighted reliance on tariffs. Read more

EPI in the news

  • AML Rightsource Podcast | June 16, 2025
  • Counterpunch | June 16, 2025
  • Benzinga (via Yahoo! Finance) | June 16, 2025
  • Business Insider | June 16, 2025
  • The Economics of Everyday Things podcast | June 16, 2025
  • The 74 | June 16, 2025
  • Inc. | June 16, 2025

More EPI in the news