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Reconciliation 2025

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Recession FAQ

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

Forget ‘no tax on tips’—increasing the minimum wage would deliver dramatically larger raises for millions more workers

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

The upside-down priorities of the House budget

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

The U.S. approach to globalization has gone from bad to worse under Trump

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 abroad—not a short-sighted reliance on tariffs. Read more

Latest Research

Recession FAQ

June 10, 2025 By Josh Bivens, Elise Gould, Adam S. Hersh, Hilary Wething, and Ben Zipperer Fact Sheet
The upside-down priorities of the House budget: Adding significantly to debt while reducing incomes for the bottom 40%

June 2, 2025 Statement
The U.S. approach to globalization has gone from bad to worse under Trump: How to construct a progressive policy agenda instead

May 29, 2025 By Josh Bivens and Adam S. Hersh Report
EPI condemns House passage of dangerous tax and spending bill

May 22, 2025 By Heidi Shierholz Statement
Trump is enabling Musk and DOGE to flout conflicts of interest: What is the potential cost to U.S. families?

May 7, 2025 By Celine McNicholas and Ben Zipperer Report

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EPI in the news

AML Conversations: Tariffs, Trade, and Fraud in 2025

Senior Economist for the Economic Policy Institute, Adam Hersh, discusses the immediate and potential impact of the Trump tariffs, the ongoing challenges of trade fraud, and how the loss of government resources will impact all areas of society.

AML Rightsource Podcast | June 16, 2025
Let’s Get Child Labor Off Our Dinner Plates

States are also backsliding. Many are lowering the ages that children can work in unsafe jobs and increasing the hours they can work. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 31 states have introduced bills to weaken child labor protections in recent years.

Counterpunch | June 16, 2025
The Salary A Single Person Needs To Live Comfortably Now Outweighs Median Annual Wages In All 50 States

While studies like those done by the Economic Policy Institute show that wage growth is exceeding inflation, many Americans don’t feel that way.

Benzinga (via Yahoo! Finance) | June 16, 2025
Gen Z is hurtling toward a career cliff

Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said Gen Zers were almost set up for success. Gould’s analysis of labor market data from …[paywall].

Business Insider | June 16, 2025
School Buses
Resources:
- “The school bus driver shortage remains severe,” by Sebastian Martinez Hickey and David Cooper (Economic Policy Institute, 2023).
The Economics of Everyday Things podcast | June 16, 2025
Pre-K Teachers Are Stressed and Say They Want to Quit

But teachers overall face long-standing wage gaps with other fields. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the difference in pay, adjusted for factors like education and work history, hit a record 26.6% in 2023.

The 74 | June 16, 2025
How DOGE Is Spreading to the State Level

At the same time, a growing number of states are either launching or exploring the possibility of launching DOGE-like operations to comb through their own spending and perhaps advocate for more cuts to the civil service. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI) says at least 26 states have launched their own version of DOGE.

Inc. | June 16, 2025

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Latest Research

Recession FAQ

The upside-down priorities of the House budget: Adding significantly to debt while reducing incomes for the bottom 40%

The U.S. approach to globalization has gone from bad to worse under Trump: How to construct a progressive policy agenda instead

EPI condemns House passage of dangerous tax and spending bill

Trump is enabling Musk and DOGE to flout conflicts of interest: What is the potential cost to U.S. families?

Blog

Forget ‘no tax on tips’—increasing the minimum wage would deliver dramatically larger raises for millions more workers without letting employers off the hook

Trump’s crusade against health and safety regulations endangers workers, hobbles the environmental justice movement, and sets the stage for our next public health crisis

Trump’s attacks on the Department of Labor will hurt wages and working conditions

May jobs report sends mixed signals: Solid payroll gains contrast with a weaker household survey and a continued decline in federal government employment

House Republican budget bill gives Trump $185 billion to carry out his mass deportation agenda—while doing nothing for workers: Immigration enforcement would have 80 times more funding than labor standards enforcement

House budget bill would kick 15 million people off health insurance and damage local economies

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) succeeded in sustaining state and local government services during the pandemic: 99% of ARPA fiscal recovery funds were obligated on schedule

EPI in the news

Understanding immigration

EARN

Federal Policy Watch

Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy

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Unequal Power

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Understanding immigration

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