EPI in the news

• Free Trade Is Killing American Manufacturing

  Also, the assertion that trade deficits are not debt and are good for the economy is flawed. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), trade deficits have eliminated nearly 5 million good-paying manufacturing jobs over the past two decades and 90,000 factories.

  Industry Week | November 24, 2020
• Biden adds 27 union leaders to transition team

  Lynn Rhineheart, senior fellow at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and the former general counsel for the AFL-CIO.

  St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune | November 24, 2020
• Another Biden Cabinet Job to Worry About—U.S. Trade Rep

  Still better would be two progressives being promoted by the labor movement: Mike Wessel, a leading activist trade lawyer, and Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute. These now seem long shots.

  The American Prospect | November 24, 2020
• One State Will Use Education College Students to Plug Ongoing Teacher Shortage

  The announcement comes as schools across the country grapple with a shortage of educators, a longstanding problem that in many places has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly a third of teachers have said that the pandemic has made them more likely to retire early or leave the professional altogether, a figure that “increases to about one in two or more among those with more than 30 years of experience or those ages 50 or older,” according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.

  Route Fifty | November 24, 2020
• Unemployment Benefits Set to Expire for 18,000 Nebraskans

  Heidi Shierholz, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute, said Congress’ failure to act will hit communities of color the hardest – a group that’s also borne the brunt of coronavirus sickness and death.

  “Black and Brown workers have seen much more job loss,” Shierholz said. “And so, cutting off stimulus actually hurts Black and Brown communities much more than other communities, and will exacerbate existing racial inequalities.”

  Public News Service | November 24, 2020
• How the minimum wage has changed in your state

  Combining data from the Economic Policy Institute’s Minimum Wage Tracker (released Nov. 5, 2020) and the NCSL’s website with research from news and trusted sources, we discovered each state’s minimum wage, what has changed in 2020, and what the future looks like for America’s hourly workers. Inflation-adjusted wages were calculated using the CPI calculator.

  WFMJ | November 24, 2020
• Independent contractor rule would cost workers at least $3.7 billion annually

  The rule would cost workers more than $3.7 billion annually — at least $400 million in new annual paperwork costs, and at least $3.3 billion every year in the form of reduced pay and benefits, says Heidi Shierholz, director of policy for the non-partisan Economic Policy Institute. Additionally, social insurance funds (Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment Insurance and Workers’ Compensation) would lose at least $750 million annually in the form of reduced employer contributions.

  St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune | November 24, 2020

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