EPI in the news

• Highest-Paid CEOs: Do Stock Returns Justify Ballooning Pay?

  The Economic Policy Institute releases an annual report on U.S. CEO compensation. The organization focuses on the compensation of the CEOs of the 350 largest publicly owned U.S. firms by revenue. The EPI found the average annual realized CEO compensation in 2022 was $25.2 million, down 14.8% from 2021 mostly due to the reduced value of exercised stock options. That average is up from just $1.9 million in 1978, which is not necessarily troubling in itself. However, the CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1978 was around 30.9, meaning CEOs were earning roughly 31 times the pay of their average employees at the time. By 2022, that ratio had jumped to 342.8.

  U.S. News & World Report | July 26, 2024
• J.D. Vance said parents should ‘have more power’ than people without children

  A survey published in February by NerdWallet found that 27% of people under age 60 said that they did not plan to have children because the cost of child care is too high.

  In Michigan, the average annual cost of child care per child is $10,861, according to a study from the Economic Policy Institute. 

  Michigan Independent | July 26, 2024
• Key sectors see price drops since 2022 inflation peak – EPI

  he latest economic indicators point to a moderation in consumer price inflation since its peak in June 2022.

  Analysts from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) noted on Thursday that prices for several key goods have actually declined over the past few years, bringing some relief to consumers.

  According to underlying commodity data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, major improvements have been observed in energy prices. Families preparing for winter can expect to pay 36% less for heating fuel compared to mid-2022. Similarly, gasoline prices have declined by 29%, and heating and cooking gas is 15% cheaper.

  Investing.com | July 26, 2024
• How Much Income Puts You in the Top 1%, 5%, 10%?

  Note that AGI includes both earnings from work and taxable investment income. Another study, by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), examined Social Security Administration data to break down the top tiers in terms of average annual earnings. Here is what it found

  Investopedia | July 26, 2024
• This is how AI can revive America’s middle class

  The globalization of the U.S. economy is a significant driver of this wealth gap. According to the Economic Policy Institute, globalization has eliminated more than five million U.S. manufacturing jobs and 70,000 factories. This was exacerbated by the increased demand for highly skilled workers, creating a disproportionate playing field that has since left multiple generations of America’s middle-class families struggling to find financial prosperity.   

  Fast Company | July 26, 2024
• Study: Americans must make over $1 million per year to be in the top 1% in these states

  The data from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that annual wages for the top 1% in 2021 in the U.S. reached $819,324 on average. Those considered to be in the top 0.1% earned an average of $3,312,693 annually. 

  Meanwhile, those in the bottom 90% earned an average income of $36,571 annually, EPI data showed.

  FOX 10 Phoenix | July 26, 2024
• Waffle House Workers Challenge the Southern Economy

  The tipped wage exploits workers by design. It’s part of a more nefarious Southern economic development model—characterized by business deregulation, opposition to unions, minimal worker protections, poverty wages, low tax rates, and regressive austerity measures shouldered by the working-class—that experts say is rooted in racism.

  “The goal of the [Southern economic development] model is to get labor for as cheaply as possible,” says Chandra Childers, senior policy and economic analyst at the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) at the Economic Policy Institute, and the author of a report on the model. Childers says the origins of the tipped wage date back to the period following the abolition of slavery, when businesses like the Pullman Company trains didn’t have to pay Black porters and maids, if customers tipped.

  The American Prospect | July 26, 2024

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