Media clips

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• 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
• Lawmakers challenge Supreme Court ruling overturning Chevron doctrine with Stop Corporate Capture Act

  Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced the Stop Corporate Capture Act (SCCA) alongside senators like Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker on Tuesday. The legislation would undo the Supreme Court’s decision last month to overturn the Chevron doctrine, which allowed federal agencies to reasonably interpret ambiguous laws

  …

  Organizations sponsoring the bill include: Physicians for Social Responsibility; the Union of Concerned Scientists; Public Citizen; the Economic Policy Institute; Rise Economy; and the Sierra Club.

  MLive July 26, 2024
• Fact-checking Kamala Harris’s campaign launch speech in Wisconsin

  Claim: “I do believe our teachers do God’s work. They teach other people’s children and God knows we don’t pay them enough.”

  Fact Check: True. Economic Policy Institute confirms this claim by highlighting a significant pay gap between teachers and other similarly educated professionals.

  WISN (Wisconsin) July 26, 2024
• ‘Economic and Moral Failing’: It’s Been 15 Years Since Last Federal Minimum Wage Hike

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, 31 million U.S. workers are paid less than $17 an hour.

  Common Dreams July 26, 2024
• Trump agenda likely to drive up inflation, think tank argues

  A second Donald Trump presidency is likely to drive up inflation, research organization EPI Action said, arguing that tax cuts and tighter immigration policies would likely undermine progress towards lower prices.

  The think tank said in a report on Wednesday that a second Trump administration was likely to push for the same policies as the first- namely large tax cuts for higher earners, reduced immigration, and higher trade tariffs.

  But with a changed economic environment from the first administration- in that upside risks to inflation are a lot more prevalent under current conditions- these policies would be likely to drive up inflation. Trump is also expected to roll back the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.

  Investing.com July 26, 2024
• Blue States Line Up To Ban Anti-Union ‘Captive Audience’ Meetings

  Meanwhile, at least another 10 states are considering passing similar legislation, potentially covering more than 60 million workers around the country, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.

  …

  In lieu of a national ban, unions and other pro-labor groups have been pushing state lawmakers to step in and outlaw the mandatory meetings. The Economic Policy Institute notes that “at-will employment” prevails in the vast majority of states, giving employers broad discretion to fire workers, although it is illegal to retaliate against someone for trying to form a union.

  “State lawmakers have the power to fight back against employer coercion and address gaps in weak, outdated federal laws,” the think tank urged in April.

  Huffpost July 26, 2024
• Tennessee spent only 10% of American Rescue Plan allotment. Use it or lose it by Dec. 31

  Tennessee has spent just 10.5% of the $3.7 billion it received in fiscal recovery funds in 2021. While other states have rebuilt infrastructure and supported working families, Tennessee has done almost nothing.

  While the state rolled out an ambitious plan for using the money, very few of those paper plans have been approved by the legislature, and even less money has gone out the door. $500 million was allocated for broadband, but only $44.6 million has been spent. $1.3 billion was budgeted for wastewater infrastructure – just $36 million has been spent. $15 million was earmarked for Habitat for Humanity to support low-income housing, but none of those funds have yet been appropriated by the legislature. 

  It’s an open question whether they ever will. Tennessee only has until Dec. 31 to formally obligate the funds, or it loses them forever. Now is the time for the governor and the state legislature to use the money they have to make things better for working families. If they don’t, they will have wasted a once-in-a-generation chance to do good.

  Tennessean July 26, 2024
• How 7 Think Tanks Would Use Taxes To Help Reduce Budget Deficits

  But the think tanks achieved deficit reduction in dramatically different ways. Not surprisingly, the groups generally considered farther to the right — the American Action Forum (AAF), American Enterprise Institute (AEI), and the Manhattan Institute (MI) — focused primarily on spending reductions. The groups generally considered farther to the left — the Center for American Progress (CAP) and Economic Policy Institute (EPI) — relied more heavily on tax increases, as did the more centrist Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) and Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), though to very different degrees.

  Forbes July 26, 2024
• ‘I try to remain optimistic, but it’s hard’

  Although women are more likely to graduate from college than men and more likely to receive a graduate degree than their male counterparts, they are paid less than men at every education level, the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, says.

  MarketWatch July 26, 2024
• Puerto Rico bans discrimination against those who wear Afros and other hairstyles on diverse island

  A March report from the Economic Policy Institute found that not all states have amended their education codes to protect public and private high school students, and that some states have allowed certain exceptions to the CROWN Act.

  Associated Press July 26, 2024
• These 5 States Have the Most Low-Wage Workers

  Just how many workers in the United States are considered low-wage employees? According to the Economic Policy Institute, 31 million people in the U.S. earn under $17 per hour. That’s about 21% of the workforce.

  GO Banking Rates July 26, 2024
• 75-year-low: Federal minimum wage nears rock bottom

  Paywall. 

  Fortune July 26, 2024
• It has now been 15 years since the federal minimum wage rose to $7.25

  In 20 states, mostly in the South and Midwest, the federal minimum wage is in effect, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The other 30 states and Washington, D.C. have minimum wages higher than the federal standard, according to EPI data.

  Additionally, at least 63 cities and towns — including New York City and Los Angeles — have local minimum wages higher than their state’s requirement, with new wage hikes still occurring, according to the EPI. Chicago’s minimum wage rose to $16.20 per hour this month.

  NPR July 26, 2024
• Average Wages for US Workers Have Outpaced Inflation

  That wage growth is due in part to a tight labor market and state-level minimum wage increases from 2019 to 2023, according to the nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute.

  Business Insider July 26, 2024
• 7 Proposals to Rein In the National Debt

  The think tanks on the right — the American Action Forum (AAF), the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Manhattan Institute (MI) — prefer to emphasize spending reductions to free up funding for deficit reduction. The think tanks on the left, the Center for American Progress (CAP) and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), and those closer to the center — the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) and the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) — more typically call for more tax increases to help fill in the fiscal gap.

  The Fiscal Times July 26, 2024
• It’s Now Been 15 Years Since The Federal Minimum Wage Was Increased

  The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, estimates that nearly 30% of Black workers would see a raise due to the $17 proposal, along with nearly a quarter of Hispanic workers.

  Huffpost July 26, 2024
• You Can’t Escape Climate Change, but in Some Areas, Risk Is Lower

  To get a better picture of what might make an area least vulnerable to natural hazards and still boast the creature comforts of basic infrastructure, NerdWallet set a population control of at least 100,000 people. It includes the annual cost of living in 2023 dollars, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator for households comprising two adults and two children.

  NerdWallet July 26, 2024
• How Trump and Vance Betray America’s Workers

  In outlining “fifty reasons the Trump Administration is bad for workers,” the Economic Policy Institute wrote in 2020 that President Trump “systematically promoted the interests of corporate executives and shareholders over those of working people and failed to protect workers’ safety, wages, and rights.”

  The Progressive Magazine July 26, 2024
• The number of low-wage U.S. workers is dropping—but 23% still make less than $17/hr

  Many states continue to raise their minimum wages. Almost half, 22 states, raised their minimum wages in January 2024. That raised the pay for nearly 10 million workers, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. 

  CNBC July 26, 2024
• How 15 years of stagnant federal minimum wage affects hourly workers

  Do we even need a federal minimum wage? Yes, says Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “Any increase in the minimum wage is going to sweep up millions of workers.”

  • About 17 million people are earning less than $15 an hour, according to EPI’s low-wage workforce tracker. Raising the wage floor to $15 would give all of them a pay boost.

  • Plus, it’s likely that a wage rise would also push up pay for those earning more than the minimum. Say, for a manager earning $15 an hour who oversees those making $7.25.

  …

  • If the federal minimum wage was raised, women and people of color (also disproportionately lower paid) would see the largest wage increases, Zipperer says. “By not raising the minimum wage we are keeping their wages low.”
  Axios July 26, 2024
• Economists debate Rick Scott’s assertion the federal budget should be ‘half its size’

  “Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans programs make up two-thirds of the non-interest, non-defense portion of the federal budget,” added Josh Bivens, chief economist with left-leaning EPI Action. “There are only two ways to interpret this statement from Sen. Scott — he is either calling for huge cuts to these programs or he is too uninformed to know this. He owes it to voters to follow up this statement by either specifying what he wants to cut or studying up and learning how the federal budget works.”

  Florida Phoenix July 26, 2024
• Wage thieves must not get government contracts

  Wage theft is rampant: A 2017 Economic Policy Institutestudy examined one form of wage theft – minimum…[paywall]

  New York Daily News July 26, 2024
• New Report Reveals 41% of Michigan Households Can’t Cover Basic Expenses

  Similarly, the ALICE budget allocates $530 a month for full-time day care for one child, but a 2022 study by the Economic Policy Institute estimated the actual cost at $741 monthly for a toddler and $905 for an infant.

  Michigan News Source July 26, 2024
• Steep fines in Iowa set off state-federal showdown over child labor laws

  Since 2021, lawmakers in 31 states have introduced bills that would weaken child labor protections, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that examines how policies affect low- and middle-income workers. This year, EPI tracked bills weakening child labor protections that passed in eight red states: Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and West Virginia.

  …

  Jennifer Sherer, an EPI researcher who tracks the issue, said federal and state governments had for decades embraced protecting the youngest workers after eradicating the worst child labor abuses. But legislatures, backed by business groups, have recently sought to loosen standards, leading to heightened tensions over federal rules, she said.

  “What we’re seeing is this pretty bold and alarming all-out assault on that consensus,” Sherer said.

  Stateline July 26, 2024