Media clips

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• Inequality has soared during the pandemic–and so has C.E.O. compensation

  In 2020, the data shows, the average C.E.O. of an S. & P. 500 company made $15.5 million—two hundred and ninety-nine times as much as the median-paid employee. Although we do not have directly comparable numbers going back in time, a forthcoming study by Lawrence Mishel and Jori Kandra of the Economic Policy Institute tracks the average C.E.O.’s pay and the average worker’s pay (and the ratio of one to the other) for the three hundred and fifty largest public companies in the United States. They estimate that, in 1978, the average C.E.O. made $1.7 million, adjusted for inflation, which was 31.4 times the average worker’s pay. Since that time, the share of all wages and salaries collected by the highest-earning one per cent of Americans has almost doubled, reaching its current level of about thirteen per cent. Roughly forty per cent of the people who make up that one per cent are executives, and their escalating compensation, Mishel and Kandra argue, has spilled over to other top managers in for-profit firms and large nonprofits alike. The power of example aside, today’s corporate executives frequently derive financial benefit from actions (outsourcing, downsizing, merging, defeating union drives) that directly or indirectly reduce pay and opportunity further down the line. In this way, too, executive pay has arguably been a significant driver, and not just a symptom, of rising inequality. That insight has led a growing number of local, state, and federal lawmakers to develop policy proposals that would reward or penalize companies based on their pay ratios.

  The New Yorker July 30, 2021
• Opinion: How to close the wealth gap from the bottom up

  Cites EPI chart on retirement savings.

  Washington Post July 30, 2021
• ‘Broke again’: Child tax credit payments collide with debt and eviction for working families

  Her income was enough that her fiance could stay home with the two children they had at that point. Day care for an infant and a toddler in Dayton could cost around $800, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 

  Washington Post July 30, 2021
• CONGRESSMAN PROPOSES FOUR-DAY WORK WEEK

  “Reducing Americans’ average work week is a key step towards achieving a better society,” the Economic Policy Institute, which endorsed the bill, said in Takano’s press release.

  Futurism July 30, 2021
• How US fast food chains can raise wages without raising prices

  Price increases are generally quite small relative to the increase in workers’ wages, wrote Ben Zipperer, an economist at Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, in an email. There are three major ways businesses respond to higher labor costs after raising wages, he says. First, companies receive some cost savings, as higher wages help retain workers, reducing the need to spend on recruiting and training them. Businesses also see some reduction in profits, and pass along some small price increases, he says.

  Quartz July 30, 2021
• 73 Major Corporations Paid Just 5.3% Federal Tax Rate Between 2018 and 2020: Report

  Thirty-nine U.S. corporations reaping over $120 billion in profits between 2018 and 2020—the first three years of the so-called “GOP tax scam”—paid no net federal income tax, or claimed refunds during that period, a report published Thursday by the Institution on Taxation and Economic Policy revealed.

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  Indeed, a 2019 report from the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Popular Democracy showed that the TCJA “delivered big benefits to the rich and corporations but nearly none for working families.”

  Common Dreams July 30, 2021
• Millions of low-wage women are being left behind in the pandemic recovery. A lack of care infrastructure is to blame.

  According to an Economic Policy Institute report, 92 percent of the 2.2 million domestic workers are women, and just over half are women of color. These women are the nannies, housekeepers and health aides who work inside homes and in assisted living homes, senior and childcare centers to provide caregiving and cleaning services.

  Yahoo Finance July 30, 2021
• Nonprofit calls on Missouri, Arkansas to take more measures against pandemic

  The Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank created in 1986, focuses on the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions, according to its website.

  An EPI blog post on Wednesday pointed out as the COVID-19 delta variant spreads across the country, and hospitalizations rise, states with low vaccination rates — such as Missouri and Arkansas — have become more vulnerable to economic disruption.

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  In Arkansas, a law going into effect prohibits state leaders from implementing mask mandates and declaring public health emergencies, according to EPI.

  “The policy also prohibits local governments from enforcing mask mandates, though private businesses are permitted to require masks if they choose,” it said.

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  EPI also called on Missouri to restore federal pandemic unemployment insurance benefits.

  “The economic situation in Missouri is likely to get worse before it gets better,” the post said. “Even if the state does not mandate lockdowns or similar measures, a resurgence of COVID-19 cases will slow economic activity in many ways.”

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  “The final step Arkansas and Missouri policymakers should take is enacting paid sick leave,” the EPI said. “Workers exposed to COVID-19 should not have to choose between working while sick or being unable to pay their bills.”

  During the earlier wave of the pandemic (in 2020), EPI said, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act provided some sick leave for workers at businesses employing fewer than 500 people, but the provisions expired at the end of the year.

  Fulton Sun July 30, 2021
• CEO diversity: does it explain CEO-to-employee pay ratio?

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, the CEO-to-employee pay ratio increased by 1000% in the past 40 years.

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  CEO-to-employee pay ratio increased nearly 1000% in the last 40 years according to the Economic Policy Institute, widening the gap between average Americans and the top 1%. Reporting of this gap by US public firms was mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, with the first gap data becoming available in 2017. The paper explores how female and minority CEOs, given their background, may have “softer” management styles and approaches to personnel issues, which may translate to more equitable pay and lower CEO-to-employee pay ratios.

  World Economic Forum July 30, 2021
• Police chief points finger at protesters; neglects root causes of gun violence

  In Tulsa, the median household income for a White family is roughly double that of a Black family, according to the city’s 2020 Tulsa Equality Indicators report. Nationally, the median Black family earns 61 cents for every dollar a median White family owns, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Black Wall Street Times July 30, 2021