Perhaps no single chart has been as influential in the American discourse over the past decade as the “productivity vs. pay” graph. There are many versions of this graph floating around, but I’m going to use the versions published by the Economic Policy Institute. Here is probably the most famous version of the chart — the version that most of us used when we debated the issue back in the late 2010s: [paywall].
Noah Smith's blog
June 17, 2024
By either calculation, of course, contemporary U.S. CEOs are making fantastically more than their CEO counterparts back in the middle of the 20th century. In the 1960s, the Economic Policy Institute has pointed out, chief execs at major U.S. corporations seldom pocketed much more than 20 times the pay that went to their workers. Since then, the CEO-worker pay gap has quadrupled — and then quadrupled again.
Inequality.org
June 17, 2024
In 2022, the Economic Policy Institute reported that CEO pay averaged 344 times more than worker pay, up from 21 times more in 1965. Income inequality stifles economic growth and concentrates political power to corporations and to the wealthy.
WVPE (NPR affiliate in Michigan)
June 17, 2024
From 1979 to 2013, hourly pay for middle-wage workers increased 6% and pay for low-wage workers decreased 5%, whereas pay for very high-wage workers increased 41%, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank.
CNET
June 17, 2024
Likewise, a May 15 news release from the BLS highlighting real earnings in April 2024 reports an “0.2% increase in average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.3% in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).” The release was cited in a blog post from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) published on the same day.
Check Your Fact
June 17, 2024
The Economic Policy Institute found that realized equity compensation made up more than 81 percent of total average realized CEO pay at big corporations in 2022.
Inequality.org
June 17, 2024
Some minimum-wage workers saw increases, too, but not enough to impact inflation rates. A study from the Economic Policy Institute found that minimum wage increases, even if instituted in every state, would have a negligible impact on inflation — meaning the share of workers in this category is too small to drive up prices.
KTVQ
June 17, 2024
The Economic Policy Institute found the average yearly cost of infant child care is more than $15,000, which then drops to almost $13,000 for a 4-year-old.
Public News Service
June 17, 2024
Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research with the Economic Policy Institute, says both Democrats and Republicans, representing employer interests ranging from seafood to hospitality, have perpetuated the silencing of some H-2B worker protections. He said the nature of last-minute continuing resolutions on federal budgets means rules get frozen in place.
“If President Biden listened to immigration worker advocates on H-2B, what will he do? ‘Am I going to shut down the entire government over the H-2B riders?’” Costa said. “That’s why [the budget riders] are so [politically] smart.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune
June 17, 2024
A 2017 report from the Economic Policy Institute found that Florida has the highest minimum wage violation rate in the country, with data suggesting that one in four low-wage workers had been paid less than minimum wage. Alexis Tsoukalas, a policy analyst with the Florida Policy Institute — an EPI affiliate — told Orlando Weekly that her nonprofit is concerned the problem could get worse as Florida’s minimum wage rises.
Orlando Weekly
June 17, 2024