- “Do you believe the U.S. trade deficit is too large and should reducing it be the major goal of U.S. trade policy?” This will cause an eye roll from economists, most of whom have long argued that trade deficits have a stronger link to national savings rates than trade policy. But it’s a litmus-test question that’s important to ask in large part because Tai is a lawyer with political antennae rather than an economist. Former President Donald Trump and his USTR, Robert Lighthizer, made reducing the trade deficit a primary goal and failed by their own metric. But progressives in the Democratic Party have long made the case as well. The left-of-center Economic Policy Institute has tied trade deficits directly to U.S. job losses. Is Tai with Trump and the economists at EPI? Or those who hold the more orthodox view? And what does she think the politically-safe answer is?
Bloomberg.com
February 24, 2021
According to the January filing notifying shareholders of the meeting, the company reported that CEO Tim Cook was paid $14.8 million in total compensation last year, while Apple’s median compensation for all employees was $57,783, a ratio of 256 to 1. In 2019, the average CEO compensation package for America’s top 350 companies was $21.3 million, according to a report from the Economic Policy institute, or about 320-times the pay of an average worker.
24/7 Wall St.
February 24, 2021
4. “Why the U.S. needs a $15 minimum wage,” Economic Policy Institute, January 26, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150121?t=11&akid=290931%2E9509482%2ESIcE73
Daily Kos
February 24, 2021
According to “The economic costs and benefits of Airbnb” a report by the Economic Policy Institute:
“The economic costs Airbnb imposes likely outweigh the benefits. While the introduction and expansion of Airbnb into U.S. cities and cities around the world carries large potential economic benefits and costs, the costs to renters and local jurisdictions likely exceed the benefits to travelers and property owners…
San Juan Islander
February 24, 2021
“While low unemployment and anemic wage growth likely explained the large increase in strikes in 2018 and 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic and high unemployment led to the sudden drop in 2020,” Heidi Shierholz, policy director and senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement.
LaborPress
February 24, 2021
“If you adjust for inflation, it’s worth about 18%, less than what it was worth in 2009, when it was last raised, and over 30% less than what it was worth in 1968,” said David Cooper, a senior analyst with the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank in Washington.
Voice of America
February 24, 2021
The Economic Policy Institute estimates that nearly a third of all Black workers would get a raise under the Raise the Wage Act. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it could also raise wages for 17 million workers overall. Another 10 million workers earning just above $15 could also see an increase.
The Good Men Project
February 24, 2021
Over the past five years, average annual wages increased by 4.8%, after adjusting for inflation. However, much of the increase in average wages can be attributed to growing wages among the highest earners. According to an analysis of Current Population Survey data by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), real median hourly wages grew by 15% from 1979 to 2019. In comparison, workers in the 95th percentile saw their wages grow by 63%, while workers in the 10th percentile only experienced wage growth of about 3%.
Seattle Pi
February 23, 2021