But proponents argue that better-quality studies tend to show that increases in the minimum wage do not hurt employment.
“We believe that the CBO’s assumptions on the scale of job loss are just wrong and inappropriately inflated relative to what cutting-edge economics literature would indicate,” said a team of experts from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
The CBO did not properly weight the higher-quality studies in its analysis, said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the institute.
CNN
February 9, 2021
Some progressive economists were quick to say the report’s estimates on job losses were too high. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute released an analysis of the report saying those assumptions “are just wrong and inappropriately inflated relative to what cutting-edge economics literature would indicate.”
Huffpost
February 9, 2021
Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the main proponents of the $15 minimum wage, unsurprisingly attempted to do just that, instead citing the left-wing Economic Policy Institute’s estimates. More absurdly, Sanders tried to claim this was good news because it showed that the bill had an impact on the deficit and thus could be passed with a simple majority in the Senate through the parliamentary maneuver known as reconciliation.
Washington Examiner
February 9, 2021
The budget agency’s job-loss projection was viewed as extremely questionable by progressive economists and out of line with recent research on the effects of minimum wage increases. Josh Bivens, David Cooper, Heidi Shierholz, and Ben Zipperer of the Economic Policy Institute wrote Monday that “the CBO’s assumptions on the scale of job-loss are just wrong and inappropriately inflated relative to what cutting-edge economics literature would indicate.”
Common Dreams
February 9, 2021
The Economic Policy Institute reported that the minimum wage, if adjusted for inflation, should have exceeded $15 by 2020.
“Yet since the late 1960s, lawmakers have let the value of the minimum wage erode, allowing inflation to gradually reduce the buying power of a minimum wage income,” according to the group’s 2019 report.
The Independent
February 9, 2021
The report also found that the federal budget deficit would increase by $54 billion from 2021 to 2031 if the $15 minimum wage were enacted. That’s because the government would pay higher prices for goods and services that stem from the higher wages paid to workers, the CBO found.
“There is good reason not to accept CBO’s analysis” that a $15 minimum wage would increase the budget, said Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute.
“It’s really not a stretch to say that a new consensus has emerged amongst economists that minimum-wage increases have raised wages without substantial job loss,” she said on a call with reporters. (Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen shares in these views.)
The CBO’s 1.4-million job loss estimate is likely overstated, hence the federal government would not need to spend more money to fund social welfare programs such as unemployment insurance and medicare if fewer people were unemployed, Shierholz added.
MarketWatch
February 9, 2021
The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, among other worker advocates, disputed some of the CBO’s findings, arguing there would be little to no effect on employment and the budget deficit would shrink rather than grow.
USA Today
February 9, 2021
“It’s bad for individuals, it’s bad for human suffering, harms the overall economy and drags this [downturn] out even more,” said Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, and former chief economist at the Labor Department.
CNBC
February 9, 2021
Last month, an independent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found that the legislation would increase wages for almost 32 million Americans, over 20% of the nation’s workforce. This includes roughly a third of all Black workers and a quarter of all Latino workers. Nearly 60% of those who would benefit would be women.
“The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 is not just moral policy, it is also good economics,” Economic Policy Institute economist Ben Zipperer posted on Jan. 26. “This injection of wages will help stimulate the economy and spur greater business activity and job growth.”
Courthouse News Service
February 9, 2021
The minimum wage hike would double the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. It hasn’t risen in 12 years. The Economic Policy Institute calculates the increase would put $3,300 in the pockets of each of 32 million workers—22% of the U.S. workforce.
People's Weekly World
February 9, 2021