Beyond the fact that people might simply need aid, supplying additional unemployment funding is potentially a more effective stimulus tool than what the White House is proposing–that is, giving $600 to individuals who may not need the money. That’s according to Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington. “Stimulus payments go to (most) everyone–even those who have kept their jobs and haven’t seen any drop in income–whereas [unemployment insurance], by definition, goes to people who have lost work and their paycheck.” That means, she says, that the money the government sends unemployed people is more likely to be spent rather than saved. “[These] recipients have no choice but to spend immediately on necessities.”
Inc.
December 14, 2020
Heidi Shierholz is an economist with the Economic Policy Institute. And she says one thing has become clear – this recovery is not going to be quick and clean.
“I think the headwinds now – at least until we get a vaccine because then things will shift – but at this point, the headwinds are really dire.”
NPR Planet Money
December 14, 2020
In the U.S., the average wage gap between a Black and white worker in 2019 was 26.5%, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
ABC News
December 14, 2020
Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey, nominated for the Council of Economic Advisers, cut their teeth at the labor-backed, progressive Economic Policy Institute and have extensive experience and expertise on poverty, work, and family.
The Nation
December 14, 2020
Spriggs would only be the fourth Black member of the Board of Governors, a testament to how terribly the institution has done on racial diversity over its 107-year history. Luckily, there are a lot of strong Black candidates, from Michigan State University’s Lisa Cook (an adviser to the Biden transition) to the Economic Policy Institute’s Valerie Wilson.
VOX
December 14, 2020
Index of per enrollee costs for comparable health-care benefits*
Source: Economic Policy Institute
Bloomberg
December 14, 2020
The JOLTS report was “a clear and confirming sign that the recovery is not charging ahead,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, who noted in a commentary that the figures don’t even capture November’s slowdown in job growth. “With hiring and job openings at these levels, the economy is facing a long slow recovery, unless Congress acts,” she wrote.
The Balance
December 14, 2020
The U.S. could be headed for a “double-dip recession”—a second recession that begins before recovery from the first is complete—if Congress does not provide some sort of relief before the end of the year, said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank.
“The response to the virus has been so poor, and it’s becoming clear in the labor market,” Shierholz said.
The Balance
December 14, 2020
According to a University of California at Berkeley analysis, raising the minimum wage in the 1960s directly led to a 20% drop in income inequality for Black Americans. According to the Economic Policy Institute, a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour would increase wages for 38.1% of all Black workers. It is perhaps the most powerful single measure to lift wages and opportunity for the poorest workers and a major step toward shrinking America’s chiasmic racial and gender wage gap.
The Triangle Tribune
December 14, 2020