Media clips

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• A new stimulus deal is emerging. But it heralds a grueling new normal.

  And it probably isn’t nearly enough. As numerous analyses have found — see this one from the Economic Policy Institute or another one from two economists sponsored by the Groundwork Collaborative — we probably need at least $2 trillion in new spending on top of this package to offset the big drop in demand that has resulted from the pandemic.

  The Washington Post December 17, 2020
• Liz Soares: Playing the vaccine waiting game

  I wondered what exactly an essential worker is. There are an estimated 41,000 of them in Maine. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the term covers employees in 12 different fields, including food and agriculture, information technology, and water and wastewater management.

  Central Maine December 17, 2020
• Report Finds Massive Wage Theft on Farms as Farmworkers Provide Essential Services During Pandemic
  A new report from the Economic Policy Institute finds farm employers in the U.S. have engaged in massive wage theft and repeatedly violated federal labor laws around safety and wages. The report, based on data from the Labor Department, shows employers withholding at least $76 million in wages from over 150,000 workers over the past 20 years, though researchers say the problem is likely much bigger since the government only investigates a small number of farm employers at one time. Many violations are also not reported due to workers’ immigration status. Recent research has found farmworkers have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, yet many are forced to continue working in unsafe conditions.

  DemocracyNow December 17, 2020
• Rogers educators address student learning gaps

  Learning and development have been interrupted and disrupted for millions of students nationwide due to the pandemic, according to the Covid-19 and Student Performance, Equity and U.S. Education Policy report by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. The only effective response is to use diagnostic tests and other tools to meet each child where they are and to devise a plan for making up for the interruptions, according to the report.

  Arkansas Democrat Gazettte December 17, 2020
• MALVEAUX: The Biden Cabinet — Mainstream, Moderate, Middling

  There is no one under 50 among the Biden nominees. There are few progressives among the Biden nominees. A glimmer of hope lies in the fact that the Council of Economic Advisers leans somewhat left and is also labor-centered, with the nominated chair, Cecilia Rouse, a Princeton University labor economist. The others, Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey, have past relationships with the Economic Policy Institute, a worker-focused think tank in D.C. (I serve on their board). It is also hopeful that Janet Yellen has been nominated as Treasury secretary. She is worker-focused and the first woman to hold the position. But in retreading Vilsack and Kerry, choosing international expert Susan Rice to lead the Domestic Policy Council and choosing other mainstream moderates, Biden has thrown ice water on the hopes and dreams of the progressives who put their interests aside to unite around him.

  The Washington Informer December 17, 2020
• The City of Columbia and Local Partners Present the Second Community Conversation on The Color of Law

  The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America recovers a forgotten history of how federal, state, and local policy explicitly segregated metropolitan areas nationwide, creating racially homogenous neighborhoods in patterns that violate the Constitution and require remediation. It’s author, Richard Rothstein, is a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Policy Institute and a Senior Fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

  Metro Columbia CEO December 17, 2020
• THE U.S. UNDERCOUNTS PEOPLE IN POVERTY—BY 106 MILLION, ADVOCATES SAY

  Economic Policy Institute research director Josh Bivens also called for the new administration to focus on economic policy that supports what some consider the country’s moral obligation. Shortly before the election, Bivens co-authored a blog post with the leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign, writing, “There are discrete, ambitious policy changes that could happen quickly and would be transformative, especially for the 140 million poor and low-income people who were facing multiple pandemics even before COVID-19.”

  Sojourners December 17, 2020
• December 17
  December 17, 2020
• As COVID Rages, We Are Experiencing Mass Abandonment Amid Abundance

  In late October as the coronavirus pandemic raged, the Economic Policy Institute released a study showing that it isn’t just morally right but an economic necessity to deal with poverty in this country and fast. “If America does not address what’s happening with visionary social and economic policy,” as that study put it, “the health and well-being of the nation are at stake. What we need is long-term economic policy that establishes justice, promotes the general welfare, rejects decades of austerity, and builds strong social programs that lift society from below.”

  Truthout December 17, 2020
• Fact check US: Would a $15 minimum wage really help workers?

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would increase the salary of 20% of wage-earning Americans. But this increase could also have a negative effect on employment. A report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concluded that this extra cost to businesses would indeed cause a drop in people living under the poverty line, but also the loss of 1.3 million jobs nationwide.

  The Conversation December 17, 2020