Economists had traditionally disliked minimum wages on the basis of simple supply and demand: compulsory high pay destroys jobs and pushes workers to the informal sector. In 1994 the OECD cautioned against the policy, favouring “direct” redistribution. But the same year landmark research by David Card and Alan Krueger, two American economists, was published, finding that a minimum-wage increase in New Jersey had not affected fast-food employment compared with neighbouring Pennsylvania. Others devised similar studies. Most found that minimum wages reduced employment, but only by a little.
That “little” got smaller and smaller over time—as a database of research maintained by Arindrajit Dube of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Ben Zipperer of the Economic Policy Institute, a think-tank, demonstrates. In the early 2000s the literature indicated that a 1% increase in wages caused by a higher minimum wage would lead to a 0.5% decline in employment. By the late 2010s the effect had fallen to around zero.
The Economist
November 24, 2025
The study analyzed which metros were the most affordable by using data from the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator to determine the cost of living in U.S. cities. Researchers at Upgraded Points then used the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey to determine median wages.
San Antonio Current
November 24, 2025
That’s a mistake on numerous levels. Progressives, especially in periods of rising inequality, have long argued that workers’ paychecks should grow closer to the rate of productivity, which is a fancy way of saying that the bakers, not just the bakery owners, ought to get a fair slice of the pie they’re baking. But, of course, as the Economic Policy Institute has long shown, that’s not always been the case (though contrary to claims that inequality only goes up, there are periods, often during full employment labor markets, wherein median compensation growth kept pace with productivity).
The National Memo
November 24, 2025
“That means policymakers (including the Federal Reserve) will be flying partially blind for several more weeks — very bad timing because the economy is so uncertain right now,” Heidi Shierholz, president of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a text message.
The Washington Post
November 24, 2025
A 2015 analysis published by the Economic Policy Institute described how 250 Disney workers “were forced to train” their foreign replacements and that thousands more across utilities, energy companies, and manufacturers faced the same outcome.
Dallas Express
November 24, 2025
This analysis draws on data from the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator and the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. The EPI tool estimates the annual cost of living in U.S. cities, accounting for expenses such as housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, taxes, and other necessities.
WJLA
November 24, 2025
Investopedia
November 24, 2025
But the one aspect of the broader immigration issue where the Democratic party line still allows dissent is precisely the aspect Trump has been highlighting — guestworker visas. The AFL-CIO switched sides on immigration in the mid-90s (after leading the anti-amnesty cause in the lead-up to the 1986 amnesty bill), but it is still comfortable criticizing guestworker visas. That’s why, for instance, the union-adjacent Economic Policy Institute has gotten away with publishing important and valuable work highlighting the problems with both high-skilled and low-skilled foreign-worker programs.
National Review
November 24, 2025
According to the Economic Policy Institute, this 2001 bubble burst was marred by a slower recovery, leading to a “tougher economy for highly educated …[paywall].
Forbes
November 24, 2025
The ultimate paradox is that, by nearly every measure, Democrats have managed the economy better than Republicans. The Economic Policy Institute reports that real GDP growth under Democratic presidents has averaged 3.8 percent, compared with 2.6 percent under Republicans, about 1.2 percentage points faster. Job creation has been more than twice as high. According to the Joint Economic Committee, under Democratic presidencies, the stock market performs better, unemployment rates are lower, and national debt grows more slowly.
Fordham Political Review
November 24, 2025