In a webinar hosted by the Economic Policy Institute on Friday, Glenn Hubbard, retired dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of finance and economics at Columbia University, said at least $500 billion of federal aid is needed for municipalities to get through the coronavirus pandemic. Hubbard specifically said those funds could be in a block grant program — a grant from the federal government which then is dispersed by local governments.
Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute, said it would be better for lawmakers to overshoot on aid needed by municipalities and give that $1 trillion.
Bond Buyer
August 17, 2020
The Economic Policy Institute also reports that ‘based on average hourly earnings, Black women still earned only 66 cents for every dollar White, non-Hispanic men made.
Y’all Politics
August 17, 2020
The upshot: Workers shouldn’t count on seeing an increase in their paychecks because of the payroll tax deferral — not by September 1 or perhaps ever.
“Even a straight up legislatively passed payroll tax cut would be far from the top-five best measures to stimulate the economy,” said Josh Bivens, director of research at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “This is obviously much worse, because it is not clear how many companies will actually stop withholding, and how many people will spend the money given they will have to give it back come January. If you want people to spend a tax break, you don’t want to tell them they will have to give it back in four months.”
CBS Moneywatch
August 17, 2020
New data from the Economic Policy Institute, the Center for American Progress, and the Progressive Caucus Action Fund shows that standard unemployment insurance isn’t enough to help single parents pay the bills.
State unemployment benefits are relatively low: Previous research from the Economic Policy Institute puts the average state payment at $320 per week. In areas with a higher cost of living, that payment frequently fails to cover a family’s actual needs. According to the new data, a single parent with one child who receives unemployment in Nassau County, Florida, falls “$3,936 short of what they need to pay for basic monthly expenses,” including rent, groceries, and child-care needs. (Estimates are based on EPI’s family-budget calculator, and the precise shortfall varies from locality to locality.)
New York Magazine
August 17, 2020
The Black Americans who remain in the workforce are more likely to hold what have been designated “essential” jobs—higher-risk, lower-paid positions such as fast-food workers and grocery store cashiers. According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, they make up 17% of these front-line employees despite being 11% of the total labor force. On the flip side, a mere five Black executives run S&P 500 companies.
Bloomberg
August 17, 2020
But despite a growing attention to the role of essential workers, advocates said OSHA, which polices workplaces, has failed to protect them.
“It’s unthinkable to me what has been happening with OSHA,” said Terri Gerstein, senior fellow at the Economic Policy Institute and director of the State and Local Enforcement Project at Harvard Law School. “They are abdicating their duty to enforce the law.”
NBC News
August 17, 2020
In Virginia, the average cost of a year of infant care at a daycare center is more than $14,500, and care for a 4-year-old is around $11,500, according to Child Care Aware of America. A study by the Economic Policy institute found a year of child care in Virginia is about as expensive as a year of college or housing — two other areas with their own affordability crises.
Daily Press
August 17, 2020
Terri Gerstein of the Harvard Labor and Worklife Program and Economic Policy Institute questioned if the companies may also eventually withdraw from other markets where their business model is similarly in limbo: “What’s the long term plan?”
CNN Business
August 17, 2020
Another analysis by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI) predicted that the cost of inaction is even greater, threatening to cost the country 5.3 million jobs.
Salon
August 17, 2020