The United States is unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic given that many workers throughout the economy will have financial difficulty in following the CDC’s recommendations to stay home and seek medical care if they think they’ve become infected. Millions of U.S. workers and their families don’t have access to health insurance, and only 30% of the lowest paid workers have the ability to earn paid sick days — workers who typically have lots of contact with the public and aren’t able to work from home.
Talking Points Memo
June 10, 2020
The Economic Policy Institute released a white paper outlining the many benefits that Medicare for All would have for workers and the labor market: increased wages and salaries; job growth, even in the healthcare sector; elimination of “job lock” where people are held hostage at jobs just to keep their health benefits; and would particularly help female workers, who disproportionately work at jobs that don’t provide benefits.
Healthcare-Now
June 10, 2020
LINCOLN, Neb. — New research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that switching to a single-payer health system would boost the overall economy, make it easier for workers to switch jobs or start businesses and create a net surplus of new jobs.
Josh Bivens, research director at the institute, said wages would likely go up under a Medicare for all system because owners could elect to give some of the money that would have otherwise gone to insurance companies to workers instead.
“And so you’ve got about $700 billion today that is employee compensation that comes in the form of employers paying for health insurance premiums,” Bivens said. “You take that off their back, it’s the potential for employers to instead pay higher wages.”
Public News Service
June 10, 2020
DENVER — New research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that switching to a single-payer health system would boost the overall economy, make it easier for workers to switch jobs or start businesses, and create a net surplus of new jobs.
Josh Bivens, the institute’s research director, said wages likely would go up under Medicare for All because owners could elect to give some of the money that would have otherwise gone to insurance companies to workers instead.
“And so you’ve got about $700 billion today that is employee compensation that comes in the form of employers paying for health-insurance premiums,” he said. “You take that off their back, it’s the potential for employers to instead pay higher wages.”
Longmont Observer
June 10, 2020
Estimates for a system that ensures benefits on the scale Sanders is seeking is upwards of $30 trillion over 10 years. A recent study from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning organization, suggested it could increase the wages of workers and boost the development of small businesses.
Markets Insider
June 10, 2020
With an uptick in demand for remote work, which heavily relies on IT infrastructure and expertise, IT experts could find themselves heavily burdened by work as more companies become remote, said Josh Bivens, research director at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.
“As a general rule, yes, I think recessions economy-wide definitely cause a steep reduction in hiring, lots of layoffs [and] you see the rise in unemployment,” Bivens told CIO Dive. “There’s usually pretty broad-based pain,” but the epicenter of a potential coronavirus-induced recession would hit low-wage sectors and places where people gather, such as restaurants, tourism and entertainment.
CIO Dive
June 10, 2020
Here to help us look at some things to consider is Josh Bivens. He’s research director at the Economic Policy Institute, and author of Failure by Design: The Story Behind America’s Broken Economy and Everybody Wins Except for Most of Us: What Economics Really Teaches About Globalization. He joins us by phone from Washington, DC. Welcome to CounterSpin, Josh Bivens.
FAIR
June 10, 2020
Dr. Josh Bivens, the Director of Research at the Economic Policy Institute, has authored an important essay that details the kind of responses policymakers need to fashion in order to lessen the negative impacts of the coronavirus epidemic on the economy. His central message: get moving and soon and focus in the areas in which we can do the most direct good.
The Progressive Pulse
June 10, 2020
“What a fiscal stimulus can do is try to erect firewalls as much as possible and try to make sure it doesn’t ripple out and affect the rest of the economy,” said Josh Bivens, director of research for the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.
The New York Times
June 10, 2020