We know that unemployment is sky-high, but that’s not the end of the story. The Economic Policy Institute’s Heidi Shierholz sounds a warning that, if lawmakers don’t act, we’re looking at a depression.
“If the federal government provides sufficient aid during this crisis so that people’s income doesn’t drop dramatically (even if they have been unable to work), so that businesses stay afloat (even if they have been totally or significantly shuttered), and so that state and local governments whose tax revenues are plummeting are not forced to make drastic cuts that will hamstring the economy, then those furloughed workers could get back to their prior jobs and the recovery could be rapid because confidence and demand would be relatively high,” she writes. “But if the federal government doesn’t act, then those furloughs will turn into permanent layoffs and the country will face an extended period of high unemployment that will do sweeping and unrelenting damage to the economy—and the people and businesses in it.”
Daily Kos
May 27, 2020
Though some states have laws making employers provide paid sick and family leave, FFCRA is the first-ever federal mandate. However, it leaves out a large portion of the workforce — the law doesn’t cover about 6.8 million workers at large firms who don’t get paid leave, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of DOL data.
Law 360
May 27, 2020
The Trump administration has rhetorically followed this perspective (see U.S. trade rep Robert Lighthizer declaring that the era of offshoring is over), and in some cases acting, signing a four-year agreement to source a generic pharmaceutical producer stateside. But more can be done, as the Economic Policy Institute outlines: ending the gaming of Buy America, for example, or leveraging federal contracts, or addressing currency manipulation, or reversing tax incentives for offshoring.
The American Prospect
May 27, 2020
Groups supporting the Paycheck Recovery Act include Americans for Financial Reform; the American Federation of Teachers; AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka; Asian Counseling and Referral Service; Asian Pacific Islander Coalition of Washington; Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO; CAIR Washington; Center for American Progress; Center for Economic Policy Research; Center for Popular Democracy/CDP Action; Climate Justice Alliance; Color of Change; Communications Workers of America; Community Change Action; the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition; Economic Policy Institute; GSBA: Washington’s LGBTQ Chamber; Indivisible; International Association of Machinists; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; International Community Health Services; Main Street Alliance; MoveOn; National Domestic Workers Alliance; National Education Association; Pacific Northwest Ballet; People’s Action; Seattle Aquarium; Seattle Children’s Theatre; SEIU; Sierra Club; UAW Western States; UNITE HERE; Woodland Park Zoo; 350 Seattle; and other organizations.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal
May 27, 2020
“I feel pretty confident this will be as deep as the Great Depression,” said Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist with the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute, of the damage to the U.S. economy.
“The real question is how long will this last,” added Shierholz, who was previously the Department of Labor’s chief economist under the Obama administration.
Governing
May 27, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the policy could result in 52,600 fewer green cards if it stays in place for 60 days. If extended for a whole year, that could lead to 316,000 fewer green cards.
The Gainesville Times
May 27, 2020
The workers faring best during the pandemic are those with high wages, access to healthcare, paid sick leave and the ability to work from home. But those benefits are exceedingly rare for much of the workforce, says Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, a labor-oriented think tank. The coronavirus crisis has “uncovered the weakness in our social safety net,” she says. More than 40% of workers are employed in low-wage jobs and some 28 million non-elderly adults lack health insurance. Moreover, federal data suggests only about 30% of workers have the ability to work from home—and the rate is even lower for black and Latino workers.
In These Times
May 27, 2020
• Energy efficiency – The Economic Policy Institute, a national nonpartisan think tank, found that $50 billion in building retrofits and smart grid investments would support 445,000 jobs across the United States, or 8.9 jobs per $1 million invested.
Central Jersey
May 27, 2020
Congressional Research Service reported July 23, 2019, that cumulative percent change during 1979-2018 in real wages for households in the top 10% of the income distribution was 37.6%, while for the middle- and low-income households it was 1.6% and 6.1%, respectively. Men in the middle and low income lost and women gained real wages. Household income for the top 1% increased 229% while the bottom 90% gained only 46% for the years 1979-2015 (Economic Policy Institute (EPI), March 27, 2019). Wage inequality is the driving force for income inequality. Using census data, Utah Workforce Services reports that Utah’s income inequality index (Gini coefficient) declined during 2014-2017 but has increased since 2017.
The capitalist system, supported by technological revolution and globalization, lately has not generated an economic system where all Americans have shared in private sector prosperity and growth in productivity. Real wages have diverged from productivity since the ’70s. EPI reports that cumulative percentage change in productivity from 1979 to 2017 was 70.3%, while hourly compensation grew only 11.1%. It is the responsibility of the government and the private sector to ensure jobs’ growth, with wage growth commensurate with increase in productivity. The gig economy, with more part-time workers and contract workers, and more self-employed (not by choice), is not a healthy sign of a growth economy, higher standard of living and happiness.
Standard Examiner
May 27, 2020
A survey conducted by the Economic Policy Institute found from March 22 to April 18 between 7.8 million to 12.2 million Americans could not apply for unemployment benefits because they could not get through the system to do so or were discouraged by difficulties
Shadow Proof
May 27, 2020