Richard Rothstein is a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington. Much of his work has focused on the effect of government policies in segregation. Rothstein argues in his 2017 book The Color of Law that enduring segregation isn’t “de facto,” meaning effective, if not legally codified. Instead, it’s largely been “de jure,” a result of government policies.
“With public housing, federal and local government increased African Americans’ isolation in urban ghettos,” he wrote. “And with mortgage guarantees, the government subsidized whites to abandon urban areas for suburbs. The combination contributed heavily to creation of the segregated neighborhoods and schools we know today.”
Triad City Beat
May 20, 2020
According to an August report by the Economic Policy Institute, “CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills.
“This escalation of CEO compensation, and of executive compensation more generally, has fueled the growth of top 1% and top 0.1% incomes,” the institute’s report says, “leaving less of the fruits of economic growth for ordinary workers and widening the gap between very high earners and the bottom 90%.
“The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less, or taxed more,” the report said.
Winston-Salem Journal
May 20, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, black women make $0.61 for every dollar that white males make. The awareness of the wage gap alone is enough to chip away at the most ambitious of employees, that compounded with daily jabs like this can leave even the most decorated of prize fighters feeling defeated in the white-washed cage of the capitalism known as America.
Medium
May 20, 2020
“State and local governments are currently forecast to be facing revenue shortfalls as large as $1 trillion over the coming years,” Bivens wrote at the Economic Policy Institute blog. “If no help is forthcoming from the federal government to close these shortfalls, the result will be an economic disaster—one that is not confined to these governments.”
Common Dreams
May 20, 2020
A 2016 report from the Economic Policy Institute, for instance, found that nearly half of prime working-age households (that is, households headed by someone between the ages of 32 and 61) lacked a retirement savings account like a 401(k). According to one estimate last year from the U.S. Federal Reserve, a quarter of all Americans—including 13 percent of people over 60—had nothing saved for retirement whatsoever.
New Republic
May 20, 2020
“Media firms live in a Lake Wobegon world,” says Lawrence Mishel, distinguished fellow at the Economic Policy Institute, referencing the fictional town created by Garrison Keillor where all of the children are exceptional. “Everyone believes their executives are above average and that their pay should be above average.”
Variety
May 20, 2020
Figure 1 shows the minimum wage in 31 cities, including nearly all of the nation’s largest, regardless of whether they are subject to state pre-emption or whether the minimum applies locally or statewide.4 The highest minimums are $16.39 in Seattle; $15.59 in San Francisco; $15.25 in San Jose, California; and $15 in New York. The rate is $14 in Washington, D.C.; $12.75 in Boston; and $11 in Baltimore. Nearly all of the highest minimums are local rates; Washington state has the highest state minimum, at $13.50.
Pew Charitable Trust
May 20, 2020
“It is dire, and it is going to continue being really dire,” says Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute. “The loss of jobs amongst low-wage workers has gotten a lot of attention because those have been some of the hardest hit jobs out of the gate.” But the industries that have most visibly suffered losses don’t just employ workers from low-income households. The pandemic has also made clear that many middle-class Americans are just barely holding on. There are credit card bills and rent and student loans to pay off. Another recession could knock many right out of the middle class.
Fast Company
May 20, 2020
Not surprisingly, given the size of the economic contraction, unemployment has also exploded. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “In the past six weeks, nearly 28 million, or one in six, workers applied for unemployment insurance benefits across the country.” More than a quarter of the workforce in the following states have filed for benefits: Hawaii, Kentucky, Georgia, Rhode Island, Michigan, and Nevada. And tragically, millions of other workers have been prevented from applying because of outdated state computer systems and punitive regulations as well as overworked employment department staff. Even at its best, the U.S. unemployment system, established in 1935 as part of the New Deal reforms, was problematic, paying too little, for too short a time period, and with too many eligibility restrictions. Now, it is collapsing under the weight of the crisis.
MR Online
May 20, 2020
While he doesn’t attempt to describe it as a perfect solution, Economic Policy Institute Director of Research Josh Bivens has created a compelling new two-minute video that busts several myths about what would happen if the U.S. moved toward a Medicare for All-like program.
The Progressive Pulse
May 20, 2020