FAIR
April 1, 2020
With the stock market plummeting and hysteria around COVID-19 (commonly known as the coronavirus) escalating, it is time to get serious about the economic policy response. Policymakers and the public will need help in distinguishing between smart responses and those that are just ideological opportunism, such as calls for cuts in taxes and regulations, for example.
The American Prospect
April 1, 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
April 1, 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
April 1, 2020
[Audio of Rob’s interview attached]
WPFW
April 1, 2020
As reported by CBS News, some economists appear to be aligned with Yang’s approach. Paul Ashworth, the chief U.S. economist at independent research firm Capital Economics, expressed support for such a stimulus to help increase consumer spending and generate economic growth. Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute, echoed Ashworth and pushed for “rapid direct payments to individuals.”
Inquisitr
April 1, 2020
In 2017, the Economic Policy Institute estimated that American workers collectively lost nearly US$15 billion due to wage theft. Canada is in a similar position. But Canada has decades-old laws in place to protect workers, so why do so many companies continue to get away with such an egregious offence?
The Manitoban
March 30, 2020
As the Economic Policy Institute shows, the Top 0.1 percent cumulative earnings since 1979 have risen 343 percent, along with the Top 1 percent earnings increasing by 157 percent. But the bottom 90 percent has seen its earnings remain almost flat at 22-percent growth.
The Philadelphia Citizen
March 30, 2020
“Even at the time, this was clearly nothing but PR. The economic theory linking corporate tax cuts to wage gains was never supposed to occur immediately. Instead, it runs through a long chain of economic events, starting with increased investment,” said Hunter Blair, budget analyst with the Economic Policy Institute. “Without an uptick in investment, typical workers have no chance of benefiting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. And for the first time since the Great Recession, investment has declined for three straight quarters. With investment cratering, there’s no reason to believe typical workers will see the benefits that proponents of the bill promised.”
The Guardian
March 30, 2020
“Disproportionately, older households have more exposure to stock market fluctuations and less time to catch up,” said Monique Morrissey, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, which focuses on poverty reduction.
The Hill
March 30, 2020