That’s at least part of the picture painted by a 2018 report by the Economic Policy Institute recently dusted off by the Glenwood Springs Post Independent. Titled “The new gilded age: Income inequality in the U.S. by state, metropolitan area, and county” (epi.org/files/pdf/147963.pdf), it tracks trends that coauthor Mark Price doubts have changed in the interim.
The Sopris Sun
January 23, 2020
Employment doesn’t necessarily mean stability anymore, though. A 2018 Pew Research Center report found that despite low unemployment and a well-performing stock market, the actual buying power of most Americans hasn’t improved since the 1960s. A study from the Economic Policy Institute the same year found that in many states and cities, the levels of inequality are even greater than they were during the Gilded Age. Wage growth hasn’t kept up with either inflation or productivity, meaning that people are working more and producing more wealth, but the benefits are going mostly to the already rich. Now, even the prospect of being better off financially than one’s parents, an expectation that was for decades taken for granted in the U.S., is out of reach for many Americans.
GQ
January 23, 2020
AFT’s smaller grants went to a variety of groups, both related and unrelated to education and labor issues, from $300,000 to the Economic Policy Institute to $25,000 to the Yemeni American Merchants Association.
NEA gave its money in bigger chunks to fewer organizations. It distributed $30.2 million to 119 advocacy groups. Some of these overlapped with AFT donations, with NEA also contributing to the Economic Policy Institute ($200,000) and Priorities USA ($500,000).
The 74 Million
January 23, 2020
“The share of workers covered by a union contract is well less than half of what it was 40 years ago — caused in large part by fierce corporate opposition spending millions of dollars on anti-union campaigns and lobbying the government to weaken labor laws,” Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement.
Employers spend about $340 million a year on consultants that help keep workers from unionizing, according to a recent study from EPI that also charged management with breaking the law in 41% of union elections.
CBS News
January 23, 2020
A recent report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute noted that U.S. employers spend more than $300 million on “union avoidance” consultants who specialize in undermining union campaigns. The same report found that 4 in 10 union elections include charges that the employer broke the law, often by threatening or firing pro-union workers.
The Huffington Post
January 23, 2020
“I believe that the switch JHU announced is definitely necessary, and in the right direction,” said Emma García, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “However, it’s likely not sufficient.” Inequality of access is just one of the barriers faced by black, other minority, and relatively disadvantaged students hoping to attain a degree at a high-profile university. In many cases, there are other obstacles that intervene long before students have an opportunity to apply for a prestigious college.
Quartz
January 23, 2020
HARRISBURG PA – Investing in what is described as a “values-based” early child education system would serve 500,000 Pennsylvania children and employ 200,000 teachers, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington DC-based non-profit think tank.
The institute’s new research says efforts to expand access to early education have focused on affordability for families, and have been substantially funded by keeping teacher pay and support low. Its claims are supported by Diana Polson, a Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center policy analyst in Harrisburg, who says early child education teachers with a bachelor’s degree are paid 22 percent less than colleagues in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The Sanatoga Post
January 23, 2020
Black college graduates ages 21 to 24 earn $3.34 less per hour than their white peers, reported Jillian Berman for MarketWatch, citing an analysis by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. That contributes to a $7,000 annual difference.
Business Insider
January 23, 2020
Between 2001 and 2018, the U.S. trade deficit in goods rose more than 500%, to over $400 billion. According to the Economic Policy Institute, trade with China during the same period eliminated 3.7 million U.S. jobs, including 2.8 million jobs in manufacturing.
The Detroit Bureau
January 23, 2020