Media clips
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Employee advocates think the new threshold was too low and have spoken out against it for being lower than that proposed by the Obama administration in 2015. Heidi Shierholz, former chief economist at DOL during the Obama administration and current senior economist at progressive think tank Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a blog last month that the DOL’s proposal “is a dramatic weakening of a rule published just three years ago.” The group estimates more than 8 million workers who would have been eligible for overtime under the enjoined rule would not be under the new rule.
HR Dive September 24, 2019 -
REFERENCES
David Cooper, “One in Nine U.S. Workers Are Paid Wages that Can Leave Them in Poverty, Even When Working Full Time,” Economic Policy Institute, June 15, 2018, https://www.epi.org/publication/one-in-nine-u-s-workers-are-paid-wages-that-can-leave-them-in-poverty-even-when-working-full-time/.Catholic Health Association of the United States September 24, 2019 -
The second assertion, that rising productivity no longer benefits the middle class, is well exemplified by the evidence that hourly compensation for the median worker has grown by about 30% since 1973 while the average worker’s pay increased at roughly twice that pace (when comparing similar data sources and using a consumer price index). According to Josh Bivens and Larry Mishel of the progressive Economic Policy Institute, the reason for the difference in fortunes, which they assert is a result of a breakdown in the relationship between productivity and pay, is that “typical workers’ bargaining power has been intentionally hamstrung by a portfolio of intentional policy decisions on behalf of those with the most income, wealth, and power.” They specifically refer to tight monetary policy, the decline of unionization, and a low minimum wage. It seems implausible, however, that lawmakers could implement policies that would yield a tight relationship between pay and productivity for the economy as a whole but not at all for the middle class. Instead, there is a much simpler explanation available: that the median worker’s productivity is growing more slowly than the average worker’s productivity.
National Affairs September 24, 2019 -
Anyone can find themselves homeless when they can’t afford a home. Workers have experienced a 67 percent increase in wages since 1970, according to the Economic Policy Institute. This sounds pretty good, until you hear the consumer price index increased 8 times that amount over the same period.
A company causing major housing stock reduction is Airbnb, and the many home-owners and investors who have turned long-term habitable units into hotel rooms. A report from The Economic Policy Institute cautions, “The largest and best-documented potential cost of Airbnb expansion is the reduced supply of housing as properties shift from serving local residents to serving Airbnb travelers, which hurts local residents by raising housing costs.”
The Corvallis Advocate September 24, 2019 -
A study by the Economic Policy Institute found CEO pay grew by 940.3% over a 40-year period. During that same time, workers’ wages increased by 11.9%. A separate analysis by the AFL-CIO concluded that CEOs earned 287 times more than their workers in 2018.
Auburnpub.com September 24, 2019 -
According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), wage growth hasn’t bounced back to pre-recession levels, and remains fairly low and flat. In August, wages grew by 3.2% over the year — below targets of 3.5-4%. And most of whatever gains were made in the last decade of economic recovery went to the wealthy.
On a national level across all races, the top 1% captured 85% of post-recession income growth from 2009 to 2013, according to an Economic Policy Institute study on income inequality. In some states, they recovered 100% of those gains.
Yahoo Finance September 24, 2019 -
As for prices, that’s even harder to study. The labor-backed Economic Policy Institute cites a San Jose study that showed restaurant meal prices rising by just over one-half of 1 percent after a 25 percent price hike in San Jose, Calif. in 2013. And a look at restaurants near that city showed a so-called “border effect” that was less than doomsayers feared.
David Cooper, a senior analyst at EPI, said productivity increases, less turnover and other benefits from the minimum wage mean many business owners don’t have to raise prices as much as they fear after the wage jumps up.
“This has never caused the sky to fall,” said Cooper, who testified in March before the Connecticut General Assembly in favor of the hike.
Connecticut Post September 24, 2019 -
The issue, Horsford said, is critical in Nevada. The state has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the country, according to a 2018 report by the Economic Policy Institute.
Nevada Current September 24, 2019 -
The union-affiliated Economic Policy Institute (EPI) issues an annual report on the “teacher pay gap” — the difference in salaries between teachers and similar private-sector workers. This year, EPI finds that the gap is 21% nationwide. At the state level, the gaps vary widely, from a salary penalty of just 0.2% in Wyoming to a high of 32.6% in Arizona. Whenever pay disputes arise in a state, the media treat EPI’s findings as authoritative, rarely bothering to include a contrary view. After all, everyone knows that teachers are underpaid.
National Affairs September 24, 2019 -
Kayla Blado joins the conversation to explain why she says unionizing — not self-care — is the answer to burnout. Blado is the president of the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union and director of media relations for the Economic Policy Institute.
WUNC North Carolina Public Radio September 24, 2019