According to the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Economic Policy Institute, Uber drivers earn less than $10 an hour once commissions, vehicle expenses, and self-employment taxes are factored in. Low pay continues to be a driving factor for drivers to organize. Uber and Lyft drivers in the USA have requested union membership and collective bargaining to address low wages. Efforts to organize have been stymied in the United States by the National Labor Relations Board and in Canada by a regulatory board.
LaborPress.org
July 3, 2019
Rob Scott, director of trade and manufacturing policy research at Washington-based think tank The Economic Policy Institute, said that American manufacturing is still an important part of the American economy and one that food and beverage companies are particularly well-positioned to harness.
“In food processing, weight and distance matters,” Scott said. “We produce most of what we consume here.”
Forbes
July 3, 2019
Federal debt is growing exponentially. Do we borrow even more? Tax the rich? Based on 2017 data, it takes at least $718,766 in gross earnings for a couple or individual to be in the often maligned “top 1 percent.” Entry to the top 10 percent of earners takes $118,400. (Economic Policy Institute.) There are not enough “rich” to carry the financial burden. The middle class needs help, declare politicians, yet it’s the middle class that ultimately pays the bills.
Dunwoody Crier
July 3, 2019
Other signatories to the letter include Demos, the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. chapter of Friends of the Earth, Global Witness, the National Consumer Law Center, RootsAction.org, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Common Dreams
July 3, 2019
Facebook’s recently unveiled Libra cryptocurrency is facing pushback from groups concerned by unanswered questions about the digital coin. In an open letter Tuesday, more than 30 groups — including the Economic Policy Institute and US PIRG — urged Congress and regulators to impose a moratorium on Libra until the “profound questions” raised by Facebook’s proposal are addressed.
CNET
July 3, 2019
The latest group to call for the company to stop whilst regulators to learn more about the crypto asset project is an ad hoc coalition of 33 consumer advocacy groups. Amongst them are Public Citizen; the Economic Policy Institute; and the Center for Digital Democracy.
News BTC
July 3, 2019
La recién revelada criptomoneda de Facebook, Libra, ya enfrenta la resistencia de ciertos grupos preocupadas por todas las dudas que están sin esclarecer relacionadas a la moneda digital. En una carta abierta emitida el martes 2 de julio, más de 30 grupos, que incluyen al Economic Policy Institute y US PIRG, instan al Congreso de Estados Unidos y a las autoridades reguladoras que impongan un moratorio sobre Libra hasta que se aborden los “profundos cuestionamientos” que surgen de la propuesta de Facebook.
CNET
July 3, 2019
Unscrupulous businesses stole an estimated $429 million in wages and overtime pay from Michigan workers between 2013 and 2015, impacting more than 2.8 million workers, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. Meanwhile, Michigan taxpayers are shortchanged $107 million a year in revenue through tax fraud when businesses misclassify workers by reporting employees as self-employed independent contractors or paying them off the books as a way to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, a Michigan State University study found.
Michigan.gov
July 3, 2019
Payroll fraud cost Michigan workers more than $400 million in lost wages and overtime pay between 2013 and 2015, according to the Economic Policy Institute. A Michigan State University study found tax fraud, specifically businesses paying workers and contractors under the table, costs the state more than $100 million in revenue every year.
FOX-47 News
July 3, 2019
This lower level, the liberal Economic Policy Institute calculates, would cost 8.2 million workers $1.2 billion in extra annual pay. By their estimates, more than 60 percent of those adversely affected are non-college educated whites.
The Hill
July 3, 2019