Media clips
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Heralding a new “Gilded Age,” CBS News Moneywatch journalist Aimee Picchi penned a story about an income inequality not seen in America since 1928—a year before the stock market crash that spiraled the country into the Great Depression. Referring to a recent Economic Policy Institute study, Picchi found an alarming level of wealth disparity growing in many US cities and off the charts in some including Jackson, Wyo. Some five states and 30 cities have already surpassed astounding thresholds where top earners have distanced themselves from the rest of the blue-collar pack by considerable margins. (whole story)
Buckrail July 20, 2018 -
America is heading for a level of income inequality that hasn’t been seen since 1928 — yet the richest residents in fives states and 30 cities have already surpassed that threshold, according to a new study. Unequal income growth since the 1970s has buoyed the fortunes of the top 1 percent of income earners, widening income inequality in every state, the study from the Economic Policy Institute found. Across the country, the top-earning households took home 22 percent of all income in 2015, the latest year for which the IRS has data. That’s just 1.9 percentage points lower than 1928’s record share of 23.9 percent of income. (whole story)
CBS Moneywatch July 19, 2018 -
Recently published research finds that the law would negatively affect Missouri workers—regardless of union membership. Laws restricting unions’ collective bargaining power have resulted in decreased wages and and fewer job opportunities, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). If the law were implemented, an estimated 60,000 fewer Missourians would be covered by a union contract, according to EPI. (Janelle quoted)
Rewire July 19, 2018 -
In 2012, The Washington Post reported that while there’s some evidence right-to-work laws grow business, it’s not clear that workers benefit from it. “One careful study conducted by Hofstra’s Lonnie Stevans in 2007 found that right-to-work laws do help boost the number of businesses in a state—but the gains mostly went to owners, while average wages went down,” the Post stated. The Economic Policy Institute, which opposes right-to-work, directly attributes wage decline to right-to-work laws. “Wages are 3.1 percent lower in so-called ‘right to work’ states, for union and nonunion workers alike—after correctly accounting for differences in cost of living, demographics, and labor market characteristics,” EPI reported in 2017. (Sherk has acknowledges this, but chalks it up to a lower cost of living.)
The New Republic July 19, 2018 -
Lawrence Mishel, a distinguished fellow at the Economic Policy Institute and former president of the left-leaning- pro-labor think tank, said it’s important to avoid using broad definitions of gig workers that risk overstating the number of gig workers and their ability to impact the economy. “Many reporters wrongfully equate gig work with the work of independent contractors,” he said. “Then some people, including the Federal Reserve, refer to gig work as informal work which is anything you do to make a buck.”
MarketWatch July 19, 2018 -
EPI cited at 39:30
1A July 19, 2018 -
Heidi Shierholz, chief economist at the Labor Department during the Obama administration, said that typically, in an open marketplace, workers have several points of leverage, including the ability to unionize and regulated labor standards, such as a minimum wage. But for immigrants in the country illegally and fearful that an employer could report them or their family if they push back against demands, “that bargaining power goes out the window,” Shierholz said.
That, she added, hurts citizens and immigrants who came to the United States legally as much as it hurts workers here illegally, because it “degrades the standards of that workplace.” (Heidi quoted throughout)
The Washington Post July 18, 2018 -
And it is indicative of the vice moms find themselves in: childcare in many states costs almost as much as a college education, per the Economic Policy Institute; mothers face outright discrimination in the workplace, with 31,000 reports of maternity discrimination lodged in the U.S. in over a roughly four-year period to 2015; mothers in 2012 spent an average of an hour longer with their children each day than mothers in 1965, per Quartz. We may or may not be headed into a recession in the U.S. No wonder a simple rallying cry for parents — “it’s whine o’clock, baby” — has so many applications, regardless of whether or not drinking is involved.
Romper July 18, 2018 -
Dr. Alberto Dávila, dean of the Donald L. Harrison College of Business at Southeast Missouri State University, recently co-published a new study with the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) which examines the Hispanic-white wage gap among full-time workers. In the study, Dávila and and his wife Marie Mora, professor of economics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, determined the Hispanic-white wage gap has remained wide and relatively steady. Dávila and Mora examined earnings gaps between 1979 and 2016, including how they are affected by gender, Hispanic national origin, education level, birthplace, immigrant status and generational status. (whole story)
Southeast Missouri State University July 18, 2018 -
The article “Fight over Prop A revs up” (July 15), while discussing the conflicting claims regarding the economic impact of “right to work” laws and citing a 2011 paper by the Economic Policy Institute, fails to reference a more recent study by that organization that buttresses the conclusion that “right to work” would be bad for Missouri. This past month, the institute issued an analysis of the effects of “right to work” based on data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This study concluded that “right to work” is associated with lower wages and a weakened middle class. (whole LTE)
St. Louis Post Dispatch July 18, 2018