In a 2011 briefing paper for the Economic Policy Institute, authors Gordon Lafer and Sylvia Allegretto note that right-to-work states are concentrated in the South, where significant changes dating to the 1950s have altered the economy — including the advent of air conditioning, better roads, desegregation and “massive federal investments in these states’ education systems.” “Any one of these factors is more likely than right to work to account for the more rapid growth of manufacturing in Southern states,” the paper says. (2011 study cited throughout)
St. Louis Post Dispatch
July 17, 2018
Proposition A will drive down wages for Missouri families: If it passes, Proposition A will drive down wages for all Missourians. New research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that “right to work” laws like Proposition A are associated with lower wages and a weaker middle class. EPI found that wages were 3.1% lower in states with right to work laws like Proposition A. EPI’s Heidi Shierholz said, “If Missouri goes in the direction of right to work, we will see that the wages of workers, including those that are not in unions, will decline. Most middle-class workers spend their wages on things like food and clothes at local retailers.” The wage decline will harm businesses where middle-class workers shop.
AFL-CIO
July 17, 2018
Trump has responded to this reality with massive tariffs — something some progressive economists agree with, at least in principle. “Tariffs are sorely needed to retaliate for theft of intellectual property, state-owned enterprises, overcapacity, and other forms of unfair trade, including more than a decade of massive currency manipulation,” Robert Scott of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) told me. (Rob quoted throughout)
The Week
July 16, 2018
U.S. imports totaled $2.9 trillion last year and exports $2.35 trillion, leaving a trade deficit of $550 billion. But Robert E. Scott, senior economist and director of trade and manufacturing policy research at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., said the U.S. economy overall is $20 trillion and doesn’t expect the tariffs to “move the dial.” “Even if tariffs double or triple, it remains a small part of the economy,” Mr. Scott said.
The Mercury News
July 16, 2018
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonprofit think tank that researches “the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States,” according to its website, released a study this week that analyzed this legislation’s impact on workers. The study stated that, while the “unions are required to represent every employee covered by a union contract,” in states with Right to Work legislation “this, in practice, means providing expensive benefits to many workers who have not paid their fair share.” It also found that the average employee earned 3.1 percent less in hourly wages in Right to Work states than the average worker with similar characteristics in non-“Right to Work” states. (whole story)
The Mexico Ledger
July 13, 2018
If you feel like academic researchers waste time studying information that seems obvious, you’re not alone. For instance, a recent paper published on the website of the Economic Policy Institute concludes that whites continue to out-earn and have lower rates of unemployment than Hispanics. This has been the case for about four decades so will probably come as no surprise to anyone. Still, we can’t simply acknowledge these sad facts and move on. The details of the data tell a few stories that can guide us in shaping policy for the fastest-growing demographic segment of our workforce. (whole column)
Arizona Daily Star
July 13, 2018
According to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, which opposes right-to-work, the policy is not associated with job gains, but it is associated with wage losses.
The Kansas City Star
July 11, 2018
Through the deduction of unions, wages in right-to-work states decrease, a new report from the Economic Policy Institute found. The report also found the RTW laws do not increase job opportunities nor boost the economy. Janelle Jones and Heidi Shierholz from the Economic Policy Institute authored the report which focused on how RTW could impact Missouri by evaluating data from RTW and comparing that to data from non-RTW states. Then-Gov. Eric Greitens signed RTW into law, a concept he campaigned on, in February 2017. Labor unions and their supporters subsequently gathered the needed to signatures to put the issue to a statewide vote in 2018. In fact, they gathered nearly three times the number of needed signatures. (whole story)
The Missouri Times
July 11, 2018
U.S. News & World Report
July 10, 2018
The Economic Policy Institute and Professor of Economics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Marie Mora and Professor and Dean of the Harrison College of Business at Southeast Missouri State University Alberto Dávila released today a report that looked at Hispanic–white wage gap among full-time workers, including how it is affected by gender, Hispanic subgroup, education level, birthplace, immigrant status, and generational status. The EPI an independent, nonprofit think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States, said in a published press statement, that in 2017, Hispanic men working full-time made 14.9 percent less in hourly wages than comparable white men (an improvement from 17.8 percent in 2000), while Hispanic women made 33.1 percent less than comparable white men (a small improvement from 35.1 percent in 2000). This gap has remained wide and relatively steady since 2000, for Hispanic men and women overall and for most of the largest subgroups by national origin. (whole story)
The Scope Weekly
July 10, 2018