Media clips
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But the MAGA crowd isn’t the only place where you’ll find support for Trump’s anti-trade actions. Glance to the left, and you’ll see that some progressives kind of like them, too — although they typically couch their approval in an “even a racist, sexist, broken clock is right twice a day” tone. For instance: In a New York Times op-ed, Josh Bivens, research director of the lefty Economic Policy Institute, said concern about trade wars and global instability “were overblown” and represented “reflexive anti-Trump sentiment rather than careful economic reasoning” about actions that “may do some good.” (Of course, the piece included a boilerplate sentence about Trump’s “xenophobia” and “bigotry.”)
The Week March 8, 2018 -
Joining DiMicco on the call was Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers, Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, Josh Bivens, director of research at the economic policy institute, and retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Adams.
Business Journal Daily March 8, 2018 -
While the media call addressed both steel and aluminum, steel garnered the lion’s share of attention, and China was identified as the biggest violator of trade. Joining Paul on the call were Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers; Dan DiMicco, chairman emeritus of Nucor Corp., retired Brig. Gen. John Adams; and Josh Bivens, director research for the Economic Policy Institute.
Industry Week March 8, 2018 -
Dive Brief:
- Wages have gone up across the board between 2016 and 2017 but some workers are merely catching up, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The study found that increases were uneven across racial, gender and other demographic lines and that the wage gap between high- and low-wage-earners is widening.
- Wage increases have been sluggish overall since 2000, despite high productivity and a growing economy, the report notes. EPI researchers conclude that if wages had risen with productivity increases, as they had in the four decades following World War II, an American earning $40,000 annually today would be earning about $61,000 annually.
- Unemployment has dropped significantly below recession levels, according to the report, but not low enough for economists to say that the U.S. has reached full employment. Pay increases still correlate with educations levels, and EPI notes that wage growth has been solid among low-income workers in states that have enacted minimum-wage
HR Drive March 8, 2018 -
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the main area of improvement is in education. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that 92.3% of young black people (aged 25 to 29) at least completed high school in 2017, effectively closing the gap with white people of the same age (92.5%). In 1968, just 54.4% of young black people finished high school, compared with 75% for whites, according to the EPI.
Quartz March 8, 2018 -
Inadequate housing? As a “snapshot” from the Economic Policy Institute noted in 2013, “Residential segregation and ongoing poverty has left African Americans in some of the least desirable housing in some of the lowest-resourced communities in America.” The proportion of the poor population living in high-poverty neighborhoods rose from 43 percent to 54 percent between 2000 and 2015, according to a report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, and the number of high-poverty neighborhoods around the country rose from 13,4000 to more than 21,300. Inadequate education? “Schools remain segregated today because neighborhoods in which they are located are segregated,” Richard Rothstein wrote in a 2013 report for the Economic Policy Institute. Rothstein adds that “raising (the educational) achievement of low-income black children requires residential integration, from which school integration can follow.”
Nation of Change March 8, 2018 -
A new report highlights challenges for black Americans. Released by the Economic Policy Institute last week, “50 Years after the Kerner Commission” says: “With respect to homeownership, unemployment, and incarceration, America has failed to deliver any progress for African Americans over the last five decades. In these areas, their situation has either failed to improve relative to whites or has worsened.” The report comes five decades after former President Lyndon Johnson’s 1968 Kerner Commission — created to study race riots of the 1960s including Detroit’s 1967 social unrest — concluded that America was moving toward two societies: one black, one white — separate and unequal. (whole story)
The Detroit News March 8, 2018 -
How much does it cost to raise a family in Shreveport-Bossier? About $70,000 a year according to the Economic Policy Institute. The nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank updated their Family Budget Calculator this week. The tool shows what families need to have an adequate, modest standard of living. The new calculator shows that an average family of four in the Shreveport-Bossier area needs an annual budget of $70,914 to thrive. That comes down to about $6,000 per month. The Texarkana area comes in just a bit cheaper at $67,707. When you compare the EPI budget calculator to actual incomes in the area, it shows that many people may not be earning enough to meet their family’s needs. According to the United States Census Bureau, the median household income in Shreveport was $38,056 in 2016. In Bossier City the median income was $47,289. According to EPI, the calculator takes into account geographic differences in cost of living and factors in things like housing, food, transportation, child care, and health care. The calculator has data on the cost of living for ten different types of families in all 3,142 counties and 611 metro areas in the country.
KSLA March 8, 2018 -
Luzerne County may not be the cheapest place to live in Pennsylvania — that honor belongs to Venango County near the northwest corner of the state. But regionally Luzerne County is the second cheapest county, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. Using data on average costs for seven different expenses — housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, other necessities and taxes — the institute calculated the monthly and yearly cost to live in all 3,142 counties nationwide. In Luzerne County, the total annual cost for a family of four — two parents and two children — hit $81,584. (whole story)
Times Leader March 8, 2018 -
“We urge Congress to pass this important legislation,” said Celine McNicholas, Labor Counsel at the Economic Policy Institute. “The Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would abolish the current regulation that prohibits employers from taking workers’ tips. We estimate that if DOL finalizes its proposal, workers will lose $5.8 billion in tips every year as tips are shifted from workers to employers, and of the $5.8 billion, nearly 80 percent—$4.6 billion—would be taken from women who are working in tipped jobs.”
Rep. Katherine Clark March 8, 2018