Over at the Economic Policy Institute, budget analyst Hunter Blair said the tax law is an opportunity to set up a progressive response. “Progressives should use [this bill] as a springboard for real progressive tax reform. That would be reform that raises revenue that we need to honor and expand our commitment to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and other social insurance programs, and doing so progressively,” he said. He suggests the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s budget blueprint as one model for repeal and replace. That budget would impose a financial transaction tax, increase tax rates on the highest earners, and establish a “hard work tax credit” for households with a family income of less than $150,000.
The Intercept
February 12, 2018
But that explanation has not satisfied Democrats, who say it could result in employers pocketing billions of dollars from workers. A study by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found the rule would cost tipped U.S. workers $5.8 billion a year, including $224 million for tipped workers in Ohio. That study found an estimated 16.1 percent of all tips would be pocketed by an employer. Tipped workers nationally earn a total of $36.4 billion annually.
The Columbus Dispatch
February 12, 2018
Historically, Amazon has beat the we’re-creating-jobs-drum in moves like this, especially when the jobs are operational and targeted toward lower and middle-class communities. However, as the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) noted in a recently-published report, counties that have Amazon fulfillment centers don’t observe a boost in the local economy as promised. It’s also been widely reported that some Amazon warehouse employees haven’t always worked under the best conditions.
Salon
February 12, 2018
Add one more thing to the list of retro things young Americans are rediscovering: Unions. According to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, 76 percent of new union members in 2017 were under 35. That’s pretty significant, considering that workers 34 and under make up just 40 percent of the country’s total workforce. In short, young workers may be kicking off a trend that could strengthen a labor movement that’s been brought to its knees by decades of attacks from employers, corporations, and hostile lawmakers.(Snapshot image included)
Mother Jones
February 9, 2018
According to a recent study by the Employee Rights Advocacy Institute for Law and Policy, 80% of Fortune 100 companies have used arbitration agreements to settle workplace disputes since 2010. Another recent paper, by the Economic Policy Institute, found that more than 60 million American workers are now bound by the agreements.
Los Angeles Times
February 9, 2018
Last week, President Trump’s Department of Labor (DOL) hid an internal analysis that showed that its so-called tip-pooling rule would allow employers to pocket billions in workers’ tips. They claimed that they were “unable to quantify” the rule’s effects. But we now know that they did, in fact, conduct an analysis—they just didn’t want the American public to see the result, so they buried it. I discussed what happened and what this policy is all about with Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist at the Department of Labor under President Obama. (whole interview with Heidi)
Talk Poverty
February 8, 2018
A study by the Economic Policy Institute shows the plan could take as much as $13 billion away from tipped workers each year. (EPI mentioned in video around 2:05)
KSDK
February 8, 2018
John speaks around 1:24-2:06. EPI research cited throughout.
Salon
February 8, 2018
A new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute looking at employment in counties that managed to land a fulfillment center in the last 15 years found no evidence that overall employment increased, and in some instances employment even fell relative to comparison counties. The implication was that the commitments made to win Amazon’s facilities ― subsidies likely worth over $1 billion dollars in total ― usually were enough of a drag on the rest of the economy, either by imposing a higher tax burden or diverting resources, to more than offset any jobs and spending created by Amazon.
The Huffington Post
February 8, 2018
A new report by the Economic Policy Institute points to a similar conclusion. “When Amazon opens a new fulfillment center, the host county gains roughly 30 percent more warehousing and storage jobs but no new net jobs overall, as the jobs created in warehousing and storage are likely offset by job losses in other industries,” researchers wrote. Luring in companies like Amazon is, the Economic Policy Institute argues, an ineffective strategy to boost local employment. (whole story)
The Inquisitr
February 7, 2018