Media clips
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What’s particularly worrisome is the breadth of Trump’s trade action. The US would likely be justified in levying anti-dumping measures against China. Chinese government subsidies have allowed its companies to sell steel for less than their true production costs. Russia, India, Taiwan, Turkey, Brazil, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan also unfairly prop up their steelmakers, argues Robert Scott, economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
Quartz March 6, 2018 -
In the last forty-five years, American economic productivity has gone through the roof while hourly wages have stagnated. Higher productivity means more wealth, of course, but workers aren’t seeing a proportional cut of that wealth — executives and shareholders are keeping it for themselves. The fact that the US labor force is almost 75 percent more productive than in 1973 but is paid practically the same per hour is central to the story of surging economic inequality. But there’s another dimension to the story: workers’ hourly pay may have stalled out, but their average annual earnings have gone up. As elucidated in a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, there’s only one explanation for this: many people are working longer hours. In particular, those who earn the least and are most precariously employed have seen the most significant rise in work hours. The report finds that the 20 percent of wage earners in the lowest wage bracket have increased their annual work hours by nearly 24.3 percent since 1979. In the top quintile, that number only increased 3.6 percent. (whole story)
Jacobin March 6, 2018 -
Fifty years ago, the Kerner Commission said white racism put African Americans at an extreme disadvantage. A new report from the Economic Policy Institute found while some steps toward equality have been made, racial inequality around jail & prison rates, housing, and unemployment has actually become worse. Rick Hurst, publisher of An African American Point of View, spoke with Carrie Saldo about the local implications of the report.
WGBY March 6, 2018 -
Thea M. Lee, a trade economist and the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said the tariffs could actually help global markets. They would punish countries that overproduce steel and aluminum, she said, and bring stability and certainty to producers of those metals in the United States. “It’s not actually in anybody’s interest to spiral downward and get into a massive retaliatory situation,” Ms. Lee said. “I think there will be some immediate reactions, but I don’t think it will spiral out of control.”
The New York Times March 5, 2018 -
Josh op-ed.
The New York Times March 5, 2018 -
The specter of a trade war undercuts Trump’s economic argument. The president has promised that steel and aluminum tariffs will bolster domestic industries and boost American payrolls, with some labor leaders and business executives in agreement. “U.S. steel and aluminum industries have been heavily injured by massive growth of excess capacity and overproduction in China and other countries,” argues Robert E. Scott of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-of-center think tank. “More than 13,000 U.S. jobs have been lost in aluminum since 2000—and 14,000 steel jobs disappeared in [the] last two years alone.” But America’s steel and aluminum industries simply do not employ that many workers. Restoring all those jobs would be but a blip in a monthly payroll report.
The Atlantic March 5, 2018 -
Mr. Trump’s announcement today drew positive responses too, including from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. It previously called trade remedies for steel and aluminum long overdue. “Now that the tariffs have been announced, the United States should work with other nations to develop coordinated responses to unfair trade in these products,” EPI senior economist Robert Scott said on the group’s website. “This announcement should mark the beginning, rather than the end, of efforts to develop coordinated global responses to the problems of excess capacity in steel and aluminum trade.”
CBS News March 5, 2018 -
On the other hand, there is a rational basis for worrying about the state of America’s steel industry. Steel production remains a significant source of employment in the United States, and one that serves a national-security function: Relying on cheap metal from China is all well and good while the U.S. is still the dominant superpower, and Washington and Beijing are at peace; but it would be nice to keep some industrial capacity on the shelf, just in case those conditions change. If you want a quick outline of the case for Trump’s tariffs, here’s an excerpt from a report the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute released in January: (features several bullet points)
New York Magazine March 5, 2018 -
Robert Scott, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said tariffs that failed to distinguish between America’s trade allies and countries like China, which the U.S. has accused of illegal trade practices, could make it more difficult resolve trade disputes. “The best of options is higher tariffs on steel from unfair traders and quotas on everyone else,” Scott said. “The advantage to that approach is it would allows us to work with other countries to impose similar tariffs on these unfair traders.”
NBC News March 5, 2018 -
Trump’s tariff announcement drew qualified praise from some on the Left. Robert E. Scott, director of trade and manufacturing policy research at the union-backed Economic Policy Institute, urged the Trump administration to coordinate with other countries to counter unfair trade in aluminum and steel. “Trade remedies for steel and aluminum were long overdue. Trump promised quick action after announcing investigations of the national security threats imposed by steel and aluminum imports nearly a year ago,” he said in a statement. “Delays worsened the import crisis for thousands of U.S. steel and aluminum workers, many of whom are facing layoffs and plant closing announcements.”
Lifezette March 5, 2018