Robert Scott, a trade economist at the Economic Policy Institute who supports stronger trade restrictions, says such a comment is laughable. “Total U.S. steel and aluminum imports in 2017… made up less than 2 percent of total U.S. goods imports,” Scott said in an email. “If other members of the WTO want to throw out the whole deal over what amounts to a tiny share of total U.S. and world trade, then that is their problem.” He added that a more useful response than knee-jerk alarmism about trade wars “would be to encourage other fair trading countries to join the U.S. in eliminating exports from unfairly trading nations that are the targets of these (possible) trade restrictions.”
The American Prospect
February 20, 2018
While African American women are a growing part of the American workforce—and 70 percent of black mothers are the primary earners for their families—they continue to face daunting wage and opportunity gaps. “We do live in a society where there is a severe racial wealth gap. And the people who often are least advantaged in that scheme are black women,” said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) at a panel discussion on the state of black women in the U.S. economy hosted Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). (whole story)
Spotlight on Poverty
February 20, 2018
But it’s time we take the HQ2 noise down a notch for a realistic conversation on what Amazon really represents. Missed in all the excitement over the HQ2 bid’s rise and the Eagles meteoric sports journey was the Economic Policy Institute’s report entitled “Unfulfilled Promises: Amazon fulfillment centers do not generate broad-based employment growth,” released a few days before Minneapolis glory. “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,” notes EPI researchers Janelle Jones and Ben Zipperer. “Why it matters: State and local governments give away millions in tax abatements, credits, exemptions, and infrastructure assistance to lure Amazon warehouses but don’t get a commensurate ‘return’ on that investment.” (EPI cited throughout)
Philadelphia Citizen
February 20, 2018
Many nonprofit advocacy group leaders have also signed on to the initial list. Among the more prominent names are Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self Reliance; Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First; Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute; and Dean Baker, senior economist and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Nonprofit Quarterly
February 16, 2018
Arbitration can offer defendants procedural protections not available in court, and keep potentially unpleasant details out of the public eye because proceedings are private. Roughly 60.1 million U.S. workers are subject to arbitration agreements in their employment, according to the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute.
Reuters
February 16, 2018
Report: PA Teacher, Substitute Shortages Rising
The Sanatoga Post/Joe Zlomek
A report issued Thursday (Feb. 15, 2018) by the national Economic Policy Institute claims low pay is a likely factor in Pennsylvania’s “growing teacher shortage,” and suggests pension legislation that takes effect in 2019 could make staffing classrooms even more difficult in the future. Written by Jeffrey Keefe, professor emeritus at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations, it indicates weekly compensation including wages and benefits for the state’s teachers is almost 7-percent lower than pay for comparable full-time employees in other professions. (whole story)
The Sanatoga Post
February 16, 2018
Low pay is a likely factor in Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage, according to a new report. The report, from the Economic Policy Institute, shows that weekly compensation, including wages and benefits, for teachers in the Keystone State are almost 7 percent lower than pay for comparable full time employees in other professions. According to Dolores McCracken, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, this may explain a dramatic drop in the number of students pursuing teaching degrees. “We’ve also seen a similar decline in the number of teaching certificates that are being issued by the Department of Education,” she says. “In fact, we’ve seen these numbers drop by 66 percent since 2014.” (whole story)
Public News Service
February 16, 2018
Black women are uniquely disadvantaged in the workforce despite the critical role they play in the economy, argued lawmakers and experts during a discussion Thursday. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a progressive research nonprofit, hosted the discussion to examine the state of black women in the economy. Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison and Bonnie Watson Coleman talked before a panel of experts who detailed how black women contribute to the economy and the problems they still face. (whole story)
Inside Sources
February 16, 2018
Janelle speaks 5:26-8:19ish
NPR's Code Switch
February 15, 2018
The question of why american workers’ wages have stagnated for decades even as their productivity—how many goods or services they can produce or deliver—climbed higher has befuddled many an economist and policy-maker. According to the Economic Policy Institute, from 1973 to 2014 most workers barely saw any increase in pay, adjusted for inflation—about a 9 percent raise overall, or just 0.2 percent a year. Yet in that same period, productivity rose 72 percent, or 1.33 percent a year.
The Nation
February 15, 2018