American companies dealing with outsourcing firms in turn save money on labor costs. Daniel Costa, who researches immigration law and policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, calls H-1B visas a “useful tool for corporate exploitation.” Costa pointed to a lawsuit from last year in which former Disney IT workers accused the company of maneuvering to replace them with cheaper, temporary immigrant labor. The former employees alleged that the company told them they would have to train their replacements — and keep quiet about it, or risk not getting unemployment benefits. A federal judge threw out the case last October.
Vice News
February 7, 2017
One ACA rule that would likely disappear under a Congressional repeal put limits on how much more insurers could charge older customers, said Josh Bivens, director of research at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Rolling back those caps would mean that older Americans trying to buy health insurance would pay more, especially in areas where there was little competition in the insurance market, as is the case in many rural states. “For older voters who aren’t in great health and don’t live in states that are densely populated, I think they’re going to be really hammered,” Bivens said. The Americans who have the most to lose from a repeal are low-income families living in the 32 states that expanded Medicaid to cover more than just the very poor, Bivens said, but even the comfortably middle class — an income bracket that broke for Trump by a narrow margin in the election — could see their costs rise.
NBC News
February 7, 2017
Josh Bivens, Director of Research at the Economic Policy Institute, estimates the proposed repeal would eliminate nearly 1.2 million jobs in 2019. Most of the job cuts would result from two factors: the loss of federal spending for premium tax credits that help people pay for marketplace coverage, and the loss of spending for Medicaid services, particularly in 31 states and the District of Columbia which expanded eligibility for the program.
The Miami Herald
February 7, 2017
Now we have a highly unbalanced trading relationship with Mexico and job loss that has taken a terrible human toll and shaken the core of manufacturing communities throughout our nation. The trade deficit stands at a record $110 billion and the Economic Policy Institute indicates the U.S. lost 850,000 jobs between 1993 and 2013.
The Hill
February 7, 2017
“In both cases you have to recognize that taxes on Mexico would fall particularly hard on workers in the United States and in Mexico, especially if you’re just talking about a tariff,” said Robert E. Scott, senior economist and director of the Trade and Manufacturing Policy Research at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Mr. Scott said a punitive tariff on Mexico would be a “disaster” that would cost U.S. jobs and likely serve to hold down wages here. It also would hurt consumers, he said.
Toledo Blade
February 5, 2017
“Even with the executive order, it will take at least six months to draft proposals like new regulations and go through Congress,” says Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at Economic Policy Institute… Costa also agrees that the H-1B system needs a more scrutiny. “Guest workers are tied to employers and often pay recruitment fees that leave them indentured—and that leaves them vulnerable and exploitable which is terrible for them but also for the U.S. workers who work alongside them.”
Forbes
February 4, 2017
The increase our Solman Scale U7 and in the unemployment rate was the result of more people entering the labor force, looking for work. The only issue is that they haven’t all found work yet, notes economist Elise Gould of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
PBS News Hour
February 3, 2017
According to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute, Arizona would be one of the biggest losers if the G.O.P. gets its way and the Affordable Care Act is repealed. The state stands to lose 41,982 jobs — translating to roughly 15 out of every 1,000 jobs in the state, or a 1.6 percent drop in employment. The Economic Policy Institute is a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. Its research focuses on how economic policy affects working-class and middle-class Americans. Their calculations put Arizona in the top 10 job-losing states, ranking seventh behind New Mexico, Kentucky, Montana, Oregon, West Virginia, and Rhode Island.
Phoenix New Times
February 3, 2017
The report represents the economy that Trump is now taking over. “President Trump is inheriting an economy on its way to full employment, but there is still more work to do,” says Elise Gould, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
CNN Money
February 3, 2017
Union membership across the country has declined drastically in the past four decades, and at the same time, wages have remained flat while inequality has risen sharply. Last year, the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, found that incomes of non-union workers had dropped as a result of the decline of organized labor. But while Trump campaigned partially on economic populism and the promise of making life better for American workers, signs suggest his administration will embrace the Republican Party’s anti-union credo.
Vice News
February 3, 2017