Let me explain the root of the problem: According to the Economic Policy Institute, largely due to new technology, U.S. worker productivity grew 59.7% from 1979 to 2019, meaning workers have become almost 60% more productive at their jobs in the past four decades.
However, a worker’s reward for all that extra output over the same period has only been a 13.7% wage increase. That’s a gap of 46% between what workers are being underpaid relative to their output. In more practical terms, that’s about $9 an hour in lost potential earnings for the typical worker.
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Right now, our current politics is focused heavily on trade, and trade has been a major culprit in this inequality, as America made choices to be the world’s consumer rather than the world’s factory floor. Trade deals like NAFTA, which Donald Trump renegotiated into the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, displaced nearly 683,000 U.S. jobs, most in manufacturing.
MSNBC.com
September 2, 2025
Companies that are pulling back from diversity initiatives in the midst of pressure from the Trump administration could push the Black unemployment rate further up in the future, said Valerie Wilson, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank. “It definitely impacts people’s ability to gain employment,” she said.
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2025
Adam Hersh, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said the president’s policies are broadly affecting the economy. “The mass deportation policy is not targeting criminals. They’re taking people off of worksites, out of the fields and agriculture, off of construction sites.”
Hearst TV
September 2, 2025
A 2023 report by the Economic Policy Institute found that states across the country are weakening child labor laws at the same time that violations are on the rise. The number of children working in violation of state law increased by 37% in the past year. Instead of cracking down on the violators, many states are weakening the laws.
Las Cruces Bulletin
September 2, 2025
Confirmed panelists include:
- Katelin Cruz of Western Illinois Dreamers
- Daniel Costa of the Economic Policy Institute
- Jose Oliva of the HEAL Food Alliance
- State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, D-Chicago
Investigate Midwest
September 2, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, predicts that if Trump hits his goal of deporting four million people within four years, both immigrant workers in the U.S. and U.S.-born workers would suffer job losses, particularly in construction and child care, to the tune of 3.3 million jobs held by immigrants and 2.6 million held by those born in the U.S.
The Sunn Post
September 2, 2025
The most recent data we found to support the “cheap labor’ claim was a May 4, 2020, report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a left-leaning think tank.
AIM Group
September 2, 2025
- A recent Economic Policy Institute analysis found that Trump’s deportation plans could cut 115,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, affecting both immigrants and U.S.-born workers.
Axios Pittsburgh
September 2, 2025
More recently, President Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the agency announced dismal nonfarm payroll numbers for May, June, and July. He claimed without evidence the data was rigged as part of a politically motivated attack. The decision to fire McEntarfer without clear cause may undermine confidence in future economic data, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Motley Fool
September 2, 2025