In other words, most of the 401(k) asset value is concentrated in a small minority of big accounts. That’s why the Economic Policy Institute finds that pensions are a substantial source of income for many groups even as they slowly disappear, while retirement accounts are a tiny fraction for just about everyone — even rich people, because they have so many other sources of income.
The Week
August 26, 2016
Economic Policy Institute Budget Analyst Hunter Blair believes the credit shouldn’t be used to replace the minimum wage. He notes the credit is powerful on its own but should be used in conjunction with the minimum wage rather than as a potential replacement. “It is a very good program on its own,” Blair told InsideSources. “There are also significant complementaries with the minimum wage, and so it can be more beneficial in conjunction with an increase of the minimum wage.”… Those in support admit that the credit has been used as a welfare spending program. Nevertheless they note even with the refundable negative tax credit, it is still a better policy for addressing poverty. Blair adds lower income workers still face other taxes and expenditures the program helps offset too. “You certainly get the refundable portion of it but that’s important because a lot of these lower income households pay payroll taxes as well,” Blair stated. “The EITC is helping them offset the payroll taxes that might be taxing them into poverty.”
Inside Sources
August 26, 2016
Some research has raised questions about whether visa-holding guest workers fare much better than unauthorized workers, however. An Economic Policy Institute study released last year found no significant difference in pay or conditions between the two groups.
The Huffington Post
August 26, 2016
“We asked the Fed presidents to keep distressed communities in mind when they make their interest-rate decisions,” said Dan Crawford, a spokesman for the liberal Economic Policy Institute, one of the groups in the coalition.
The Associated Press
August 26, 2016
In a paper that Fed Up’s Haedtler, Dartmouth College economist Andrew Levin, and the Economic Policy Institute’s Valerie Wilson published Monday, the writers acknowledge that monetary policy can’t directly tackle inequality but argue that central bank actions can significantly impact the pace of an economic recovery — and, as a result, employment and wages.
Bloomberg
August 26, 2016
Among people identified as black in the census, 9.94 million were in poverty when Obama took office in 2009, according to Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy. That number rose to 10.76 million in 2014, the most recent year for which figures were available, an increase of about 811,000. But among those who identify as black and some other race, the number is closer to what the Trump campaign claims. Poverty in that group increased by 1 million people, from 10.58 million in 2009 to 11.58 million in 2014, Wilson said. The poverty rate, however, remained almost unchanged over that period, a time of population growth. For people identified as black alone or in combination with other races, the poverty rate was 25.9 percent in 2009 and 26 percent in 2014. Wilson also noted the poverty numbers do not reflect significant labor market gains made by African Americans in 2015 and 2016, she noted. The black homeownership rate fell from 46 percent in 2009 to 42 percent in 2015, the last full year for which figures were available, Wilson said. The decline started before Obama took office in 2009 and was a result of the financial crisis and the collapse of the housing market, Wilson said.
The Washington Post
August 26, 2016
The report carries relevance in the United States, where the time Americans spend at work has increased sharply over the past four decades. The average worker amasses 1,836 hours per year, up 9 percent from 1,687 in 1979, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The trend probably stems from technological advances: omnipresent smartphones, video chat, Google docs. (Note lower-paying jobs and work that involves physical labor are less likely to accommodate flexible schedules.)
The Washington Post
August 25, 2016
Research on the development of noncognitive skills like critical thinking, persistence and self-control suggests the skills are flexible instead of fixed and they can change depending on school quality, children’s environment and parental investment. The Economic Policy Institute and the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education: http://bit.ly/2bzZU1f.
Politico Morning Education
August 25, 2016
The US is the third-most expensive in terms of child care out of 34 countries after adjusting for government support, according to a Bloomberg analysis of data by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In parts of the US,families spend more on child care than they do on rent — included in that number: babysitting, nannies and out-of-home day care centers — according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)… “This is something that seems to take into account the actual scale of the affordability problem and targets the families that need help with child care,” Hunter Blair, EPI’s budget analyst, said of Clinton’s plan. That 10-percent cap would lead to savings ranging from $350 in Mississippi on the low end to around $8,300 in savings in Massachusetts on the high end, Blair says.
Moyers & Company
August 25, 2016
Change is coming. A study by the union-backed Economic Policy Institute predicts that the American working class will be majority nonwhite by 2032 — a decade earlier than the population as a whole. But with a disastrous, divisive showing in November, Trump could begin to usher the angry white male off center stage.
Bloomberg
August 24, 2016