To that, Josh Bivens, the director of research at the Economic Policy Institute, said, “It’s not hugely persuasive to me that’s why healthcare is expensive.” (Because Heritage is conservative, I asked EPI, a left-leaning think-tank, to evaluate some of their arguments.) There are better ways, Bivens argues, to lower medical prices, like bringing in more foreign-trained doctors or loosening patent protections on medical device. (Josh quoted throughout)
The Atlantic
March 22, 2017
But for supporters, it’s precisely because the city is struggling economically that it needs this wage boost. The cost of living in the city, as with others, is higher than in many surrounding areas. “Folks in Baltimore, because they are low income, need higher wages probably more than anyone,” says David Cooper, an economist at the progressive Economic Policy Institute. Supporters of the law estimate that the wage increase would directly benefit some 80,000 workers, but the enhanced economic activity would be more wide ranging, because lower-income households have what economists call a higher marginal propensity to consume: They are more likely to go out and spend every additional dollar they receive. “In a place like Baltimore, where there isn’t a lot of extra disposable income among the populace, injecting more income could be beneficial to the city at large,” says Cooper, who testified in favor of the legislation. “It could lead to more retail, more businesses, more supermarkets wanting to open in neighborhoods where they wouldn’t have had a consumer base before.” Cooper adds that not only are businesses competing against each other for lower operating costs, they’re also competing for labor. So, if Baltimore City restaurants start to pay employees a competitive wage of $15, it’s more likely they will attract workers from out of the city and raise wages in surrounding areas. That’s one spillover that many detractors don’t consider, he says.
CityLab
March 22, 2017
A new report published by the Economic Policy Institute argues that the delay of a Department of Labor retirement savings account conflict-of-interest rule will hit average Americans hard. Less than 15 days into his term, President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Labor to delay the implementation of this provision for at least two months—a move that will cost middle-class retirees billions in savings while lining the pockets of Wall Street firms… “People who have worked hard to save for retirement need and deserve this common sense protection, which most people are shocked to discover isn’t already the case,” said Heidi Shierholz, policy director for the EPI, a left-leaning think tank. “The only beneficiary of President Trump’s move to delay this rule is the financial industry, which wants to continue fleecing retirement savers for as long as possible,” adds Shierholz, a former Labor Department chief economist.
The American Prospect
March 22, 2017
Josh Bivens directs research at the Economic Policy Institute, is a great economist, an old friend, and the author of an excellent new paper I wanted folks to know about. Here he is, answering a bunch of my questions about his new work. (Q&A with Josh)
The Washington Post
March 21, 2017
If Massachusetts were an independent country, we’d be the fourth-richest nation on earth. And that wealth isn’t all flowing into the pockets of the top 1 percent. Low-wage workers earn more in Massachusetts than they do in any other state. According to the latest numbers from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, workers at the 20th percentile earned $12.41 an hour in 2016, a full $1.50 higher than the norm for the rest of the nation.
The Boston Globe
March 21, 2017
Employee productivity has skyrocketed between 2000 and 2014, yet wages and benefits have been stagnant. The Economic Policy Institute shows that productivity increased by 21.6%, yet wages grew by only 1.8% during this time period. Employees are spending more of their time doing work but their compensation hasn’t adjusted to reflect this increase in productivity. The legacy nine-to-five workday no longer exists either, and Gallup estimates that it is now 47 hours for a full-time salaried worker. Technology, especially smartphones and wearables, has greatly expanded the workday even more as employees are expected to respond to business matters anytime or place.
Quartz
March 20, 2017
Now, dozens of liberal groups and activists have signed on to help organize the Tax March. They are expecting tens of thousands to attend the main march in Washington, D.C. or one of the dozens of other demonstrations in cities across the country. On Friday, 11 new groups joined the effort, including Common Cause, CREDO, Daily Kos, the Economic Policy Institute, and Public Citizen. They joined major unions like the American Federation of Teachers, organizing groups like MoveOn.org and the Indivisible Project, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Our Revolution, and the liberal Working Families Party.
NBC News
March 17, 2017
But others disagree. In a blog post Wednesday, Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute called the Fed’s decision “disappointing” but “not surprising.” “Today’s hike seems to signal that Fed policymakers think that we’re currently at or very near full employment, and that failing to slow the pace of economic growth in coming months would soon lead to accelerating wage and price inflation. They could be right, of course, but it is important to note that there is little in actual economic data to indicate this,” Bivens wrote.
The Washington Post
March 17, 2017
With tax credits for workers earning up to $215,000, the Republicans’ health care plan would push the incentives for companies not to offer benefits further up the income spectrum, said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “It could particularly impact high-wage employers because they can send their employees into the nongroup market. There could be a push to do that because the income range on the subsidies is much wider.”
NBC News
March 17, 2017
Children qualify for federally subsidized school meals if their family’s income is at or below 130% of the federal poverty line, or $31,950 for a family of four. In rural Tennessee, where the cost of living is the lowest in the US according to the Economic Policy Institute, that family would still need $49,767 to stay solvent.
The Guardian
March 17, 2017