Some experts put the price tag even higher. The American Society of Civil Engineers recommends $3.6 trillion in investment by 2020. ASCE is hardly unbiased: Its members would benefit from increased infrastructure investment. Asked about this potential conflict of interest, Brian Pallasch, the managing director of government relations for ASCE, said: “Engineers are in the best position to comment on this; obviously we know a little bit more about it. You’re not going to a lawyer for a health care checkup.” Although this number may cause sticker shock for some, the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, took ASCE’s “infrastructure gap” seriously enough to outline a scenario of investment to close it.
FiveThirtyEight
November 5, 2016
Low-wage, nonwhite workers are at a pivotal moment in the economy. The Great Recession exacerbated already widening racial income divides in America. Real wages fell between 2007 and 2015 for black workers at the low end of the earnings ladder and at the median, according to detailed work by Valerie Wilson at the Economic Policy Institute, while comparable wages for white workers have risen slightly.
The Washington Post
November 4, 2016
Still, the deal faces widespread opposition from both parties and questions about its potential consequences. Analysis by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found that minority workers would be disproportionately hurt by the deal and that trade with member countries cost the U.S. economy 2 million jobs last year.
The Washington Post
November 4, 2016
Economist Elise Gould of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute says the 2.8 percent wage growth suggests that “workers may be starting to gain some leverage now.” And while she’s optimistic for more growth, the 2.8 percent growth still isn’t satisfactory. “Wage growth should be stronger than 3.5 percent. 2.8 is getting there, but the economy can certainly stand stronger wage growth, certainly after a time of very slow wage growth,” she said.
PBS News Hour
November 4, 2016
“We’re not at full employment,” said Elise Gould, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank. She says full employment means “typically marginalized groups also have opportunities in the economy ― not just on average, but at the bottom. Young and old workers alike, and black and white workers.” The prime-age employment to population ratio, which accounts for Americans who have dropped out of the workforce entirely and excludes workers under 24 and over 55, just surpassed the low point of the two downturns before the recent Great Recession. “We are seeing consistent ‘singles,’ to use a baseball term,” Gould said. “We need to keep seeing it month after month, and we will see all those workers on the sidelines come back to the job market.”
The Huffington Post
November 4, 2016
Josh Bivens, research and policy director at the Economic Policy Institute. Author of “Failure by Design” and “Everybody Wins, Except For Most of Us.” (@joshbivens_dc)
On Point
November 3, 2016
The $12-an-hour level is significant because it brings the minimum wage roughly in line with its peak relative to the median wage touched in the late 1960s, said David Cooper, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that favors minimum-wage increases.
The Wall Street Journal
November 3, 2016
Building on these comments during the presidential debates, Trump added that African-Americans “are living in hell,” and reiterated that “they have no education” and “they have no jobs.” Experts told CNBC Trump’s analysis contains a grain of truth, but totally lacks in necessary nuance and historical context. “It is absolutely false to say that things are the worst that they have ever been,” said Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s program on race, ethnicity and the economy. “We know that there are definitely communities in this country with excessively high rates of unemployment and poverty for African-Americans,” she added. “But that by no means can be applied to the African-American experience in general.”
CNBC
November 3, 2016
That not only places a financial strain on families until their children are old enough to enroll in kindergarten, but it may be creating an education gap between poor American kids and wealthier families who can afford quality care. Children from less well-off families are entering kindergarten with lagging “non-cognitive” skills, such as self-control, and academic ability, a study from the Economic Policy Institute found last year… It might be hard to stomach higher taxes to pay for child care benefits, but it’s one area that has a high return on investment. The EPI noted that investing in early childhood education helps create a better-educated workforce. It would also help more parents remain in the labor market, rather than scaling back or leaving their job to become full-time parents.
CBS Moneywatch
November 3, 2016
The Economic Policy Institute says survey evidence reveals that many workers have no idea they are bound by non-compete agreements, with fewer than one in five employees consulting an attorney before signing, and only about one in ten attempting to negotiate the terms of their agreement. And as Economic Policy Institute vice president Ross Eisenbrey notes, even when workers know about the clauses, it’s a choice “between taking a job and not taking it in a tough labor market that favors employers.”
The American Prospect
November 3, 2016