Media clips
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“Opaque global monetary policies combined with unfocused, poorly negotiated international trade agreements are undermining the entire project of globalization as proponents of these policies face a growing backlash among voters,” he writes. As Trump did in his speech in Pennsylvania, Barrack name-checks the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank that’s been critical of trade agreements.
Bloomberg July 19, 2016 -
Research released in June by the Economic Policy Institute outlines disparities of wealth in 26 Utah counties, revealing that the state has less income inequality than most of the U.S. — but the gaps are getting worse over time. Few regions of the state are exceptionally wealthy, and Utah’s poverty rate is a low 10.2 percent — only Wyoming and Minnesota are lower. The average U.S. poverty rate is about 15 percent, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The Economic Policy Institute’s research is based on 2013 data for single adults and couples. Nationwide, 1 percenters held 20.1 percent of the wealth, compared with 15.7 percent in Utah, giving the state a ranking of 27 out of 50 states.
Salt Lake Tribune July 19, 2016 -
Childcare is already prohibitively expensive for many Americans. Not even counting rent and food, a minimum wage worker in Hawaii, for instance, would have to devote all wages from working full-time from January through September to just cover the costs of care, according to the Economic Policy Institute.That same study also found that childcare costs exceeded rent in 500 out of the 618 regions examined in the study.
Mic July 19, 2016 -
Others argue that Baltimore’s proposed hike is “dramatic but not unprecedented.” The Economic Policy Institute’s David Cooper said that Santa Fe, N.M., raised its hourly minimum by 65 percent, to $8.50, in 2004. “Cooper said the concerns voiced then were similar to those raised about Baltimore’s bill, but have not materialized in Santa Fe. The unemployment rate there fell by about a percentage point in the three years after the hike, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and per capita income increased slightly during that same time period, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.”
Politico July 19, 2016 -
As it happens, Democrats, including presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton, have some ideas on how to do that. They would raise the minimum wage. They would offer financial assistance with child care and out-of-pocket medical expenses. They would finance public works, make it easier for unions to organize new members, and make attending public colleges debt-free. In short, they would do the sorts of things that progressive intellectuals, like those at the Economic Policy Institute, have been promoting for a long time.
Huffington Post July 19, 2016 -
CEOs now make almost 280 times what a typical American worker pulls in annually, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). But it’s not just disgruntled workers with stagnant wages – the group that many say has found a voice in Donald Trump – who are being left in the financial dust by the chief executives of U.S. corporations.
Fiscal Times July 19, 2016 -
Slavery was America’s original sin. But a close second is purposeful government policy that denied opportunity. After World War II, as Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute chronicled, the Federal Housing Administration would deny loans, or loan guarantees, to builders unless they promised not to sell to blacks. So, as white families bought homes that appreciated into wealth that enabled them to finance businesses and educations, black families realized none of that.
Hartford Courant July 18, 2016 -
Average hourly nominal wages have grown 2.0-2.2 percent annually over the past six years, according to the Economic Policy Institute, with growth in the last year credited to low inflation rates. Growth in income inequality has accompanied growth in wages over the past few years: the top 5 percent of earners experienced the fastest wage growth between 2012 and 2015. That disparity has fueled activist campaigns like the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Fight for $15 campaign.
Christian Science Monitor July 18, 2016 -
Maryland’s minimum wage increased to $8.75 from $8.25 this month, the first of several yearly bumps approved by state lawmakers two years ago to bring the rate to $10.10 an hour by 2018. David Cooper, an analyst for the liberal Economic Policy Institute, called attempts to predict the cost of the bill “pure speculation” and a “total shot in the dark.”… The hike is dramatic but not unprecedented, Cooper said. Santa Fe, New Mexico, raised its minimum wage by 65 percent — from $5.15 to $8.50 an hour — in 2004. Cooper said the concerns voiced then were similar to those raised about Baltimore’s bill, but have not materialized in Santa Fe. The unemployment rate there fell by about a percentage point in the three years after the hike, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and per capita income increased slightly during that same time period, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Baltimore Sun July 17, 2016 -
One of the most striking trends over the past several decades has been explosive growth in executive compensation, especially relative to the average worker’s salary. The ratio went from 20 to one in 1965, according to calculations of CEO pay at America’s largest companies by the Economic Policy Institute, to 301.9 to one in 2014. The dramatic rise was fueled in part by a shift in compensation plans toward stock options, which allowed chief executives’ pay to rise with the market. Accordingly, the market’s dropoff last year might be responsible for a decline in CEO pay, and a corresponding downtick in the CEO-to-worker pay ratio, EPI said.
Houston Chronicle July 15, 2016