Media clips
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Trump’s most notable deviation from his party’s corporatist agenda is his opposition to trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But as Economic Policy Institute president Larry Mishel has argued, Trump’s posture “is a scam.” While Trump complains that the United States doesn’t “win on trade,” making vague promises to negotiate “better” deals, he also has a long history of manufacturing Trump-branded merchandise abroad. There is simply nothing in Trump’s record or policies to indicate that he is actually concerned about the workers affected by the trade policies he laments. “Donald Trump fashions himself a populist, but his economic plan just recycles the failed policies of deregulation and massive tax cuts for the rich and corporations,” Mishel wrote in response to Trump’s speech. “If such policies were effective, we would remember George W. Bush’s presidency as one of great prosperity instead of a period of stagnant wages for blue- and white-collar workers.”
The Washington Post August 16, 2016 -
Teachers earned 17 percent less than other college graduates in 2015, according to a new research report from The Economic Policy Institute. That’s the largest gap since 1979, when teachers’ weekly wages were 5.5 percent less than those of college graduates. The analysis adjusted for education, age, gender, marital status, geographic region and race/ethnicity. When benefits including insurance and pensions were factored in, the gap was still 11.1 percent
The Fiscal Times August 16, 2016 -
A new report released by the Economic Policy Institute has found that the gap between what teachers are paid in comparison with other careers is the largest it has ever been. Written by Sylvia Allegretto and Lawrence Mishel, the report found the wages paid to public school teachers across the nation to be 17% lower than those paid to comparable workers in 2015. Meanwhile, the difference in wages was just 1.8% lower in 1994. The authors go on to suggest that this gap is higher for experienced teachers than it is for those just entering the field.
Education News August 16, 2016 -
According to a 2015 study by the Economic Policy Institute, Wisconsin‘s black unemployment rate was nearly 20 percent in 2014.
The Associated Press August 16, 2016 -
In-home workers are disproportionately black, Hispanic and immigrant, and more than 90 percent are women, according to a 2012 study by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Nearly a quarter live below the poverty line and just 12 percent receive health insurance from their employer.
The Chicago Tribune August 16, 2016 -
According to a report published earlier this summer by Lawrence Mishel and Jessica Schieder of the Economic Policy Institute, CEOs of the 350 largest companies in the US by sales earn an average of about 276 times what the average worker at their company makes. The EPI researchers noted that this was down from 302 times the average worker’s pay in 2014, largely because CEOs tend to receive a large amount of their compensation in the form of stock and options; 2015 saw a pretty flat stock market.
Business Insider August 16, 2016 -
The latest contribution is from Josh Bivens of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. His study asks why the recovery is taking so long. The answer, he says, is not enough government spending. More pump-priming was (and is) needed. Federal budget deficits should have been (and should be) larger. Compared with other recoveries, total government spending at all levels (local, state and federal) has been weaker. The absence of this extra stimulus has held the economy back .This is the liberal analysis of the sluggish recovery. It could be right. In early 2016, Bivens notes, per capita government spending was 3.5 percent lower than at the depth of the Great Recession. By contrast, at a similar point in the recovery from the 1981-82 recession, per capita government spending was up 17 percent. If government spending now had followed the same path, says Bivens, it would have been $1 trillion higher in 2015, “translating into several years of full employment.” It’s the federal government that should borrow and spend more, says Bivens, because most states and localities are required to balance their operating budgets. (Also, many states and localities don’t want to borrow, the Wall Street Journal reports. Despite low interest rates, they’re scaling back “spending on aging roads, bridges and buildings,” because taxpayers oppose added debt.)
The Washington Post August 15, 2016 -
Despite the fact that the unemployment rate is now below 5% and there are more than 1 million fewer unemployed people than there were a year ago, all is not rosy in the labor market. There recently were 1.4 unemployed workers for every job opening — or to put it another way, there were 14 workers looking for work for every 10 job openings — according to a report released in February by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that studies low- and middle-income workers occupants don’t have any taxes to deduct, Blair said.
Market Watch August 15, 2016 -
On the other hand, Economic Policy Institute Vice President Ross Eisenbrey believes the rule will boost the economy and help workers. “Businesses have gotten used to the idea that they can work people 50 to 60 hours a week without paying them,” Eisenbrey said. “You can see how a business would make money doing that, but it’s just wrong. I think it’s immoral to work people that hard without compensating them for it.”
Danville Register and Bee August 15, 2016 -
Total wage theft in just those three cities amounted to almost $3 billion annually. The Economic Policy Institute estimated that if the patterns the study found are generalizable for the entire country, wage theft is $50 billion a year.
The Week August 15, 2016