Media clips
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An October study by the Economic Policy Institute showed that free riders represented 20.3 percent of bargaining units in RTW states, compared to only 6.8 percent in non-RTW states.
Baltimore Sun April 8, 2016 -
It’s a leap that some business groups and others say could be dangerous for the economy. However, Ben-Ishai of CLASP argues that higher wages leads to higher employee retention as well as more spending money for employees— both outcomes that benefit businesses and the economy as a whole. For example, an Economic Policy Institute report found that increasing the minimum wage to $7.25 over the course of 3 years created a $10.4 billion increase in household consumption.
Washington Monthly April 8, 2016 -
It’s more expensive in New Mexico to put an infant in day care for a year than to pay for a year of college at an in-state school, according to a new report on the rising costs of child care across the nation. The sobering statistic is hardly unique to New Mexico, but the study by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group for low- and middle-income workers, is refueling a New Mexico lawmaker’s push to boost the state’s investments in early education programs, even as state revenues are declining.
While the federal government recommends that families spend no more than 10 percent of their household income on child care, Lopez said, the Economic Policy Institute found that New Mexico parents are spending a far higher share of their earnings on child care. The institute found that child care spending in New Mexico—at an average of nearly $8,000 a year for the care of one infant and more than $7,000 for a preschooler’s care—is about 17 percent of the median income of just under $47,000 annually.
Santa Fe New Mexican April 8, 2016 -
One restriction cracks down on “earnings stripping,” which involves a foreign company loading a new U.S. subsidiary with debt. This reduces the subsidiary’s taxable income in the U.S., since interest payments on that debt become tax deductible, according to the liberal-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute. Profits funneled into the new parent company are then taxed at the lower rate in the foreign country.
The Huffington Post April 7, 2016 -
Not everyone buys into that argument. An April 1 blog post on the Economic Policy Institute’s web page supports California’s tiered minimum wage pay hikes.“Moving beyond the timidity of most recent minimum wage hikes is exactly what is needed if we are to undo decades of falling wages and deteriorating living standards for the lowest-paid third of America’s workforce,” the post said. “Simply put, a bold effort is needed to make up for the lost decades in which the minimum wage was simply eroded by inflation or was increased only modestly.”
Los Angeles Daily News April 7, 2016 -
Tepper’s flight to the Sunshine State — and the New Jersey legislature’s resulting woes — highlight both the economic puzzle and the perils of resolving it through increasing taxes. “The tax burden doesn’t stick out — what really sticks out is the inadequacy of their pre-tax income. That’s what’s hurting middle-class families,” Economic Policy Institute senior economist Elise Gould told the Monitor last month. “I don’t think, as a share of people’s budget, that [tax cuts are] where the relief should come. We think about middle-class families that are struggling to pay for housing, childcare,” she said. “We need to really think about increasing their wages.”
Christian Science Monitor April 7, 2016 -
However, some economists have said that a slight increase in the unemployment rate – from 4.9 percent to 5 percent, along with more workers (now 63 percent) participating in the labor market – could be a more hopeful sign. The increase could be “an indication that workers are feeling optimistic and are beginning to come off the bench and take some practice swings,” Elise Gould, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told the Guardian last month.
Christian Science Monitor April 7, 2016 -
Left-leaning groups in favor of the Labor Department’s forthcoming overtime rule met with the White House Office of Management and Budget Tuesday. Those groups included the Economic Policy Institute, the National Employment Law Project, the Center for American Progress, AFSCME, the AFL-CIO, and the National Women’s Law Center. Billionaire venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, who’s campaigned to expand overtime coverage, phoned in. OMB officials also met with Jimmy John’s’ franchisee association last Thursday.
Politico April 7, 2016 -
Treasury’s new rules also seek to limit a feature of corporate inversion known as“earnings stripping,” in which the newly formed, foreign-based company lends money to its U.S.-based subsidiaries. When the U.S. company repays the debt, the interest on it is tax deductible, reducing the profits taxed at the higher U.S. tax rate. Meanwhile, the lower-taxed foreign company’s profits rise as it takes in the interest payments. Treasury would count several types of debt typically associated with this practice as equity, presumably limiting benefits of this practice. The progressive Economic Policy Institute argued that the earnings-stripping provision could have been more comprehensive, and speculated that companies will craft a new way around it.
The Huffington Post April 6, 2016 -
In a new report published Wednesday, a group of economists argued the market alone can’t fix this problem. Researchers at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank in the District, say daycare should become a national priority, a human right on par with public education, because it contributes to academic achievement gaps, among other unequal outcomes later in children’s lives.
In order to make high-quality child care — with well-trained staff and a cognitively enriching environment — available to all in the current system, many children would have to be crammed into the best day care centers and safety would have to be severely compromised, said co-author Josh Bivens, EPI’s research and policy director. “The easiest way,” he said, “would be to shove 70 kids in one class.”
The Washington Post April 6, 2016