Media clips
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Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive research group, voiced frustration that while wages regularly rose faster than inflation in the 1950s and ’60s, that’s no longer the case. “Why is there this assumption that wages are only going to rise faster than inflation at very low unemployment?” he asked. “Where does that come from?”
The New York Times November 2, 2015 -
There are also about 95 million who are not in the labor force, meaning they neither gainfully employed nor seeking employment. The proportion of Americans still participating in the labor force is at its lowest point in nearly four decades. Those numbers point to “considerable slack in the labor market,” said Elise Gould, economist for the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute think tank, “and workers just don’t have the ability to bid up their wages.” Slow compensation growth indicates that employers have most of the power when it comes to setting terms, and therefore have little incentive to raise pay substantially, Gould said. She noted that the percentage of workers who quit each month has not reached pre-recession levels, an indicator that some workers feel no choice but to remain in their jobs despite unsatisfactory terms. The “quits” rate has held at 1.9 percent since April, compared to 2.3 percent in November 2006, shortly before the beginning of the recession. “People just don’t feel like they can quit their jobs,” Gould said, and that lack of exit power means business owners, not employees, are calling the shots on wages.
Al Jazeera America November 2, 2015 -
Quality internships are becoming essential, he said, and highly selective colleges are competing by promoting internships related to their students’ fields of study. Research by the Economic Policy Institute found that half of college seniors have completed internships, and graduates with paid internships receive starting average annual salaries of $52,000, while those without internships started jobs after college at $37,000, Carnevale said.
The Chicago Tribune November 2, 2015 -
Elise Gould, a senior economist for the Economic Policy Institute, told Fortune that this means that for all the positive employment news for women, “job gains have simply not kept up with prime-age population growth.”
Fortune November 2, 2015 -
It’s not uncommon to hear that U.S. students are falling behind their international peers. But a new paper from the Economic Policy Institute says it’s wrong to conclude that U.S. students aren’t making progress in math and reading based on international tests. For one, focusing on national progress in average test scores obscures the fact that disadvantaged students in the U.S. have made big gains on the Program for International Student Assessment, EPI says. Some of those gains are larger than those made by similarly disadvantaged students in other countries, the paper says. It suggests that it would be more beneficial to look at what states are doing, rather than making international comparisons. More: http://bit.ly/1ScfoDo.
Politico November 2, 2015 -
Another way to measure inequality is to compare the top 1 percent to everyone else. Using this gap, Oregon has one of the smallest gaps in the nation, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The top 1 percent in Oregon averaged $810,196 in income, or 20 times more than the average of $40,314 for everyone else.
The Oregonian November 2, 2015 -
The pro-labor Economic Policy Institute has been at the forefront of popularizing the claim that America gets not the world’s best and brightest, but its mediocre. Hence, instead of commanding a premium in the labor market, these ho-hum foreign workers undercut native wages.
The Week November 2, 2015 -
Still, it’s worth noting that the economy expanded at an average clip of 2.1 percent per quarter between 2012 and 2014. So while 2015 has thus far been a step down, it hasn’t been that much worse than the years that immediately preceded it. “In short, this growth rate represents steady improvement, but slow improvement, in the U.S. economy,” Josh Bivens, research and policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a research note Thursday, suggesting that “policymakers – particularly the Federal Reserve – should not do anything to slow the pace of recovery.”
U.S. News & World Report October 30, 2015 -
The Republicans sharing the stage, by contrast, have mostly avoided these topics, as the party opposes new mandates for businesses but is also struggling with its image among female voters. In September, Florida senator Marco Rubio unveiled a plan to offer a tax credit to businesses willing to give four to 12 weeks of paid leave. “If you’re going to have a debate about the economy, you have to talk about the economic issues that people are talking about. That the other candidates are talking about. That the president has been talking about,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive thinktank. “The candidates all have their own agendas … But for the moderators to ignore those issues feels like a large omission.”
The Guardian October 30, 2015 -
Third Way’s platform calls for passage of free trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership, making the research and development tax credit permanent and revenue-neutral corporate tax reform. The group advocates for raising tax rates on capital gains from 20 to 25 percent and for limiting deductions for high wage earners. But on the whole, it is the more corporate-minded plank of the Democratic platform, much to the distaste of its critics. “They do nothing to challenge corporate power in the workplace, other than a higher minimum wage,” said Larry Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a Third Way adversary. “If they don’t get behind policies that will really help generate middle class wage and compensation growth then they’re missing an essential piece of what’s needed, economically and politically.”
The Huffington Post October 30, 2015