Media clips
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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 -
Other experts also support this theory. A study by the progressive Economic Policy Institute’s Valerie Wilson found that the African-American unemployment rate is more responsive to improvements in the overall job market than the white unemployment rate.
The Huffington Post October 30, 2015 -
As the progressive Economic Policy Institute’s Elise Gould noted, the prime-age employment-to-population ratio — a measure that includes people who have stopped looking for work and filters out elderly retirees — was still lower in August than during the low points of the last two business cycles…
The Huffington Post October 29, 2015 -
Let’s start by stipulating that the gender-based wage gap in America is a real thing. The Economic Policy Institute reported in April that “at every decile, men out-earn women,” and “at the median, women’s hourly wages are only 83 percent of men’s hourly wages.” The disparity is apparently greatest at the top brackets. Even the highest-earning actress in the world, Jennifer Lawrence, piped up about the gap between her and her male co-stars in “American Hustle” on Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter site.
San Francisco Chronicle October 29, 2015 -
Four well-qualified candidates are running for those two seats. The best are a pair of Democrats: Katie Cristol, an impressively smart and committed education policy expert, and Christian Dorsey, a think-tank executive who is broadly knowledgeable about housing and community development.
Mr. Dorsey, director of external and government affairs at the Economic Policy Institute, has run a similarly constructive campaign, offering proposals to encourage home energy efficiency and to revitalize the county’s ample stock of aging retail businesses. His career path has included stints promoting literacy for indigent children, and he has extensive volunteer experience in the county. He’d make a fine board member.
The Washington Post October 28, 2015 -
In 2011 a last-second aversion and resulting panic caused the country’s credit rating to be downgraded for the first time. “It’s really a silly and precarious situation to be in. I don’t think its end of the world scary but it is a real problem,” explained Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute. Bivens further explained an actual default would affect everything from social security and Medicare payments to possible panic for stock & bond holders and even higher interest rates for home buyers. “It’ll look so bad the political optics for breaching the debt ceiling for sitting members of congress will be pretty disastrous and then if we did actually get past that date, I say the president should absolutely say congress: you’ve given me 2 contradictory imperatives– spend this money, don’t spend this money because of the debt ceiling. I’m just going to keep spending the money.”
ABC Seven News October 27, 2015