Media clips
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Black workers have also suffered twice as large a reduction in median hourly wages: down 3.6 percent for black workers; 1.7 percent for white workers. The report, by the Center for Popular Democracy, a liberal advocacy group, and the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, is part of a broader campaign to persuade the Federal Reserve to persist in its economic stimulus campaign. “The Federal Reserve needs to craft monetary policy that tightens the labor market sufficiently so that all Americans, and African-Americans in particular, have an opportunity to benefit from the shared prosperity that a full-employment economy provides,” the two groups argue in the report, which presents unemployment and wage data for each of the Fed’s 12 regions to put a local face on the problem.
The New York Times March 4, 2015 -
The activists say the nation’s 5.7% jobless rate understates the underlying weakness of the labor market, pointing to high long-term and black unemployment as symptoms of an economy that is still ailing. The unemployment rate for blacks was 10.3% in January. “The Federal Reserve has the power–and responsibility–to foster stronger economic conditions that create opportunity for all communities,” the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal Washington think tank backing the demonstrations, said in a statement.
Wall Street Journal March 4, 2015 -
In the two-thirds of states for which data are available, the median real wages of African-Americans fell between 2000 and 2014, while pay for whites rose 2.5 percent during the same period. Two liberal think tanks, the Center for Popular Democracy and the Economic Policy Research Institute, argued in a report released today that these job-market disparities indicate the Federal Reserve should resist pressure to raise interest rates.
CBS News March 4, 2015 -
Today, we get two different perspectives on how to manage the widening income gap in the United States. We’ll hear from voices on both sides of the political spectrum and get their perspective on income inequality. We’re joined by JAMES PETHOKOUKIS of the American Enterprise Institute, and by LAWRENCE MISHEL, president of the Economic Policy Institute.
WHYY March 4, 2015 -
The economic recovery seems to have picked up steam in recent months, with the unemployment rate approaching pre-recession levels and the stock market reaching all-time highs. But for many, the economic indicator that matters the most, wage growth, has remained stubbornly flat. Today, a conversation about the causes, history, and potential fixes for an economic problem that is quickly becoming a national political issue.
New Hampshire Public Radio March 4, 2015 -
Wages have not increased for the state’s lowest-paid workers in decades, rising 8 cents an hour between 1979 and 2013, adjusted for inflation, to $9.06 an hour, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank that advocates for lower-income families.
Boston Globe March 4, 2015 -
Gordon Lafer, whose work on this issue is indispensable, points out the following: “There are many organizations that, like unions, require membership dues. For instance, an attorney who wants to appear in court must be a dues-paying member of the bar association. One may dislike the bar association, but must still pay dues if he or she wants to appear in court. Condominium or homeowners associations similarly require dues of their members. A homebuyer can’t choose to live in a condominium development without paying the association fees. Yet the national corporate lobbies supporting RTW are not proposing a ‘right to practice law’ or a ‘right to live where you want.’ They are focused solely on restricting employees’ organizations.”
Finally, economists Heidi Shierholz and Elise Gould do the rigorous statistical analysis to quantify Plumer’s “appear to tilt” point. They look at the difference in pay between RTW and non-RTW states and find that the “raw” difference, with no effort to control for the wide variety of wage determinants, is about 14 percent in favor of non-RTW states.The Washington Post March 3, 2015 -
Over the weekend, a few thousand union members gathered outside the statehouse in Wisconsin. They were there to voice their opposition to so called right-to-work legislation. If signed into law, which is expected, Wisconsin would become the 25th state with right-to-work laws on the books. These laws ban workers from having to pay union dues. Organized labor leaders say it’s another blow to their diminishing numbers. Supporters say the laws attract business and are good for economic development. Guest host Tom Gjelten and our guests discuss right-to-work laws and the future of unions.
Diane Rehm Show March 3, 2015 -
This is not a unanimous point of view. Josh Bivens, research and policy director at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told me he continues to see practically no pressure on wages in the US economy. Bivens thinks that Walmart reacted mostly to political and social pressure. He doesn’t see the wage decisions by Walmart and TJX having much influence on competitors over the next year or two. “Is this actually going to show up in economic data?” he asked. “The answer is pretty much ‘no.’ Walmart is big, compared with other companies, but compared with the overall economy it’s not big.”
Boston Globe March 3, 2015 -
The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute now is telling us that the key to economic improvement is cutting wages by adopting a so-called right-to-work law. The goal of right-to-work is to weaken or eliminate private sector unions. WPRI explains that “unionization increases labor costs (and this) makes a given location a less attractive place to invest” in. Right-to-work is supposed to solve this problem by weakening unions, thereby cutting wages and luring more companies into the state. Right-to-work succeeds in lowering wages. The premier research on the matter — whose author Heidi Shierholz is now chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor — shows that the impact of right-to-work is to lower wages for both union and nonunion workers and make it harder for people to get health insurance or pensions. But while right-to-work succeeds in cutting wages, it fails in attracting new companies.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel March 2, 2015