Media clips
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The ECB’s motive is legitimate—reducing interest rates to provide economic stimulus and fend off deflation—but the economic consequences are the same—more downward pressure on US production and employment. Japan’s currency manipulation cost 896,000 US jobs in 2013, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The Nation February 10, 2015 -
It is probably no accident that the drop in union membership has occurred as the incomes of many working Americans have stagnated. “The decline in unions is a huge factor explaining what’s happened to middle-class wages,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. He calculated it could account for one-third of the growth in wage inequality for men and one-fifth of that for women from 1973 to 2007.
Shrinking union participation affects the broader work force, since unions tend to provide spillover benefits to nonunion members. According to an article written by Mr. Mishel and David Cooper, an analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, employee compensation declined most in states like Michigan and Ohio where collective bargaining also declined sharply. “When collective bargaining is strong in an industry, what you find is that it raises nonunion employee wages too,” Mr. Mishel said.
The New York Times February 9, 2015 -
In 1979 the average worker put in 1,687 hours a year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, and by 2007 that number was 1,868. The net difference, 181 hours a year, represents more than a month of extra work every year.
Wall Street Journal February 9, 2015 -
“I don’t think [Friday’s unemployment bump] is a big deal,” says Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. “I think that is mostly due to people coming back into the labor force—some of them finding jobs, some of them not finding jobs.” In fact, as the economy continues to recover, it’s likely the unemployment rate will likely stay the same or even increase. “If had to project the unemployment rate, I would expect it would hold steady and could move a little up, but I don’t think we’re going to see it going down,” explains Gould. “As the economy gets stronger more people will enter the labor force and that will move the unemployment rate, potentially in the wrong direction.”
Time Magazine February 9, 2015 -
The report does not provide detailed information about those entering or returning to the labor force. Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute says that by age distribution they appear to mirror the active workforce as a whole: 72 percent are prime-age working adults, age 25 to 54. “The uptick [in the labor force] may be disproportionately more Hispanic workers and white workers, and fewer black workers,” Gould says.
Marketplace February 9, 2015 -
“This is a solid start to the New Year, and could be a sign that the economy has shifted into a slightly higher gear,” said Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute. Jobs gains were distributed across a wide range of industries—with significant increases in construction, manufacturing, financial activities and retail—suggesting that the employment growth is broad-based and headed in the right direction. January marks the 59th straight month of job growth, continuing the longest streak on record.
The strong jobs report may fuel concerns about the timing of Federal Reserve’s anticipated rate hike later this year. The Fed has indicated that it would wait for further signs of accelerated economic growth before raising interest rates. Gould, however, believes that such a move would be premature. “Nominal average hourly earnings grew 2.2% annually in January,” she said. “Wages need to grow faster, and for long time, before we can say the economy is truly working for working people—and before the Federal Reserve should think about tapping the brakes.”
MSNBC February 9, 2015 -
Ed Schultz explains how trade deficits hurt American jobs and the economy, making the TPP one of the most dangerous deals for middle class families.
The Ed Show February 6, 2015 -
In a paper released Wednesday by the Economic Policy Institute, economist Robert E. Scott quantified these concerns, estimating that the U.S. economy has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs to countries like Mexico and South Korea because free trade agreements with those nations did not include provisions that prevented currency manipulation. Of the nations participating in the TPP negotiations, Japan is by far America’s biggest trading partner. And according to Scott’s analysis, the U.S. trade deficit with Japan has cost America $125.3 billion in GDP and “displaced 896,600 U.S. jobs” in 2013 alone.
Fortune February 6, 2015 -
The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, has come up with an unemployment rate based on missing workers, those who are unemployed and not looking for a job because of poor job opportunities. If those jobless workers were looking and were part of the calculation, the unemployment rate would have been 9.1 percent in December, senior economist Elise Gould said. She said that while the official unemployment number is useful, “it is only one piece of the story.” “There is no one [unemployment] measure. We need to look at all of them in context together,” Ms. Gould said.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette February 6, 2015 -
Relatively few workers earn the minimum wage. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that about 2.5 million workers received raises at the start of the year, when including New York, which set a higher wage on Dec. 31, 2014. RBS economists say the number could be closer to three million, but that still accounts for just 3% of all private-sector employees.”
Wall Street Journal February 5, 2015