“Today’s job report shows the economy has built on the progress of the previous administration by adding almost as many jobs in 13 months as the number of jobs added in the last 13 months of the Obama administration. However, even though the economy is generating new jobs, workers are still struggling to find economic security. Compounding this instability is the Trump administration’s proposed rule that would allow employers to confiscate workers’ hard-earned tips. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that tipped workers could lose $5.8 billion dollars a year.
Rep. Bobby Scott | March 12, 2018
“We urge Congress to pass this important legislation,” said Celine McNicholas, Labor Counsel at the Economic Policy Institute. “The Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would abolish the current regulation that prohibits employers from taking workers’ tips. We estimate that if DOL finalizes its proposal, workers will lose $5.8 billion in tips every year as tips are shifted from workers to employers, and of the $5.8 billion, nearly 80 percent—$4.6 billion—would be taken from women who are working in tipped jobs.”
Patch.com | March 12, 2018
The industry has long complained that it’s been undermined by overproduction of steel in China, which the Commerce Department says is “by far” the largest contributor toward 700 million tons of excess steel capacity worldwide. While China represents only a small fraction of steel imports to America, critics say it and other countries distort the global market by subsidizing cheap steel in order to build up their industry at home and muscle out rivals abroad. “We put those duties in place and we can help industries recover,” Robert Scott, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute who is broadly supportive of the tariffs, told NBC News. “It leads to more investment, it leads to increasing employment.”
NBC News | March 8, 2018
But the MAGA crowd isn’t the only place where you’ll find support for Trump’s anti-trade actions. Glance to the left, and you’ll see that some progressives kind of like them, too — although they typically couch their approval in an “even a racist, sexist, broken clock is right twice a day” tone. For instance: In a New York Times op-ed, Josh Bivens, research director of the lefty Economic Policy Institute, said concern about trade wars and global instability “were overblown” and represented “reflexive anti-Trump sentiment rather than careful economic reasoning” about actions that “may do some good.” (Of course, the piece included a boilerplate sentence about Trump’s “xenophobia” and “bigotry.”)
The Week | March 8, 2018
Joining DiMicco on the call was Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers, Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, Josh Bivens, director of research at the economic policy institute, and retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Adams.
Business Journal Daily | March 8, 2018
While the media call addressed both steel and aluminum, steel garnered the lion’s share of attention, and China was identified as the biggest violator of trade. Joining Paul on the call were Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers; Dan DiMicco, chairman emeritus of Nucor Corp., retired Brig. Gen. John Adams; and Josh Bivens, director research for the Economic Policy Institute.
Industry Week | March 8, 2018
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the main area of improvement is in education. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that 92.3% of young black people (aged 25 to 29) at least completed high school in 2017, effectively closing the gap with white people of the same age (92.5%). In 1968, just 54.4% of young black people finished high school, compared with 75% for whites, according to the EPI.
Quartz | March 8, 2018
Inadequate housing? As a “snapshot” from the Economic Policy Institute noted in 2013, “Residential segregation and ongoing poverty has left African Americans in some of the least desirable housing in some of the lowest-resourced communities in America.” The proportion of the poor population living in high-poverty neighborhoods rose from 43 percent to 54 percent between 2000 and 2015, according to a report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, and the number of high-poverty neighborhoods around the country rose from 13,4000 to more than 21,300. Inadequate education? “Schools remain segregated today because neighborhoods in which they are located are segregated,” Richard Rothstein wrote in a 2013 report for the Economic Policy Institute. Rothstein adds that “raising (the educational) achievement of low-income black children requires residential integration, from which school integration can follow.”
Nation of Change | March 8, 2018
A new report highlights challenges for black Americans. Released by the Economic Policy Institute last week, “50 Years after the Kerner Commission” says: “With respect to homeownership, unemployment, and incarceration, America has failed to deliver any progress for African Americans over the last five decades. In these areas, their situation has either failed to improve relative to whites or has worsened.” The report comes five decades after former President Lyndon Johnson’s 1968 Kerner Commission — created to study race riots of the 1960s including Detroit’s 1967 social unrest — concluded that America was moving toward two societies: one black, one white — separate and unequal. (whole story)
The Detroit News | March 8, 2018
How much does it cost to raise a family in Shreveport-Bossier? About $70,000 a year according to the Economic Policy Institute. The nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank updated their Family Budget Calculator this week. The tool shows what families need to have an adequate, modest standard of living. The new calculator shows that an average family of four in the Shreveport-Bossier area needs an annual budget of $70,914 to thrive. That comes down to about $6,000 per month. The Texarkana area comes in just a bit cheaper at $67,707. When you compare the EPI budget calculator to actual incomes in the area, it shows that many people may not be earning enough to meet their family’s needs. According to the United States Census Bureau, the median household income in Shreveport was $38,056 in 2016. In Bossier City the median income was $47,289. According to EPI, the calculator takes into account geographic differences in cost of living and factors in things like housing, food, transportation, child care, and health care. The calculator has data on the cost of living for ten different types of families in all 3,142 counties and 611 metro areas in the country.
KSLA | March 8, 2018
Luzerne County may not be the cheapest place to live in Pennsylvania — that honor belongs to Venango County near the northwest corner of the state. But regionally Luzerne County is the second cheapest county, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. Using data on average costs for seven different expenses — housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, other necessities and taxes — the institute calculated the monthly and yearly cost to live in all 3,142 counties nationwide. In Luzerne County, the total annual cost for a family of four — two parents and two children — hit $81,584. (whole story)
Times Leader | March 8, 2018
“We urge Congress to pass this important legislation,” said Celine McNicholas, Labor Counsel at the Economic Policy Institute. “The Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would abolish the current regulation that prohibits employers from taking workers’ tips. We estimate that if DOL finalizes its proposal, workers will lose $5.8 billion in tips every year as tips are shifted from workers to employers, and of the $5.8 billion, nearly 80 percent—$4.6 billion—would be taken from women who are working in tipped jobs.”
Rep. Katherine Clark | March 8, 2018
“We urge Congress to pass this important legislation,” said Celine McNicholas, Labor Counsel at the Economic Policy Institute. “The Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would abolish the current regulation that prohibits employers from taking workers’ tips. We estimate that if DOL finalizes its proposal, workers will lose $5.8 billion in tips every year as tips are shifted from workers to employers, and of the $5.8 billion, nearly 80 percent—$4.6 billion—would be taken from women who are working in tipped jobs.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro | March 8, 2018
McNicholas, who noted that the DOL proposal would end current regulations which prohibit employers from taking workers’ tips, estimated that, if finalized, the rule could result in workers losing $5.8 billion in tips each year. The majority of that amount — 80 percent — would come from women working in tipped jobs, she added.
MassLive.com | March 8, 2018
Teachers have complained of low pay and poor treatment by politicians for years, breeding a high level of distrust when it comes to any new promises. In West Virginia, teachers expressed skepticism on Tuesday right up until the legislature voted to approve a pay hike bill and the governor signed it. Nevertheless, American teachers are benefiting from a tailwind these days thanks to a tightening private-sector labor market, which brings stronger state revenue as well as alternative job opportunities, said Heidi Shierholz, who served as chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor during the Obama administration. “The argument that the money just isn’t there, that it’s ‘blood from a stone,’ rings a lot more hollow at a time like this,” said Shierholz, who now directs policy for the Economic Policy Institute.
Bloomberg | March 7, 2018
And as Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute has astutely reminded us, it’s not as if the U.S. doesn’t selectively protect. Successive administrations have spent great diplomatic and political capital to give exaggerated protections to politically influential industries like Big Pharma, software, and entertainment—just not to the crown jewels of unionized American manufacturing.
The American Prospect | March 7, 2018
It’s among the most depressing, perplexing findings of a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute and others as we near the 50th anniversary of King’s death. Education was supposed to be the key to eliminating such gaps. And yet, the black unemployment rate stands at 7.5 percent today compared with 6.7 percent in 1968, still roughly twice as high as the white unemployment rate. The wealth of white families is about 10 times as great as the wealth of black families, whose average wealth barely increased the past half century. That’s even though black Americans have closed the high school education gap – 90 percent of black adults have high school diplomas and the share of young black adults with college degrees has doubled – even while navigating a school system that is more segregated today than it has been in decades. Black Americans with post-graduate degrees, the most educated people in the country, barely have more wealth than white Americans who have only a high school education.
Charlotte Observer | March 7, 2018
According to an updated calculator released today by think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a single parent with two kids needs $64,170 annually to achieve a “modest but adequate” standard of living in Orleans Parish. EPI’s “Family Budget Calculator” has been newly expanded to include cost-of-living information for U.S. counties, parishes and metropolitan statistical areas. It provides estimates on such expenses as housing, child care, transportation, taxes and other essentials for families with one or two parents and up to four children. (whole story)
Best of New Orleans | March 7, 2018
Residents seem to love the Bossier lifestyle — in fact, it’s been recognized as the best place to live in the entire state of Louisiana. But that lifestyle apparently comes with a price tag: Bossier Parish is among the most expensive parishes in North Louisiana in which to live, according to a new report. The ‘Family Budget Calculator,’ produced by the nonprofit think tank the Economic Policy Institute, “measures the income a family needs in order to attain a modest yet adequate standard of living.” In Bossier Parish, that means a required budget of some $74,205, the EPI calculator says. (whole story)
Bossier Now | March 7, 2018
It’s no secret: kids cost a lot of money. In the state of Oregon, it takes more than $77,000 per year for a couple to raise two kids, according to a non-profit think tank. The Family Budget Calculator, updated by the Economic Policy Institute Tuesday, estimates the costs to raise a family in a “modest yet adequate” standard of living. The monthly costs included housing, food, transportation, health care, and child care, which is often the biggest cost. “Research over the years has shown that Oregon has some of the nation’s most expensive child care,” said Janet Bauer, policy analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy, who examined the calculator’s data. (whole story)
KDRV-TV | March 7, 2018
EPI UPDATES FAMILY BUDGET TOOL: The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute updated its Family Budget Calculator Tuesday to reflect recent economic data. The tool allows users to find out the cost of living for families of varying sizes across 611 metro areas. View it here.
Politico Pro | March 7, 2018
How much does it cost to raise a family? It all depends on where you live.
The Economic Policy Institute, a progressive, nonprofit think tank, on Tuesday updated its “family budget calculator,” which shows what’s required for families to attain an adequate — if modest — standard of living in communities across the U.S. The calculator contains data on the cost of living for 10 family types in all 3,142 counties (and county equivalents) and in all 611 metro areas. (whole story)
Market Watch | March 7, 2018
“I truly dislike the vast majority of things the Trump administration has done,” said Josh Bivens, the director of research for the liberal think tank Economic Policy Institute, who wrote an column in the New York Times Monday defending the tariffs. “It’s definitely very unusual for me to defend them. “Bivens argues that state-supported steel and aluminum plants in China create unfair competition to the U.S. industry and imposing these kinds of tariffs is a necessary first step to level the playing field. “This is not a long-term fix,” he says. “But this is a way to jumpstart that solution.”
CNN Money | March 6, 2018
Marketplace | March 6, 2018
What’s particularly worrisome is the breadth of Trump’s trade action. The US would likely be justified in levying anti-dumping measures against China. Chinese government subsidies have allowed its companies to sell steel for less than their true production costs. Russia, India, Taiwan, Turkey, Brazil, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan also unfairly prop up their steelmakers, argues Robert Scott, economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
Quartz | March 6, 2018
In the last forty-five years, American economic productivity has gone through the roof while hourly wages have stagnated. Higher productivity means more wealth, of course, but workers aren’t seeing a proportional cut of that wealth — executives and shareholders are keeping it for themselves. The fact that the US labor force is almost 75 percent more productive than in 1973 but is paid practically the same per hour is central to the story of surging economic inequality. But there’s another dimension to the story: workers’ hourly pay may have stalled out, but their average annual earnings have gone up. As elucidated in a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, there’s only one explanation for this: many people are working longer hours. In particular, those who earn the least and are most precariously employed have seen the most significant rise in work hours. The report finds that the 20 percent of wage earners in the lowest wage bracket have increased their annual work hours by nearly 24.3 percent since 1979. In the top quintile, that number only increased 3.6 percent. (whole story)
Jacobin | March 6, 2018
Fifty years ago, the Kerner Commission said white racism put African Americans at an extreme disadvantage. A new report from the Economic Policy Institute found while some steps toward equality have been made, racial inequality around jail & prison rates, housing, and unemployment has actually become worse. Rick Hurst, publisher of An African American Point of View, spoke with Carrie Saldo about the local implications of the report.
WGBY | March 6, 2018
Thea M. Lee, a trade economist and the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said the tariffs could actually help global markets. They would punish countries that overproduce steel and aluminum, she said, and bring stability and certainty to producers of those metals in the United States. “It’s not actually in anybody’s interest to spiral downward and get into a massive retaliatory situation,” Ms. Lee said. “I think there will be some immediate reactions, but I don’t think it will spiral out of control.”
The New York Times | March 5, 2018