I’ve always maintained that to understand the values of a political party, look at its budget proposals. Never has this been truer than in the past week when Republicans passed their new budget, endorsed by President Donald Trump.
As Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, stated, the Republican budget essentially dismisses any idea that the Republican Party is the party of the working class. [Paywall].
Baltimore Sun
July 14, 2025
A report released earlier this year authored by Economic Policy Institute economist Hilary Wething also poked holes in the narrative that millions of “able-bodied adults without dependents” (“ABAWDs”) were sponging off the system.
Common Dreams
July 14, 2025
State economists estimate the average annual cost of childcare for two kids is nearly $20,000 — which is 25 percent higher than the average rent in North Carolina. The Economic Policy Institute of North Carolina says the yearly cost of childcare for an infant is more expensive than in-state tuition at UNC-Chapel Hill.
WJZY
July 14, 2025
Child care in Idaho is among the biggest financial burdens for families, with costs exceeding college tuition and taking a significant bite out of household incomes, according to a recent report from the Economic Policy Institute.
Idaho County Free Press
July 14, 2025
The number of bus drivers around the nation has been decreasing for more than a decade. Ahead of the 2009 school year, approximately 290,000 bus drivers were employed by elementary and secondary schools across the country, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
USA Today High School Sports
July 14, 2025
Guests
Daniel Costa, director of Immigration Law and Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute. Visiting Scholar at the Global Migration Center at UC Davis.
WBUR On Point
July 14, 2025
What is rarely named by political leaders is just how dire life has become for the working class in America. For a single adult living in the seventh-poorest county in the United States — Holmes County, Mississippi — the Economic Policy Institute estimates a necessary income of around $42,440 per year. By contrast, the median household income there is just $28,818.
Jacobin
July 14, 2025
BASIC FACTS: See the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ report the Top Ten Facts About Social Security. The Economic Policy Institute found that Social Security lifts approximately 25 million Americans above the Supplemental Poverty Measure threshold—far more than any other program. Social Security is the most important source of retirement income for older Americans. About half of those aged 65 and over depend on Social Security for more than 50% of their family income. About 12–15% rely on it for over 90%.
Forbes
July 14, 2025
Investopedia
July 14, 2025
The critiques echo a June 2025 open letter from Nobel Prize-winning economists Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, and Simon Johnson. Published by the Economic Policy Institute, the letter argued that the bill’s priorities are misaligned with the country’s actual economic challenges.
“The United States faces significant economic headwinds—challenges that demand increased state capacity, not reduced resources through tax cuts,” the economists wrote. “This legislation fails to meaningfully address any of the nation’s core economic issues and, in fact, makes several of them worse.”
Business Insider
July 14, 2025