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 8, 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 8, 2025
Investopedia
July 8, 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 8, 2025
“Black unemployment is a notably volatile series given smaller sample sizes so it’s important to watch trends over several months,” Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said in a note. “That said, the increase in Black unemployment to 6.8% is hard to ignore.”
Bloomberg
July 8, 2025
Features interview with Daniel Costa.
BBC NewsHour
July 8, 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 8, 2025
“Black unemployment is a notably volatile series given smaller sample sizes so it’s important to watch trends over several months,” Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said in a note. “That said, the increase in Black unemployment to 6.8% is hard to ignore.”
Bloomberg
July 8, 2025
Features interview with Daniel Costa.
BBC NewsHour
July 8, 2025
Today, according to the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, of the 1.2 million people incarcerated in state and federal prisons, nearly 800,000 are prison laborers, working in the facility itself or in government-run businesses or services like call centers or firefighting. About 3% work for private-sector employers, where they earn very low pay.
Letters from an American (Heather Cox Richardson)
July 7, 2025