Media clips
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In the first corner, we have Larry Mishel and Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute, which put out a shorter paper along similar lines in June. They argue that unique features of corporate governance in the U.S. have contributed to pay for CEOs that’s significantly above their foreign counterparts, and hold up the financial sector as an area where managers have commanded outlandish salaries out of step even with returns to their shareholders.
The Washington Post August 15, 2013 -
The most compelling argument for raising the minimum wage is a humane one, but it’s also in the best interests of the economy, which is 70 percent consumer driven. A family barely scraping by after working two full-time jobs isn’t going to be doing a lot of pleasure shopping. The Economic Policy Institute estimates the proposed minimum-wage increase would generate more than $32 billion in new economic activity, leading to the creation of 140,000 full-time jobs.
The Associated Press August 15, 2013 -
The Economic Policy Institute has more on the necessity of Social Security for the vast majority of Americans. Only the wealthy, EPI has found, can count on having enough income from private retirement accounts for financial security in old age.
In 2010, households whose income was in the middle fifth percentile of incomes had, on average, only $34,981 in individual retirement savings, while households in the top fifth of incomes averaged $308,674. Other than high-income households, who receive most of the federal subsidies for IRAs and 401(k)s, virtually no one has enough savings to generate substantial retirement income. Social Security wealth and retirement income, on the other hand, are broadly shared.
Daily Kos August 15, 2013 -
Also, 74% said their retirement account has recovered from the financial crisis “about as fast” or “even faster” than expected.
And 55% of the savers in the Schwab survey said they hiked their savings rate in the past two years, while 70% said their 401(k) “is in better shape now than ever before.”
That’s a welcome trend, because many retirement savers are falling behind, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank.
The report, titled “Social Security is the Only Reason Most Americans Can Afford to Retire,” said that U.S. households in the middle-fifth percentile of income had $34,981 on average in retirement savings, in 2010.
That’s in stark contrast to the average $308,674 saved by households in the top fifth of incomes. Read more on the EPI website.
Want the bad news spelled out? Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, in Washington, said: “Other than high-income households, who receive most of the federal subsidies for IRAs and 401(k)s, virtually no one has enough savings to generate substantial retirement income.”
Wall Street Journal August 15, 2013 -
The economic crisis has precipitated a political crisis in many of these countries, most notably in Greece, where austerity and unemployment have fueled the emergence of the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party. Yet the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and the European Central Bank—known collectively as the Troika—are likely to continue demanding that periphery countries focus on debt reduction, said Josh Bivens, research and policy director for the Economic Policy Institute.
“The rate of austerity has slowed somewhat…[but] we haven’t reversed direction entirely,” he said. “We don’t have growth promoting policies going on.”
MSNBC August 15, 2013 -
“In hindsight, the organizers of the march were correct: Achieving rights without fully obtaining the resources to actualize them is only a partial victory. In this 50th anniversary year of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, we can best pay tribute to the march and all that it stood for by recommitting to achieving its unfinished goals,” wrote Algernon Austin, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy. The institute has issued a series of reports examining what it would take to achieve each of the goals of the 1963 March on Washington. Go to www.unfinishedmarch.com to read the essays.
The Washington Post August 15, 2013 -
Writing for the New York Times Economix blog, economist Nancy Folbre cited work by EPI Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Research Robert Scott on international trade and the job losses attributable to trade with China. “A growing body of economic research points to the adverse effects of lowered tariff barriers on manufacturing workers and their communities,” writes Folbre. “Whether or not the losers are beginning to outnumber the winners, free trade is increasing the economic distance between the two.”
The New York Times August 9, 2013 -
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman pointed readers to EPI President Lawrence Mishel’s paper Regulatory Uncertainty: A Phony Explanation for Our Jobs Problem, which Krugman writes is a “thorough debunking” of the idea that economic uncertainty is holding back the economy. Krugman points out that the “uncertainty index” has fallen recently, with “no visible boost to the economy.”
The New York Times August 9, 2013 -
PBS NewsHour talked to Heidi Shierholz about last month’s job creation numbers and the challenges facing our economy. Shierholz told PBS that the economy needs to add 300,000 jobs a month to get to a healthy labor market in the next three years. At the current rate of job creation, it will take at least five years to fill the jobs gap created by the Great Recession.
PBS News Hour August 9, 2013 -
The Wall Street Journal talked to EPI Economist Heidi Shierholz about the worrisome proliferation of low-wage jobs and the effect of high unemployment on incomes. “There’s nothing putting upward pressure on wage growth,” Shierholz told reporter Ben Casselman. “Your employer doesn’t have to pay you big wage increases when they know you don’t have outside options.”
Wall Street Journal August 9, 2013