Media clips
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While employers looking to import lower skilled H-2B workers must at least advertise those jobs briefly locally, that is not true in many cases for other work visas and J-1 visas. Daniel Costa, an expert on the guest worker issue at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, is particularly critical of lax H-1B regulations.
“They are not required to test the labor market to see if there are able and available U.S. workers,” he says. “They can simply hire a foreign worker if they like and don’t ever have to advertise the job in the newspaper or online, even if the local unemployment rate is sky high.”
Costa says many U.S. citizen systems analysts, programmers and other workers in the computer field are unemployed, as as are many electrical engineers.
“The main argument for hiring guest workers is that there’s a labor shortage in these occupations ,” Costa says, “but if you look at any data, it’s clear that those claims are bogus.”
Palm Beach Post June 12, 2012 -
Take a look, would you, at this very fascinating chart via Media Matters but originated by the Economic Policy Institute on public-sector job growth during recent American recessions.
In each of the three previous recent recessions of 1981, 1990 and 2001, the number of public-sector jobs increased during the darkest days. Now, first of all: hey, isn’t it interesting that our three recent recessions started under Republican presidents? Huh.
At any rate, the chart shows you that in all those bleak periods, while the private sector was draining jobs, the public sector was gaining jobs. By about 1 percent in the 2001 recession, by 3 percent in the 1990 one, and by more than 3 percent in the 1981 one. Yes, as is often the case, Ronald Reagan was the most socialistic of the lot.
The Daily Beast June 12, 2012 -
4.1 million—that’s how many jobs Paul Ryan’s budget, which Mitt Romney called “an excellent piece of work,” would eliminate through 2014, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). +11.5 million—that’s how many jobs Romney claimed last September he would create in the first term of his administration. But true to form, Romney never said how he would create that many jobs, nor has any reputable economist backed up his claim. “Nowhere in the 160 page plan could I find a stated job creation number,” wrote Rebecca Thiess of EPI. “
The Nation June 12, 2012 -
The Great Recession depressed wages for all young graduates, according to the report. Wages for young high school grads dropped 10 percent from 2007 to 2011. Pay for young college grads dropped by about 5 percent.
In 2011, young college grads earned an average of $16.81 per hour – about $35,000 annually, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
National Journal June 11, 2012 -
On a year-over-year basis, however, the U.S trade deficit widened by nearly 8 percent from about $40 billion in April 2011. “If it continues to grow at this rate, the trade deficit at the end of this year will be $40 billion more than what it was in 2011,” said Robert E. Scott, director of trade at the Economic Policy Institute.
International Business Times June 11, 2012 -
The dramatic rise in inequality has corresponded quite neatly with the decline in union membership, according to an analysis from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
As EPI notes, that divergence in income growth, especially noticeable since 1979, corresponds with a decline in union influence, as an increase in union membership would help to boost worker incomes. Indeed, if the incomes of the union rank-and-file rose by just one-tenth, middle-class incomes would go up $1,479 per year, even for middle-class families who aren’t union members, according to a September analysis from the Center for American Progress.
The Huffington Post June 11, 2012 -
In April, the Economic Policy Institute(EPI) showed how much better.
Noting that the private sector had gained 2.8 million jobs while federal, state and local governments shed 584,000 just since June 2009, EPI concluded that the public sector job losses constituted “an unprecedented drag on the recovery”:
“The current recovery is the only one that has seen public-sector losses over its first 31 months.”
Daily Kos June 11, 2012 -
This is bad news for labor and for a Democratic Party dependent on union cash and manpower. But it’s bad new for the country, too, as a report from the Economic Policy Institute shows. EPI finds that inequality has corresponded to the rise and fall of unionization in the United States “to a remarkable extent.” For instance, the passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 led to both a massive increase in unionization and a massive decrease in inequality, because “the ‘countervailing power’ of labor unions … gave them the ability to raise wages and working standards for members and non-members alike.” This correlation between unionization and relative equality has been consistent since. If you think massive and growing inequality is a problem for our democracy, then here’s one more reason to lament Tuesday’s result.
Rolling Stone June 8, 2012 -
But the most striking evidence is the glaring contrast between the 1990s and 2000s.
A 2008 study by the liberal Center for American Progress and Economic Policy Institute showed that private investment, GDP, wages, household income, employment and federal revenue all grew faster — sometimes much faster — during the high-tax Clinton years than they did during the low-tax Reagan and Bush eras.
In August 1993, President Clinton signed a law that boosted the top personal income tax rate dramatically, to 39.6% from 31%.
Wall Street Journal June 8, 2012 -
The current minimum wage is also covering a much smaller percentage of health care and tuition costs than it did just a few decades ago. Already this year, San Francisco has increased its minimum wage to $10, while 1.4 million workers are benefiting from scheduled increases in the minimum wage in eight states. According to the Economic Policy Institute, boosting the minimum wage particularly helps women and minorities, who make up a disproportionate share of minimum wage-earners.
Think Progress June 8, 2012