A new report from the Economic Policy Institute identifies 100 ways Trump has hurt working people and the economy in the first 100 days of his administration. The report titled, “100 Days, 100 Ways Trump Has Hurt Workers,” examines how the Trump regime’s policies have undermined workers’ wages and working conditions, damaged economic growth and workers’ purchasing power. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Margaret Poydock, a senior policy analyst at EPI, who summarizes the findings of the report she co-authored.
WPKN radio (Connecticut)
May 19, 2025
“Even products that seemingly have another country of origin embody significant content that originates from China,” said Adam Hersh, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
USA Today
May 19, 2025
Trump directs agencies to skip public input for deregulation
The Economic Policy Institute opposed the move, arguing, “If this directive were allowed to proceed, federal agencies acting at the direction of the Trump administration would be able to quickly get rid of regulations that protect health and safety for workers and consumers, safeguard the public against financial fraud and scams, and protect the environment, all without any opportunity for the public to express opposition and participate in the democratic process.”
Ballotpedia
May 19, 2025
Hilary Wething, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, also told NBC News that Trump’s support of private school privatization has given leaders in red states “a green light to be more expansive in their approach moving forward.”
District Administration
May 19, 2025
Michigan’s teachers are paid less than the national average, with an average salary of about $67,000 per year compared to more than $69,500 nationwide in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The Alpena News
May 19, 2025
According to the Economic Policy Institute, Black women face a median wealth of just $200 compared to $15,640 for white women. This disparity grows even larger for Black single mothers, whose median wealth is estimated at just $0. Job loss, especially on this scale, exacerbates these inequities, making recovery even more challenging.
BET.com
May 19, 2025
Axios Denver
May 19, 2025
In the United States, a 2022 report from the Economic Policy Institute estimated that the effects over the previous two decades include the loss of 5 million manufacturing jobs and the closure of an estimated 70,000 factories. The threat of having more jobs shifted to follow has also put downward wage pressure on the jobs that remain.
Nonprofit Quarterly
May 19, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute backs up Sanders’ claims. According to a recent EPI report, U.S. productivity has surged by 86.5% from 1979 to 2024, while hourly pay for typical workers only grew by 31.7% over the same period. That means productivity has grown nearly three times faster than wages, creating a wide gap between the value workers produce and what they take home.
The EPI argues this gap is not an accident but a result of policy decisions that reduced worker bargaining power, weakened unions, and shifted more wealth to capital owners. The report points out that this shift has resulted in slower economic growth overall, with typical workers missing out on the benefits of rising productivity.
Benzinga (via Yahoo! Finance)
May 19, 2025
A new report from the magazine Travel and Leisure highlighting the 50 best places in the country to retire included four New England towns on its list.
The magazine partnered with financial website Investopedia to compile the rankings. Data from the Census Bureau, the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and more were used to rank cities based on cost of living and access to travel, healthcare, and entertainment.
Journal Inquirer
May 19, 2025