The Economic Policy Institute has documented how excess labor supply depresses pay in precisely those blue-collar occupations — construction, transportation, services. What ever happened to protecting the workers who pay the dues? Perhaps it just isn’t the priority — perhaps it hasn’t been for many decades.
The Hill
May 11, 2026
The average Arizona teacher salary stands at $64,291 for the 2024-25 school year, more than $6,900 short of what researchers at the Economic Policy Institute calculate is needed for a single adult with one child to achieve a modest but adequate standard of living in the state’s most affordable metro area.
12 News
May 11, 2026
The average Arizona teacher salary stands at $64,291 for the 2024-25 school year, more than $6,900 short of what researchers at the Economic Policy Institute calculate is needed for a single adult with one child to achieve a modest but adequate standard of living in the state’s most affordable metro area.
12 News
May 11, 2026
Covid money should not have gone into reserves even in the case of reimbursements, said Dave Kamper, an ARPA expert at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C.
“The money was given out to be spent … so, no, just moving it into reserve is not an allowed use,” Kamper said, emphasizing that he is not a lawyer. “I don’t think (reimbursing money into the general fund) would make a difference. There still has to be an obligation.”
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
May 11, 2026
Covid money should not have gone into reserves even in the case of reimbursements, said Dave Kamper, an ARPA expert at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C.
“The money was given out to be spent … so, no, just moving it into reserve is not an allowed use,” Kamper said, emphasizing that he is not a lawyer. “I don’t think (reimbursing money into the general fund) would make a difference. There still has to be an obligation.”
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
May 11, 2026
Over the last several years, the Economic Policy Institute has released a valuable series of reports examining the “economic underperformance” of Southern states titled “Rooted in racism and economic exploitation.” Here’s how the institute summarizes its overall mission: “to counter rising inequality, low wages and weak benefits for working people, slower economic growth, unacceptable employment conditions, and a widening racial wage gap.”
Consider a few of the findings from this series:
- The share of prime-age workers (ages 25–54) who have a job is lower than the national average in most Southern states.
America, America Substack
May 8, 2026
Bouncing around from daycare to summer camps to relatives’ houses can easily add up. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost of full-time child care in Florida ranges from $9,548 to $13,021, depending on the children’s ages.
Palm Beach Post
May 7, 2026
Data on annual budgets for Plumas County households from the Economic Policy Institute suggest that a 1% sales tax on applicable purchases could increase monthly expenses by about $4.00 for a single adult to $7.60 for a family of four.
The Mountain Messenger (California)
May 7, 2026
In 2025, Black women’s employment rate fell to 55.7%, one of the highest one-year declines in the past 25 years, according to an Economic Policy Institute article.
Essence
May 7, 2026
Two other superb Substacks on political economy topics are by Jared Bernstein and Adam Tooze. Bernstein, long at the Economic Policy Institute and then a senior economic adviser to Joe Biden, does a terrific job at unpacking the meaning of newly released statistics on inflation and unemployment, and reading the tea leaves of what’s occurring at the Fed. I write similar kinds of pieces, and I always learn from Jared.
American Prospect
May 7, 2026