Nearly 40 million workers in the United States earn the equivalent of less than $17 per hour, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The EPI estimates that more than 22 million workers in the U.S. will see their yearly wages increase by an average of $3,200 if the legislation passes.
The Center Square
April 14, 2025
On the campaign trail last year Trump promoted massive universal tariffs and went as far as to float the idea of replacing income taxes with tariff revenue. At the time, Adam Hersh, a senior economist with Economic Policy Institute Action, told me Trump’s idea was like “dropping a nuclear bomb on a hurricane.” Hersh calculated at the time that across-the-board tariffs would have to be somewhere around 120% or 130% on incoming goods to make up for the roughly $4.2 trillion in revenue generated through income taxes. With the U.S. set to impose a 104% tariff rate on Chinese goods beginning Wednesday, it’s a bit silly to say none of this was foreseeable.
MSNBC.com
April 14, 2025
But virtually “nothing is 100% made in the U.S.A. anymore,” says Adam Hersh, senior economist at the pro-union Economic Policy Institute. “About 45% of the content of U.S.A. goods is from imports.” About half, 52%, of what Americans purchased in 2023 was “made in America,” according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Job losses will far outweigh gains, experts agree.
CNBC
April 14, 2025
Tope Folarin is the executive director of the Institute for Policy Studies. Repairers and IPS, along with the Economic Policy Institute, recently released the report, The High Moral Stakes of the Policy Battles Raging in Washington.
Newsweek
April 14, 2025
But could a provision for striking employees be beneficial?
According to the Economic Policy Institute, it would be good for companies and employees alike.
Considering extended strikes are rare (most ending within two days) and workers wouldn’t receive pay until they’ve been striking for two weeks, benefits would rarely be paid.
It could benefit low-wage workers most, because they usually have more riding on their monthly paycheck. If they are able to strike longer and pull their employer to the table without risking their housing or food security, that may help get companies to the table for negotiations.
Walla Walla Union Bulletin
April 14, 2025
Florida isn’t an aberration. The Economic Policy Institute think-tank says 31 US states introduced bills to weaken child labour protections between 2021 and 2024. “It’s much bigger than Florida,” Nina Mast, a policy analyst at the EPI, told me. She thought the bills were a “co-ordinated effort” led by business industry groups with the aim of offsetting pressure to raise wages in the context of tight labour markets and the possible mass deportation of immigrants. But while the trend isn’t limited to Florida, a number of US states including Colorado and Illinois are moving in the opposite direction to strengthen child labour protections and increase penalties for employers that breach them.
Financial Times
April 14, 2025
- The March jobs report was surprisingly strong given everything going on. Economic Policy Institute senior economist Elise Gould offered her insights here
The Valley Labor Report
April 14, 2025
BG: What’s going to happen to the cost of clothing?
Adam Hersh: A number of countries where we get a lot of consumer goods from, particularly … footwear and apparel, and lower-end consumer goods from Southeast Asia, they are getting hit with the highest tariffs. They also are some of the poorest countries: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos are singled out for some of the highest tariff rates.
The Boston Globe
April 14, 2025
A 2018 report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that the U.S. trade deficit with China, between 2001 and 2017, eliminated American jobs in all 50 states and in every single congressional district across the country — a loss of 3.4 million American jobs.
Breitbart
April 14, 2025
According to an estimate by the non-profit Coalition for Prosperous America, the U.S. lost over 3 million jobs to China since 2001 and during that time, its trade deficit ballooned. A report from the Economic Policy Institute says that this has hurt certain groups, such as Black and Hispanic communities in the U.S., more than others.
Inside EVs
April 14, 2025