According to the Economic Policy Institute, a DC-based think tank, in the first three months since Trump assumed office, his administration has shut down nearly a dozen OSHA offices in states with some of the highest workplace fatality rates like Louisiana and Alabama; attempted to close 34 Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) offices in the epicenter of the black lung epidemic; and tried to shutter the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which conducts critical research into workplace injuries and illnesses, laying off hundreds of workers in the process.
Teen Vogue
June 20, 2025
Senior Economist for the Economic Policy Institute, Adam Hersh, discusses the immediate and potential impact of the Trump tariffs, the ongoing challenges of trade fraud, and how the loss of government resources will impact all areas of society.
AML Rightsource Podcast
June 16, 2025
States are also backsliding. Many are lowering the ages that children can work in unsafe jobs and increasing the hours they can work. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 31 states have introduced bills to weaken child labor protections in recent years.
Counterpunch
June 16, 2025
While studies like those done by the Economic Policy Institute show that wage growth is exceeding inflation, many Americans don’t feel that way.
Benzinga (via Yahoo! Finance)
June 16, 2025
Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said Gen Zers were almost set up for success. Gould’s analysis of labor market data from …[paywall].
Business Insider
June 16, 2025
Resources:
- “The school bus driver shortage remains severe,” by Sebastian Martinez Hickey and David Cooper (Economic Policy Institute, 2023).
The Economics of Everyday Things podcast
June 16, 2025
But teachers overall face long-standing wage gaps with other fields. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the difference in pay, adjusted for factors like education and work history, hit a record 26.6% in 2023.
The 74
June 16, 2025
At the same time, a growing number of states are either launching or exploring the possibility of launching DOGE-like operations to comb through their own spending and perhaps advocate for more cuts to the civil service. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI) says at least 26 states have launched their own version of DOGE.
Inc.
June 16, 2025
If the bill passes as is, said Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, health providers would see a sharp increase in what is known as uncompensated care, when people without coverage get sick but are unable to pay.
“And it means hospitals and doctors no longer receive that income stream from Medicaid payments,” he said. “And lots of them are going to be forced out of business, and there’s going to be closures of hospitals, especially in rural counties.”
Public News Service
June 16, 2025
Shutting down field offices means seniors can’t get help in person; less staffing means longer wait times when they call and more frequent website crashes. “When you add hurdles, or cause a slowdown in terms of processing claims, you see losses in terms of benefits,” Monique Morrissey, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told me.
The Atlantic
June 16, 2025