Media clips

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• Congress built a 401(k) tax break that missed its mark

  A decade ago, Economic Policy Institute economist Monique Morrissey warned that the shift to 401(k)s had turned the retirement system into one that magnifies inequality rather than reducing it. Vanguard’s 2026 data shows the trajectory hasn’t reversed.

  The Street August 31, 2026
• The teacher pay penalty, Meta’s major settlement, and a footwear flop

  WONG: All right, well, school is back in session, and so my indicator is thematically appropriate. It is 74.8 cents on the dollar. That is the average wage that public school teachers in the US earned in 2025, compared with similar college graduates working in other professions. 74.8 cents on the dollar. The data from the Economic Policy Institute, which is a left-leaning think tank that focuses on low- and middle-income working families. And EPI economist Sylvia Allegretto published a report this week about what she calls the teacher pay penalty.

  NPR Planet Money August 31, 2026
• Understanding The Dissolution of Federal DEI Offices and Initiatives: Debate and Implications

  Critics of federal DEI rollbacks contend that dissolving DEI initiatives is an economic attack on Black American communities. Opponents draw attention to data from the Economic Policy Institute, which showcases the change in employment rates of Black women between 2024 and 2025; the net decrease in employed Black women was driven primarily by the loss of public-sector jobs, especially within the federal government. This trend is also noticed in metro areas in the U.S., coinciding with the Trump administration’s attacks on DEI through federal hiring. The Economic Policy Institute also found that 10 different metro areas making up 38.6 percent of the black labor force have experienced increased job losses, as well as a decrease in median household income.

  The Fulcrum August 31, 2026
• The political battle over grocery prices is here

  “The reason typical families have faced an affordability crunch in recent decades is not because prices have grown exceptionally fast, it’s because incomes for the vast majority have grown too slowly,” argues Josh Bivens with the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank focused on working families.

  The Washington Post August 31, 2026
• CTA campaigns for Prop. 3, renewal of income tax for high earners

  The California Teachers Association called for more funding for public schools and campaigned for Proposition 3 at a Thursday morning news conference.

  The CTA presented a joint report from the Economic Policy Institute, a research organization focused on labor and working-class issues, and the CTA Institute for Teaching. The report compared the amount states spent on education in 2022, compared to their gross domestic product, and concluded that California was in the bottom third in student spending. The state spent 20.3% of its GDP on education that year, according to the study.

  Researchers spoke to educators, school staff, administrators and youth advocacy groups to determine the state’s needs, said Hilary Wething, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute.

  “The need for greater funding for California public schools is felt across all of those stakeholders that I just mentioned, not just for the teachers facing crowded classrooms and not just from students suffering dilapidated buildings, but also superintendents, staff, and really everyone in between,” Wething said. 

  EdSource August 31, 2026
• He’s one of the workers making the State Fair run

  We don’t have the money for that? The Economic Policy Institute has a nifty new calculator that tells you exactly how much your state’s (or metro’s) taxpayers are paying for the billions of dollars ICE is getting, and what that could pay for instead.

  Iowa Starting Line August 31, 2026
• Chipotle CEO just dumped $1.1 million in stock to cover his tax bill — what it reveals about how executive pay really works

  ​It’s no secret that executives live in a different economic universe than the average worker. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), CEOs earned 281 times more than the “typical worker” as of 2024. While this pay gap has always been present, it has widened dramatically in recent years, up from just 21 times in 1965.​

  The EPI also estimated CEO compensation increased by 1,094% between 1978 and 2024 versus a 26% pay bump for average workers.

  MoneyWise August 31, 2026
• Behind prison walls, Maryland women sew flags for Fort McHenry

  Nationwide, incarcerated workers earn an average of 13 to 52 cents an hour, according to the Economic Policy Institute. But in seven states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas — almost all prison work remains unpaid. The issue is part of a much larger debate over prison labor.

  WYPR August 31, 2026
• How to Check In on Your 401(k) Fees

  Monique Morrissey, a senior economist for the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a June letter that the proposal would “gut protections for retirement savers” and prioritize maximizing investment returns over balancing risk. She cited a 2025 AARP survey finding most Americans don’t think it’s important to be able to access private market investments or cryptocurrency in their retirement accounts.

  ProPublica August 31, 2026
• Trump Administration Illegally Cut Farmworkers’ Wages, Judge Rules

  In an analysis of the Trump rule, the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, projected that the lower pay rates for H-2A workers would have a huge effect on U.S. farmworkers, reducing their annual wages by up to $3 billion a year, or up to 9% of their total wages. 

  The authors noted that the Trump administration also removed an earlier requirement that employers pay H-2A workers’ entire housing costs while they work for them.

  Huffpost August 31, 2026