Tax cuts and spending cuts became the Holy Grail of American politics, and the Democrats who opposed them seemed unable to run an economy.
But that belief was not based in reality. In April the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute found that since 1949 the nation’s annual real growth has been 1.2 percentage points higher under Democratic administrations than under Republican administrations (3.79% versus 2.60%), total job growth averages 2.5% annually under Democrats compared to barely over 1% under Republicans, business investment is more than double the pace under Democrats than under Republicans, average rates of inflation are slightly lower under Democrats, and families in the bottom 20% of the economy experience income growth 188% faster under Democrats than under Republicans.
Letters from an American (Heather Cox Richardson)
October 15, 2024
Globalization and trade impacts also hit the Iron Range and rural America disproportionately along educational lines. Americans without college degrees lost nearly $2,000 a year in wages due to trade policies, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Broader research showed, as of 2008, that “international trade tends to make low-skilled workers in the United States worse off — not just temporarily, but on a sustained basis.”
Minnesota Post
October 15, 2024
Back in 1965, the Economic Policy Institute noted last month in its latest annual CEO pay report, the top execs at major U.S. corporations only averaged 21 times what typical American workers earned. Nearly a quarter-century later, in 1989, CEOs were still only averaging 61 times worker pay.
Counterpunch
October 15, 2024
When they vote in November, Missouri voters will decide on Proposition A, which would raise the state’s minimum wage and mandate paid sick leave for all private employees. If passed, the minimum wage would rise from $12.30 to $13.75 by 2025, and reach $15 per hour in 2026. Employers would be required to provide one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the move would mean more money for about 900,000 workers. The group Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages says that boost would help 137,000 parents and, by extension, 338,000 kids in the state.
Truthout
October 15, 2024
City governments might be more tolerant of short-term rentals if there were a clear economic case. But studies cited by the Economic Policy Institute found they jeopardize revenue flowing into municipal coffers because the recording and implementing of tax obligations from short-stay hosts are less comprehensive than for hotels, partly because some local agreements cede responsibility in this area to the short-stay platforms themselves.
BNN Bloomberg
October 15, 2024
In 1968, the average minimum wage worker earned $10.59 per hour in inflation-adjusted terms, which is 46% more than minimum-wage workers earned in 2022. “The minimum wage [in 2022] would be over $22 per hour had it tracked productivity increases over the last five decades,” according to the Economic Policy Institute.”
Investopedia
October 15, 2024
The bill is supported by SEIU, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the Action Center on Race and the Economy, the AFL-CIO, the American Economic Liberties Project, the American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Financial Reform, the Center for Popular Democracy, the Coalition for Patient-Centered Care, the Communications Workers of America, Community Catalyst, the Economic Policy Institute…
McKnight’s Senior Living
October 15, 2024
The bill is also endorsed by dozens of groups including the American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Financial Reform, Economic Policy Institute, Indivisible, National Employment Law Project, National Nurses United, Public Citizen, Service Employees International Union, Student Borrower Protection Center, Take on Wall Street, United for Respect, and Working Families Party.
Common Dreams
October 15, 2024
Interview with Adam Hersh for EPI Action [paywall].
MLex Market Insight
October 15, 2024
“People are shocked to learn that rich people don’t pay taxes above” the cap, said Monique Morrissey, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
…
“The Democrats really need to lose that pledge” of not raising taxes on anyone making less than $400,000, Morrissey said. “People are happy to pay more in taxes when it’s something that they see is concretely benefiting them.”
VOX
October 15, 2024