As Richard Rothstein wrote last year for the Economic Policy Institute, “African Americans were prevented from moving to white neighborhoods by explicit policy of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which barred suburban subdivision developers from qualifying for federally subsidized construction loans unless the developers committed to exclude African Americans from the community.
CNN Money | April 11, 2016
There’s no clear-cut explanation for why single women are more liberal than their married counterparts, but Monique Morrissey, economist at the Economic Policy Institute, says it makes sense that since single women are more economically vulnerable, they also tend to want a stronger social safety net. Married women “become more complacent because they’re not as self-reliant,” says Morrissey.
Quartz | April 11, 2016
Critics of immigration argue, however, that the H1-B program is just a way for companies to force Americans to compete with foreigners and to drive down wages. They also see it as a program that helps support outsourcing, because companies bring in foreigners to train them here, and then ship the jobs back overseas. “There’s a lot of evidence now that the program is used for cheap labor in the tech industry,” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute told the Wall Street Journal. “The fact that reforms have not been agreed upon in Congress, despite all the attention, shows just how important the H-1B program is to the business community.”
Fortune | April 11, 2016
“There’s a lot of evidence now that the program is used for cheap labor in the tech industry,” the Economic Policy Institute’s Daniel Costa told the Journal. “The fact that reforms have not been agreed upon in Congress, despite all the attention, shows just how important the H-1B program is to the business community.” http://on.wsj.com/1Xkkqjs
Politico | April 11, 2016
Sometimes states fail to allocate good teachers across school districts, with the result that poorer districts end up with the worst teachers. But unions aren’t to blame, according to a report out today from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “The misallocations are not more nor less severe or prevalent in states with stronger unions,” EPI’s Emma García and Larry Mishel write. Full report here: http://bit.ly/1XhQjZG
Politico | April 8, 2016
Critics say qualified U.S. workers are being displaced by cheaper foreign hires through the program. They highlight that many H-1Bs are issued to global outsourcing companies, particularly from India, that send workers to the U.S. to acquire skills and then move them back overseas, a practice that essentially promotes outsourcing of American jobs. “There’s a lot of evidence now that the program is used for cheap labor in the tech industry,” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank. “The fact that reforms have not been agreed upon in Congress, despite all the attention, shows just how important the H-1B program is to the business community.”
Wall Street Journal | April 8, 2016
Those on the right of the political spectrum aren’t the only ones flagging the drop in participation. Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, which advocates for workers, has said the Fed should be patient in raising rates because wage growth remains too tepid, signaling there is still plenty of labor-market slack.
Bloomberg | April 8, 2016
An October study by the Economic Policy Institute showed that free riders represented 20.3 percent of bargaining units in RTW states, compared to only 6.8 percent in non-RTW states.
Baltimore Sun | April 8, 2016
It’s a leap that some business groups and others say could be dangerous for the economy. However, Ben-Ishai of CLASP argues that higher wages leads to higher employee retention as well as more spending money for employees— both outcomes that benefit businesses and the economy as a whole. For example, an Economic Policy Institute report found that increasing the minimum wage to $7.25 over the course of 3 years created a $10.4 billion increase in household consumption.
Washington Monthly | April 8, 2016
It’s more expensive in New Mexico to put an infant in day care for a year than to pay for a year of college at an in-state school, according to a new report on the rising costs of child care across the nation. The sobering statistic is hardly unique to New Mexico, but the study by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group for low- and middle-income workers, is refueling a New Mexico lawmaker’s push to boost the state’s investments in early education programs, even as state revenues are declining.
While the federal government recommends that families spend no more than 10 percent of their household income on child care, Lopez said, the Economic Policy Institute found that New Mexico parents are spending a far higher share of their earnings on child care. The institute found that child care spending in New Mexico—at an average of nearly $8,000 a year for the care of one infant and more than $7,000 for a preschooler’s care—is about 17 percent of the median income of just under $47,000 annually.
Santa Fe New Mexican | April 8, 2016
One restriction cracks down on “earnings stripping,” which involves a foreign company loading a new U.S. subsidiary with debt. This reduces the subsidiary’s taxable income in the U.S., since interest payments on that debt become tax deductible, according to the liberal-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute. Profits funneled into the new parent company are then taxed at the lower rate in the foreign country.
The Huffington Post | April 7, 2016
Not everyone buys into that argument. An April 1 blog post on the Economic Policy Institute’s web page supports California’s tiered minimum wage pay hikes.“Moving beyond the timidity of most recent minimum wage hikes is exactly what is needed if we are to undo decades of falling wages and deteriorating living standards for the lowest-paid third of America’s workforce,” the post said. “Simply put, a bold effort is needed to make up for the lost decades in which the minimum wage was simply eroded by inflation or was increased only modestly.”
Los Angeles Daily News | April 7, 2016
Tepper’s flight to the Sunshine State — and the New Jersey legislature’s resulting woes — highlight both the economic puzzle and the perils of resolving it through increasing taxes. “The tax burden doesn’t stick out — what really sticks out is the inadequacy of their pre-tax income. That’s what’s hurting middle-class families,” Economic Policy Institute senior economist Elise Gould told the Monitor last month. “I don’t think, as a share of people’s budget, that [tax cuts are] where the relief should come. We think about middle-class families that are struggling to pay for housing, childcare,” she said. “We need to really think about increasing their wages.”
Christian Science Monitor | April 7, 2016
However, some economists have said that a slight increase in the unemployment rate – from 4.9 percent to 5 percent, along with more workers (now 63 percent) participating in the labor market – could be a more hopeful sign. The increase could be “an indication that workers are feeling optimistic and are beginning to come off the bench and take some practice swings,” Elise Gould, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told the Guardian last month.
Christian Science Monitor | April 7, 2016
Left-leaning groups in favor of the Labor Department’s forthcoming overtime rule met with the White House Office of Management and Budget Tuesday. Those groups included the Economic Policy Institute, the National Employment Law Project, the Center for American Progress, AFSCME, the AFL-CIO, and the National Women’s Law Center. Billionaire venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, who’s campaigned to expand overtime coverage, phoned in. OMB officials also met with Jimmy John’s’ franchisee association last Thursday.
Politico | April 7, 2016
Treasury’s new rules also seek to limit a feature of corporate inversion known as“earnings stripping,” in which the newly formed, foreign-based company lends money to its U.S.-based subsidiaries. When the U.S. company repays the debt, the interest on it is tax deductible, reducing the profits taxed at the higher U.S. tax rate. Meanwhile, the lower-taxed foreign company’s profits rise as it takes in the interest payments. Treasury would count several types of debt typically associated with this practice as equity, presumably limiting benefits of this practice. The progressive Economic Policy Institute argued that the earnings-stripping provision could have been more comprehensive, and speculated that companies will craft a new way around it.
The Huffington Post | April 6, 2016
In a new report published Wednesday, a group of economists argued the market alone can’t fix this problem. Researchers at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank in the District, say daycare should become a national priority, a human right on par with public education, because it contributes to academic achievement gaps, among other unequal outcomes later in children’s lives.
In order to make high-quality child care — with well-trained staff and a cognitively enriching environment — available to all in the current system, many children would have to be crammed into the best day care centers and safety would have to be severely compromised, said co-author Josh Bivens, EPI’s research and policy director. “The easiest way,” he said, “would be to shove 70 kids in one class.”
The Washington Post | April 6, 2016
But some economists are concerned about remaining downward pressure on wages. “Wage growth continues to be below target levels, a sign that there continues to be substantial slack in the labor market,” the Economic Policy Institute’s Elise Gould notes.
Politico | April 5, 2016
See excerpt: While much attention has been focused this year on the increasing polarization of American politics, there are less visible signs that—at the grassroots level where communities are built—consensus is still possible. Here’s some good news: Last month in Joplin, Missouri, nearly 800 ordinary people gathered to share the extraordinary work that they and thousands of others like them are engaged in. Judging from the 200 or so school districts represented, they are part of a rapidly growing movement that could transform school systems, and the very definition of education, across the South and Midwest, and potentially beyond. The vision for school-community engagement that began in 2009, just two years before one of the worst tornadoes in US history ripped through Joplin, has blossomed into a growing initiative called, aptly, Bright Futures.
Moyers & Company | April 5, 2016
There are a variety of reasons that a college student might choose to pursue a liberal arts education over a STEM degree. Furthermore, although we continue to hear how popular STEM skills are, only about half of students graduating with a STEM degree land jobs in the field, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
New York Daily News | April 5, 2016
A 2014 report by the Economic Policy Institute found that parts of Massachusetts were especially hard-hit by imports of Chinese computer and electronic parts, and that Massachusetts lost more jobs to trade with China than all but eight states. Our 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses the Merrimack Valley, was among the top 20 most affected districts in the country.
WBUR | April 5, 2016
Studies on NAFTA’s impact tend to conflict. Sanders cites a report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute that says the trade deal with Canada and Mexico cost 800,000 American jobs, but a report from the Congressional Research Service called NAFTA’s impact “relatively modest.”
Buffalo News | April 5, 2016
Entering the workforce as a child care trainee will increase the incomes of most participating women above the average Clinton-Peabody $7,200 household income. But is clearly not a pathway out of poverty. The Economic Policy Institute reported in November 2015 that the median hourly wage for child care workers is $10.31, less than two-thirds of the median income for other occupations.
St. Louis Post Dispatch | April 5, 2016
Others argue that decades of wage stagnation warrant ambitious increases. “The fact that these proposals are outside the bounds of recent experience does not automatically make them ill-conceived,” Economic Policy Institute’s Larry Mishel and David Cooper wrote. “Moving beyond the timidity of most recent minimum wage hikes is exactly what is needed if we are to undo decades of falling wages and deteriorating living standards for the lowest-paid third of America’s workforce.”
The American Prospect | April 5, 2016
But even defenders will admit that eventually, as the minimum wage keeps rising past its historical high-water mark, it’s possible that some jobs could be lost. You hear the phrase “uncharted waters” a lot, because anything could happen. That’s why some liberal economists, such as the Economic Policy Institute, have only gone so far as to endorse a national hike up to $12 an hour by 2020. Liberal-ish columnists have been especially skeptical.
The Washington Post | April 4, 2016
The fight for a $15 per hour minimum wage has won its biggest victories yet. California lawmakers voted for a bill to raise the minimum by 2022, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he reached a deal to hike the wage in New York City by the end of 2018. Judy Woodruff examines the consequences with Douglas Holtz-Eakin of American Action Forum and David Cooper of the Economic Policy Institute.
PBS News Hour | April 4, 2016
The government estimates 1.7 million people are “marginally attached” to the labor force: those who would like a job but haven’t looked in the past year because of school or family obligations or because they’ve simply given up hope of finding one. Some economists believe the number could be even higher. An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute estimates more than 2 million workers missing from the labor force.
The Washington Post | April 4, 2016
Most of the improvement in participation is coming from prime-age workers, those who are re-entrants, said Sophia Koropeckyj, a labor economist at Moody’s Analytics. The inflow of younger workers, those who are new entrants or have been students, accounts for less than one-quarter of the increase in the labor force, she said. “People who gave up see the unemployment rate dropping,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, offering one reason for their return. She noted that other government data show job openings are up. “Maybe they’re seeing more ads in the newspaper,” she said. “Maybe it’s just word of mouth.”
Los Angeles Times | April 4, 2016
Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said that while March’s jobs numbers showed signs of improvement, “wage growth continues to be below target levels, a sign that there continues to be substantial slack in the labor market.” She suggested the Federal Reserve continue to refrain from further interest rate hikes.
Politico | April 4, 2016