Media clips
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Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, agrees that overall computerization creates and changes more jobs than it destroys, but he says Bessen is “too bold” to say that it leads to an increase in demand for skilled labor in all occupations. “If there was a shortage of advanced jobs you would not see recent college grads working for free as interns,” Mishel says. ” You would not see wages of college grads stagnant for the last 13 years.”
U.S. News & World Report December 9, 2015 -
Our friend and former colleague Jared Bernstein has mounted a small but strategic retreat in the campaign to have the Fed continue focusing on full employment. He has written that Friday’s jobs report, though not stellar, was good enough to make a December increase in interest rates a near-certainty. He then argues that this might not be the worst thing in the world: “Even while I do not see much rationale for an increase, especially given elevated underemployment and the stark lack of inflationary pressures, given their recent messaging, a non-liftoff in December would suggest the economy is a lot worse than they thought in some secret way they’ve been keeping from us. Such a negative surprise would be ill-advised. “Presuming that they won’t want to go there, it’s now all about the ‘path to normalization:’ how fast they raise. … [I]f I’m Chair Yellen, my message to the hawks is: ‘OK, you got your rate liftoff even though the data weren’t really there for it. Now back…off and let’s go back to being data-driven about future increases.’”
Jared is right that the larger economic question is not just about a 25-basis-point increase this month but about how rapidly interest rates climb over the next year or so. But we’re still really uncomfortable with starting lift-off before the data support it. Once you start indulging faith-based arguments about monetary policy, you’ve lowered the bar for data-driven analysis, making smart policy choices harder and harder to sustain.
Wall Street Journal December 7, 2015 -
[Some] analysts and many liberal Democrats believe the Fed may still be moving too early while wage gains remain soft and economic growth is still struggling to stay above 2 percent. They fear tighter monetary policy will choke off real progress on wage gains — the lack of which has left the electorate sour and dissatisfied “‘They should wait. It is still too soon to declare victory,’ said Elise Gould, senior economist at the progressive Economic Policy Institute.
Politico December 7, 2015 -
While financial markets have been clamoring for a rate hike to ease uncertainty, not everyone is thrilled with the prospect of an immediate hike. “It’s all about wages,” said Josh Bivens, research and policy director at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “We have a lot of room before we have an overheating economy that’s generating inflation,” Bivens said, arguing that the Fed should wait until wage increases ramp up before hiking rates. The Fed is charged with maximizing employment and keeping inflation in check. Thirteen million jobs have returned since the depths of the recession. But with inflation largely nonexistent and wage gains yet to break out, Bivens said, the Fed shouldn’t rush to lift rates. In the latest jobs report, wages picked up 2.3 percent overall and 2 percent for nonsupervisory workers. But wage gains of at least 3.5 percent are necessary to push up inflation, Bivens said, as companies counter the higher cost of compensation by increasing prices of goods and services.
International Business Times December 7, 2015 -
But the federal funds rate flatlines at zero whenever the Fed tries to chase the real natural rate of interest below the zero lower bound. The Fed isn’t just prevented from helping the economy — it’s effectively forced to hold it back from recovering. This, according to Josh Bivens, research director of the Economic Policy Institute, is why fiscal policy is the best option for boosting the economy out of recessions: It’s direct spending, and faces no zero lower bound problem.
The Week December 7, 2015 -
As the unemployment rate has gone down, employers have had to offer better pay to attract better job applicants. While economists like Faucher have declared this a “very good” report, not everyone agrees. “While many people are saying this morning’s report clears the way for liftoff, it still is too soon to declare victory in the economy. We won’t be at full employment until we see durable acceleration of wage growth, and only once we have achieved full employment will all workers be able to get the jobs they need and the hours they want, and be better positioned to negotiate for higher pay,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “Yes, interest rates have been low for a long time, but the Fed should not raise rates simply to scratch a seven year itch.”
The Guardian December 7, 2015 -
Yet, fiscal doves continue to argue that it’s too soon to raise rates. On Twitter, Elise Gould of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute cautioned against scratching the itch — that is, moving on interest rates — too soon. “I don’t think the matter of time should determine it, the data should determine it,” Gould told the PBS NewsHour. She points to wages as one place that still needs improving. Average hourly earnings rose a mere 4 cents to $25.25 in November, following a 9 cent gain in October, and have risen by only 2.3 percent over the year.
PBS News Hour December 7, 2015 -
The case also emerges against a backdrop of two decades in which black freshman enrollment at UT has remained essentially flat, averaging 4.3 percent of the class, despite the university’s efforts in recruitment, scholarships, holistic application review and other measures. Nor has the automatic admission law done much to boost black enrollment. Ostensibly race-neutral, the law “exploits the fact that Texas high schools are highly segregated,” Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, wrote in a post on scotusblog.com.
Austin American-Statesman December 7, 2015 -
Many experts do estimate that gig work is becoming more prevalent, but the numbers are not entirely straightforward; the Economic Policy Institute’s Lawrence Mishel has argued in The Atlantic that the rise of Uber-like freelancing is actually overstated. At any rate, the Government Accountability Office has estimated that contingent workers, which includes temps, the self-employed, and on-call workers, accounted for about 8 percent of the workforce in 2010.
The Atlantic December 4, 2015 -
Currency manipulation and unfair trade practices by China and other countries, not high wages, are to blame for the decline of U.S. manufacturing, according to a study released Wednesday by the Economic Policy Institute. The left-leaning Washington, D.C., think tank cited Germany as evidence that manufacturers can pay high wages and still be competitive. German manufacturing workers received hourly compensation of $48.98 in 2013, about a third more than the $36.34 per hour their American counterparts were paid, the study said. “The idea that high wages in the manufacturing industry are causing job losses is common, but incorrect,” the institute’s Robert E. Scott, the author of the study, said in a statement.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette December 4, 2015 -
For Josh Bivens, the Economic Policy Institute’s research and policy director, however, the discrepancy is not a mystery. The low official unemployment rate conceals the degree to which workers have settled for part-time work when they want to work full time, or those who have given up looking for a job altogether. “This is not a puzzle,” Bivens said at the briefing on Tuesday. “It is the evidence for why it is too soon to start putting the brakes on the economy.”
The Huffington Post December 2, 2015 -
Landscaping companies, for example, were approved for more than 30,000 H-2 visas in the 2014 fiscal year. Yet Daniel Costa, a researcher at the Economic Policy Institute, which receives some funding from unions, found that over the same period, unemployment in landscaping was more than twice as high as the national average. “The problem with the system is that the H-2 workers who are coming in are not tied to actual, demonstrated labor shortages,” Costa said.
Buzzfeed December 2, 2015 -
Daniel Costa interview.
Southern California Public Radio December 2, 2015 -
Ross Eisenbrey, with the Washington, D.C.-based non-partisan, non-profit Economic Policy Institute, disagrees. “I think this will get a lot of national attention,” he said. Eisenbrey’s studied the U.S. health system compared to Canada’s, which does have a single-payer system. He found the U.S. pays far more for healthcare than our northern neighbor. In part, that’s because of all the money our insurance industry spends on administration, management and marketing, he said. If Colorado voters pass this measure “costs would go down the way they have in Canada.” But he says there would be a different kind of cost: “I’d say the biggest problem is there are a lot of people could lose jobs.” “All of that marketing, advertising, accounting, all of the management of the various private insurance companies is done by people, who are employed to do it,” he said.
Colorado Public Radio December 2, 2015 -
Exactly half of states have returned to their pre-recession employment levels, according to a report issued last month by the Economic Policy Institute. Additionally, employers planned to hire more new college grads this year versus last year, according to a spring survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
The Fiscal Times December 2, 2015 -
He pointed to a study this month by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy and the Economic Policy Institute. That study found that some 700,000 state residents make less than $11.36 an hour, the amount it says is needed to keep a family of four out of poverty. That study found that the “13 states that raised the minimum wage at the beginning of 2014 experienced subsequent job growth equal to or better than states that did not.”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel December 2, 2015 -
The Great Recession began in December 2007, and ended officially in June 2009. As of October 2015, the unemployment rates in half the states in the country had fallen to or below their pre-recession levels. In the other half, unemployment rates were still higher than before the recession.
The New York Times December 1, 2015 -
With a national unemployment rate of 5 percent as of October, they want to see if the low rates can spur further gains before the Fed heads in the other direction. “This, to me, is just a potential huge wasted opportunity, because we have a lot of uncertainty about how low unemployment can be before sparking inflation,” said Josh Bivens, research and policy director for the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “There’s no particular reason to think that we can’t go as low as four percent. That’s a million and a half workers.”
The Hill December 1, 2015 -
A good overview of the decline of SBTC is Lawrence Mishel, Heidi Shierholz, and John Schmitt, “Don’t Blame the Robots: Assessing the Job Polarization Explanation of Growing Wage Inequality,” EPI – CEPR working paper, November 2013.
The New York Review of Books November 30, 2015 -
That may be smart politics. But on the policy side, the elision makes considerably less sense. And a new initiative from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the Women’s Economic Agenda, helps explain why. Because as is made clear in the new EPI report “Closing the pay gap and beyond: A comprehensive strategy for improving economic security for women and families,” many of the flaws in the structure of the American economy that hurt all workers hurt women workers especially. And righting these wrongs must be seen as part of the broader effort to make women’s station in the U.S. truly equal.
Recently, Salon spoke over the phone with Alyssa Davis and Elise Gould, the two EPI experts who authored the report. In addition to discussing their recent work, we also talked about the gender wage gap as well as the right — and wrong — ways to approach these important social and economic questions. Our conversation is below and has been edited for clarity and length.
Salon November 30, 2015 -
One practice that’s getting more scrutiny is on-call scheduling, which Mother Jones describes as “requiring employees to be available in case they’re needed for a shift without guaranteeing any actual work or pay.” According to the Economic Policy Institute, 6 percent of hourly workers are tied to on-call schemes, while 45 percent of the full workforce report that employers decide their schedule for them.
The New Republic November 30, 2015 -
Warren has also spoken out about the need for stronger Wall Street regulations, a frequent topic in the debates. The same day that she gave the speech on corporate taxes, she joined the Economic Policy Institute at the release of the group’s 12-point women’s economic agenda. She also gave a speech on the Senate floor last week on the Syrian refugee crisis.
The Hill November 30, 2015 -
But H-2 visa holders are just as likely to be subjected to low wages and other forms of exploitation as undocumented immigrants. According to a May 2015 Economic Policy Institute report, guest workers, like those sponsored through the H-2A or H-2B visa programs earn “about 11 percent less than” green-card holders and “their wages do not significantly differ from unauthorized workers’ wages.”
Think Progress November 30, 2015 -
Many prominent progressives argue that despite vast gains in productivity, average workers have benefited little. For example, the liberal Economic Policy Institute (EPI) states that the vast majority of U.S. “workers have not benefited from productivity growth for four decades.”
Washington Monthly November 30, 2015 -
The improvement in the overall labor market deserves most of the credit, says Valerie Wilson, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute. Over the past 12 months the U.S. economy has added almost 3 million jobs, reducing the total unemployment rate by a full percentage point, to 5.1 percent. Wilson says employers have dug deeper into the ranks of the unemployed to find candidates. Many have been veterans.
Bloomberg November 30, 2015 -
Yet, since the Department of Labor started tracking unemployment in 1972, and despite the fact that black unemployment has slightly improved since then according to official government estimates, it doesn’t gloss over the fact that such rates have always found themselves double the rate of white peers. “The African American unemployment rate is at or below its pre-recession level in eight states: Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Illinois, and Missouri,” explained the Economic Policy Institute’s Valerie Wilson in a recent analysis on black unemployment rates. “But this numerical recovery must be put in proper context because with the exception of Texas, each of these states also had black unemployment rates that were among the highest in the nation before the recession.”
The Hill November 30, 2015 -
The good news is that the gap between men’s and women’s earnings has shrunk considerably in recent decades, according to a new report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. As if to underscore the point, the Census Bureau announced a bump in the number of wives out earning their husbands. Here’s the catch: One big reason women are catching up is that men have fallen down. About 40 percent of the narrowing of the wage gap is due to the fact that men’s wages have declined.
Boston Globe November 25, 2015 -
In addition to the discrimination claims, the workers have also claimed a hostile work environment for having to train their replacements. Ronil Hira said this process is called “knowledge transfer,” and it is not unique to Disney. Hira is an associate professor in the political science department at Howard University and a research associate with the Economic Policy Institute. He studies visas, including the H-1B visa that allows employers to hire guest workers for highly skilled roles like these IT jobs, to the tune of 125,000 each year.
Marketplace November 25, 2015 -
On paper, Oregon’s manufacturing economy still looks stronger than that of most states. Manufacturing accounts for 10.4 percent of state jobs, above the 8.8 percent national average and highest among Western states, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The Oregonian November 25, 2015 -
A report recently published by the Economic Policy Institute suggests that United States schools may not be trailing behind those of other countries as much as previous studies have suggested. The report was authored in part by professor of education Martin Carnoy, an economist specializing in education who has been a professor at Stanford for more than 40 years. The report analyzes international results of two assessments, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). It focuses on the usefulness, or lack thereof, of common metrics used to compare the U.S. with other countries in order to make conclusions about the relative statuses of international education systems.
Stanford Daily November 25, 2015