Teresa Ghilarducci is the Schwartz Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research. She’s the co-author of “Rescuing Retirement” and a member of the board of directors of the Economic Policy Institute.
Bloomberg Quint
February 8, 2021
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There are clear parallels today. Just as 2008 GDP figures underestimated the economic hole Obama inherited, so today’s official US unemployment rate of 6.3 per cent probably undercounts the true labour market pain. Taking into account misclassifications and declining workforce participation, Harvard’s Jason Furman estimates that the realistic unemployment rate is 8.3 per cent, while Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute argues for 11 per cent.
Financial Times
February 8, 2021
“These official numbers are a vast undercount of the number of workers being harmed by the weak labor market,” notes the progressive Economic Policy Institute. “In fact, more than 25.5 million workers — 15% of the workforce — are either unemployed, otherwise out of work due to the pandemic, or employed but experiencing a drop in hours and pay.”
CNN Business
February 8, 2021
“This bill is also estimated to create over two million jobs by the Economic Policy Institute,” Coons said. “Investing this kind of money and upgrading and improving our schools, also creates good jobs for local construction companies and makes it safer and easier for kids to learn, and learn in a healthy environment.”
WDEL radio
February 8, 2021
The Economic Policy Institute estimates that 31 percent of all Black workers would get a raise under the bill.
Inequality.org
February 8, 2021
However, as important as savings may be, many Americans simply aren’t making it happen. One study from GOBankingRates showed that 57% of the 8,000 people it polled had under $1,000 in savings and 39% had nothing saved at all. And, according to the Economic Policy Institute, almost half of American families have nothing in retirement savings.
Laramie Live
February 8, 2021
A new report by the Economic Policy Institute contends that the $15 minimum wage would save $13.4 billion to $30 billion in taxpayer revenue annually. It would also increase Federal Insurance Contributions Act revenue by between $7 billion and $13.9 billion.
Lima News Ohio
February 8, 2021
“Communities have a right and a responsibility to govern in a way that’s most helpful to their constituents, but states are stepping in and preempting on a regular basis,” says Julia Wolfe, an analyst with the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, and coauthor of a study looking at preemption in the South.
Governing
February 8, 2021
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia already have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum of $7.25. And 45 localities have adopted minimum wages above their states’ minimum. Still, raising the federal minimum to $15 by 2025 would increase earnings for an estimated 32 million people, or 21% of the U.S. workforce, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Notably, EPI says, the wage hike would boost income for people of color, who make up a disproportionate share of low-wage workers. Nearly one-third of African-American workers and one-quarter of Latino workers would see raises.
NPR
February 8, 2021
A 2019 study by the progressive think tank Economic Policy Institute found that employers may be becoming more brazen in union busting. Employers were charged with violating federal law in 41.5 percent of all union election campaigns in the U.S. in 2016 and 2017. That’s a higher rate than recorded during the 2000s.
Maine Beacon
February 8, 2021