Areas of expertise
Macroeconomics • Globalization • Social insurance • Public investment
Biography
Josh Bivens is the chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). His areas of research include macroeconomics, inequality, social insurance, public investment, and the economics of globalization.
Bivens has written extensively for both professional and public audiences, with his work appearing in peer-reviewed academic journals (like the Journal of Economic Perspectives) and edited volumes (like The Handbook of the Political Economy of Financial Crises from Oxford University Press), as well as in popular print outlets (like USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times).
Bivens is the author of Failure by Design: The Story behind America’s Broken Economy (EPI and Cornell University Press) and Everybody Wins Except for Most of Us: What Economics Really Teaches About Globalization (EPI), and is a co-author of The State of Working America, 12th Edition (EPI and Cornell University Press).
Bivens has provided expert insight to a range of institutions and media, including formally testifying numerous times before committees of the U.S. Congress.
Before coming to EPI, he was an assistant professor of economics at Roosevelt University. He has a Ph.D. in economics from the New School for Social Research and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Education
Ph.D., Economics, New School for Social Research
B.A., Economics, University of Maryland at College Park
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Policy choices did not cause recent years’ inflation—but did deliver strong wage growth
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The U.S. benefits from immigration but policy reforms needed to maximize gains: Recommendations and a review of key issues to ensure fair wages and labor standards for all workers
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The post-pandemic recovery is an economic policy success story: Policymakers took the best way through a rocky path
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Federal AI legislation: An evaluation of existing proposals and a road map forward
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CEO pay declined in 2023: But it has soared 1,085% since 1978 compared with a 24% rise in typical workers’ pay
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Why the Fed should cut interest rates this week
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Real median household income rose sharply in 2023—a testament to the strength of the economic recovery
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The labor market remains strong yet the Fed should cut rates in September
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Profits and price inflation are indeed linked
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Vouchers undermine efforts to provide an excellent public education for all
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Economic performance is stronger when Democrats hold the White House
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Unbalanced labor market power is what makes technology—including AI—threatening to workers: The best “AI policy” to protect workers is boosting their bargaining position
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Don’t wait on wage growth—the Fed should cut rates at this week’s meeting
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There’s no debate: Measurable income inequality has skyrocketed in recent decades
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The teacher shortage shows small signs of improvement, but it remains widespread
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Using tax policy to restrain CEO pay: Best practices and smart alternatives
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If you must argue about the economy over Thanksgiving dinner, at least get the facts right
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CEO pay slightly declined in 2022: But it has soared 1,209.2% since 1978 compared with a 15.3% rise in typical workers’ pay
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What to know about this summer’s strike activity: What’s spurring the rise in labor actions?
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A retrospective look at inflation: Which predictions were wrong or right, and what remains unclear?
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The Inflation Reduction Act finally gave the U.S. a real climate change policy
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The single thing Larry Summers gets right about ‘Bidenomics’—it’s different than what came before
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Unions promote racial equity
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It’s not just the actors—workers across the economy are demanding better pay and safer jobs
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EPI comment re proposed OMB Circular No. A-4, ‘Regulatory Analysis’
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Testimony prepared for the House Committee on Small Business for a hearing on ‘Prices on the Rise, Examining the Effects of Inflation on Small Businesses’
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Troubling provisions to watch in the new debt limit deal
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The industrial policy revolution has begun, but another is still needed: Industrial policy and policies to rebalance labor market power are complements, not substitutes
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Weaponizing the debt limit should not be normalized: President Biden should do “whatever it takes” to avoid an economic catastrophe
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Speaker McCarthy’s debt limit proposal = enormous human toll: Proposal would impose burdensome work reporting requirements to restrict access to Medicaid and food stamps