Areas of expertise
Macroeconomics • Globalization • Social insurance • Public investment
Biography
Josh Bivens is the director of research at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). His areas of research include macroeconomics, fiscal and monetary policy, the economics of globalization, social insurance, and public investment. He frequently appears as an economics expert on news shows, including the Public Broadcasting Service’s “NewsHour,” the “Melissa Harris-Perry” show on MSNBC, WAMU’s “The Diane Rehm Show,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and programs of the BBC.
As a leading policy analyst, Bivens regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress on fiscal and monetary policy, the economic impact of regulations, and other issues. He has also provided analyses for the annual meeting of Project LINK of the United Nations and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
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). He is the co-author of The State of Working America, 12th Edition (EPI and Cornell University Press) and a co-editor of Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, No Jobs: Labor Markets and Informal Work in Egypt, El Salvador, India, Russia and South Africa (EPI).
His academic articles have appeared in the International Review of Applied Economics, the Journal of Economic Issues and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Bivens has also provided peer-reviewed articles to several edited collections, including The Handbook of the Political Economy of Financial Crises (Oxford University Press), Public Economics in the United States: How the Federal Government Analyzes and Influences the Economy (ABC-CLIO), and Restoring Shared Prosperity: A Policy Agenda from Leading Keynesian Economists (AFL-CIO and the Macroeconomic Policy Institute).
Prior to becoming director of research, Bivens was a research economist at EPI. Before coming to EPI, he was an assistant professor of economics at Roosevelt University and provided consulting services to Oxfam America. 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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The “boom” of 2018 tells us that fiscal stimulus works, but that the GOP has only used it when it helps their reelection, not when it helps typical families
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News from EPI › Increased government spending boosts growth, rising trade deficit and weak investment muffles it
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The unfinished business of health reform: Reining in market power to restrain costs without sacrificing quality or access
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The Fed’s current path might be leaving lots of money on the table unnecessarily
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America’s slow-motion wage crisis: Four decades of slow and unequal growth
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The importance of locking in full employment for the long haul
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How do we know the tax cut isn’t working to boost wages? Investment, investment, investment
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The “wage puzzle” is real—but low inflation and low productivity are also puzzles that need to be solved
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Nothing misleading about this: Typical workers’ pay and productivity have diverged
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News from EPI › Little in GDP data to indicate that economic growth has moved off the trend of the post-Great Recession recovery
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Why punitive work-hours tests in SNAP and Medicaid would harm workers and do nothing to raise employment
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Does America’s monopoly problem mean that high-pressure labor markets can’t boost wages?
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A long spell of very low unemployment would raise wages—even in the face of employers’ monopsony power
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News from EPI › Fed hikes rates despite no inflationary signs in data
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The likely economic effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA): Higher incomes for the top, no discernible effect on wage growth for typical American workers
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Today’s GDP report—No evidence that the Trump tax cut is working or that the economy has clearly hit full employment
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The Trump administration doubles down in the Wall Street Journal on why trickle-down really does work
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For Tax Day, a reminder that economic arguments for the GOP tax plan have no theoretical basis
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How do our job creation recommendations stack up against a job guarantee?
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News from EPI › The New York Fed doubles down on a flawed process
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The fuzzy line between “unemployed” and “not in the labor force” and what it means for job creation strategies and the Federal Reserve
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Recommendations for creating jobs and economic security in the U.S.: Making sense of debates about full employment, public investment, and public job creation
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The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s search for a new president was a flawed process that should go back to the drawing board
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Fiscal commission has the wrong prescription for Connecticut
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How new Fed Chair Jerome Powell should get ready for the next recession
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No, the stock market isn’t throwing a tantrum because the economy is “overstimulated”
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The bottom line on Trump and the economy: We’re not in good hands
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Year one of the Trump administration: Normalizing itself by working for the top 1 percent
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Lessons from today’s GDP report: Long-expected rebound in productivity finally seems to be happening, and no reason for Fed to raise rates in their next meeting