For Immediate Release: Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Karen Conner, news@epi.org 202-775-8810

In a letter to President Obama and Congressional leaders, EPI President Lawrence Mishel provided a statement from prominent economists calling for the continuation of the Emergency Unemployment Insurance benefits program, arguing that that these emergency benefits should be extended for 12 months in order to provide a safety net for the jobless and bolster the economy by stimulating demand. Mishel and Harvard University economist Lawrence Katz gathered the signatures of 33 prominent economists—including five recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics and five past Chairs of the Council of Economic Advisors—who warn that letting the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program expire will weaken the economy.

Millions of unemployed workers stand to lose their unemployment insurance benefits unless Congress extends the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program that is set to expire on November 30.

Letter from Mishel and statement from leading American economists