The University of Massachusetts Amherst
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UMass Economics

Katherine A. Moos is interviewed about a new paper she has written for the Political Economy Research Institute that tracks how labor taxes and transfers have evolved during the last 60 years

Katherine A. Moos, economics, is interviewed about a new paper she has written for the Political Economy Research Institute that tracks how labor taxes and transfers have evolved during the last 60 years. (The Real News Network, 2/9/18)

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UMass Economics

Robert N. Pollin comments in several news stories about efforts in California and Maine to establish single payer health care systems; Pollin is also interviewed about how unregulated financial markets have created a bubble in the stock market

Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, comments in several news stories about efforts in California and Maine to establish single payer health care systems. Pollin is also interviewed about how unregulated financial markets have created a bubble in the stock market that is now starting to deflate with sharp drops. (The Real News Network, 2/9/18; Healthcare Finance, 2/8/18; Capital Public Radio, The Free Press [Maine], 2/7/18)

 

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UMass Economics

Robert N. Pollin says in LA Times that a single payer health insurance system for California would be about 18 percent less expensive than the current system and could be paid for with a 2.3 percent increase in business and sales taxes

Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, says a single payer health insurance system for California would be about 18 percent less expensive than the current system and could be paid for with 2.3 percent tax increases in sales taxes and business. (Los Angeles Times

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UMass Economics

Shouvik Chakraborty of the Political Economy Research Institute is interviewed by The Real News Network about the Indian capital Delhi becoming the city with the most polluted air in the world and what the Indian government can do about it

Shouvik Chakraborty, Political Economy Research Institute, is interviewed about while the Indian capital of Delhi has become the city with the most polluted air in the world and what the government there can do about it. He says the dirty air is caused by a combination of burning fossil fuels for transportation and power added to some lesser pollution from burning crops in agricultural areas near the city. Chakraborty says the Indian government needs to spend more on developing clean energy and to move away from reliance on fossil fuels. (The Real News Network, 12/26/17)

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UMass Economics

PhD student Devika Dutt of the Political Economy Research Institute is interviewed by The Real News Network on whether public or private ownership of banks is the most efficient

Devika Dutt, a graduate student in economics and researcher at the Political Economy Research Institute, is interviewed on whether public or private ownership of banks is the most efficient. (The Real News Network, 1/16/18)

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UMass Economics

James S. Heintz comments in story about growth in the manufacturing section of the Attleboro area

James S. Heintz, economics, comments in a story about growth in the manufacturing section in the Attleboro area. He says Massachusetts has always played a major role in manufacturing items such as machine parts, electronics, medical devices and other technologically sophisticated products. He also says it’s difficult to attribute any increase in manufacturing jobs to the goal and rhetoric of the Trump administration. (Sun Chronicle, 1/19/18)

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UMass Economics

Arindrajit Dube author of new paper looking at effects of minimum-wage increases across 137 locales since 1979

Arindrajit Dube, economics, is the author of a new paper that looks at the effects of minimum-wage increases across 137 locales since 1979. Dube concludes that on average, minimum-wage increases eliminated jobs paying below the new minimum but added jobs paying at or above the minimum. (Daily Journal, [Ill.], 2/7/18)

 

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UMass Economics

James K. Boyce writes an op-ed in the The New York Times about a proposed carbon dividend that is designed to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere and provide money to ordinary Americans by distributing money raised by selling permits to carbon-based fuel companies

James K. Boyce, economics, writes an op-ed in The New York Times about a proposed carbon dividend that is designed to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and provide money to ordinary Americans by distributing money raised by selling permits to companies that sell carbon-based fuels. The permits would be auctioned and limited and over time their number would decrease. A bill creating this system is being filed in the U.S. House by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland. Boyce and Van Hollen argue that this system would immediately provide a financial benefit to the American people, would increase the cost of carbon and would result in cleaner air and water and diminished climate change. (New York Times, 4-Traders, 1/29/18)

 

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UMass Economics

Recent research by Arindrajit Dube on the impact of increasing the minimum wage is highlighted as contradicting a widely reported study from 2017

Recent research by Arindrajit Dube, economics, on the impact of increasing the minimum wage is highlighted as contradicting a widely reported study from 2017 that claimed the increase in Seattle’s minimum wage made workers worse off because it forced employers to cut back on hiring and hours to afford paying higher wages. Dube’s research shows that, “on average, minimum-wage increases eliminated jobs paying below the new minimum, but added jobs paying at or above the new minimum. The two changes effectively cancel each other out.” (Washington Post WonkBlog, 2/5/18)

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UMass Economics

Arindrajit Dube interviewed by Bloomberg on what happens when retailers voluntarily raise the minimum wage for their workers

Arindrajit Dube, economics, is interviewed about what happens when retailers voluntarily raise the minimum wage for their workers. He says it decreases the number of employees who quit their jobs for better opportunities and tends to lead to increases in wages for similar or slightly higher-paid workers. (Bloomberg, 1/24/18)