Robert Pollin, Distinguished Professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), comments on universal basic income, an idea proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Pollin says there is a very steep price to pay for simplicity in this program because it doesn’t involve means-testing, so money may be spent on people who don’t need the support. (Boston Globe, 6/25/19)
Month: June 2019
An article reporting that Congress has set a record for the longest stretch of time, 10 years, since the federal minimum wage was raised, cites an upcoming paper by Arindrajit Dube, economics. Dube’s work shows that raising the minimum wage significantly reduces the number of families living in poverty. (Vox, 6/19/19)
Doug Cliggott, Lecturer in Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, was featured in WalletHub’s recent piece about hedge funds. (WalletHub, 6/4/19)
Did the BJP/NDA secure a mandate to refashion India along the lines of Hindu-majoritarian nationalism? The answer has to be negative given the evidence writes Vamsi Vakulabharanam, economcis, and how the recently concluded election produced a puzzling outcome. (The Wire, 5/5/2019)
A columnist writing in the Washington Examiner cites the research of Arindrajit Dube, economics, who says raising the minimum wage has little negative impact if the increase is kept at about half the median wage level for a city or region. The writer argues that large increases in the minimum wage will have more negative effects than expected, in part, because people won’t carefully read what economists like Dube are actually saying. (Washington Examiner, 6/5/19)
An editorial calls for the British government to proceed cautiously following a report that Arindrajit Dube, economics, who was hired by Philip Hammond, chancellor of the exchequer for the U.K. to examine Britain’s minimum wage, has signaled he is likely to support proposed big increases in the rates. (Financial Times, 6/3/19)