The University of Massachusetts Amherst
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UMass Economics

Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, says Australia could implement a Green New Deal program for about $45 billion per year, or around 2.5% of GDP for the next 10 years.

Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, says Australia could implement a Green New Deal program for about $45 billion per year, or around 2.5% of GDP for the next 10 years. (Jacobin magazine, 11/4/19)

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UMass Economics

Arindrajit Dube, economics, says his review of a proposal to increase the minimum wage in the United Kingdom shows that there is room to explore an increase of up to two-thirds of the median wage

Arindrajit Dube, economics, says his review of a proposal to increase the minimum wage in the United Kingdom shows that there is room to explore an increase of up to two-thirds of the median wage. Dube has studied the effect of minimum wage increase in the U.S. and has written extensively about his research. (One America News Network [from Reuters], 11/4/19)

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UMass Economics

Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, says it is possible to fund a Medicare for All program using a combination of a new sales tax, taxes on businesses earning more than $1 million and a tax on wealthy individuals.

Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, says it is possible to fund a Medicare for All program using a combination of a new sales tax, taxes on businesses earning more than $1 million and a tax on wealthy individuals. In addition, funds from other federal healthcare programs that would become redundant would be added to the total. He says such a program should be very popular with the public. (Washington Examiner, 10/30/19)

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UMass Economics

Nancy Folbre, professor emerita in economics, will present a lecture Nov. 18 at Denison University titled,

Nancy Folbre, professor emerita in economics, will present a lecture Nov. 18 at Denison University titled, “The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems.” Folbre is the author of a forthcoming book of the same title. (Newark Advocate [Ohio], 10/3/19)

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UMass Economics

Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, says it is possible to fund a Medicare for All program using a combination of a new sales tax, taxes on businesses earning more than $1 million and a tax on wealthy individuals.

Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, says it is possible to fund a Medicare for All program using a combination of a new sales tax, taxes on businesses earning more than $1 million and a tax on wealthy individuals. In addition, funds from other federal healthcare programs that would become redundant would be added to the total. He says such a program should be very popular with the public. (Washington Examiner, 10/30/19)

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UMass Economics

Daniel Ellsberg, a Distinguished Researcher at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library and the whistleblower who released the Pentagon Papers in 1969, spoke on campus last night, Oct. 28, along with Gar Alperovitz, Janaki Natarajan and Patricia Marx Ellsberg. The group talked about their roles in leaking documents related to the Vietnam War.

Daniel Ellsberg, a Distinguished Researcher at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library and the whistleblower who released the Pentagon Papers in 1969, spoke on campus last night, Oct. 28, along with Gar Alperovitz, Janaki Natarajan and Patricia Marx Ellsberg. The group talked about their roles in leaking documents related to the Vietnam War. UMass Amherst has recently acquired Ellsberg’s papers. (Daily Hampshire Gazette,10/28/19; Greenfield Recorder, 10/29/19)

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UMass Economics

M.V. Lee Badgett, economics and public policy, is the lead author of a new study that finds 21.6% of LGBT people in the U.S. experience poverty compared to 15.7% of cisgender straight people.

M.V. Lee Badgett, economics and public policy, is the lead author of a new study that finds 21.6% of LGBT people in the U.S. experience poverty compared to 15.7% of cisgender straight people. Badgett, who conducted the study for the Williams Institute at UCLA, where she is a distinguished scholar, says, “Our study shows that all subpopulations of LGBT people fare the same or worse than cisgender straight people.” (Windy City Times,10/22/19)

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King

Lawrence King is interviewed about how the International Monetary Fund is directly or indirectly intervening in the agriculture policies or more than 100 countries around the world.

Lawrence King is interviewed about how the International Monetary Fund is directly or indirectly intervening in the agriculture policies or more than 100 countries around the world. This is despite the fact that the IMF has a mandate that prohibits it from such interventions. (The Real News Network, 10/7/18)

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Dube

Arindrajit Dube says Amazon’s recent announcement that it will boost its minimum wage to $15 per hour is good news for workers at the lower end of the wage scale.

Arindrajit Dube says Amazon’s recent announcement that it will boost its minimum wage to $15 per hour is good news for workers at the lower end of the wage scale. “For much of the past three decades, the wages of those at the bottom of the wage distribution have failed to keep up with overall economic gains. Most of the wage increase has occurred among the top half of the wage distribution, especially since the 1990s,” Dube says. (Yahoo! Finance, 10/4/18)

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Ash Boyce

A new paper by Michael Ash and James K. Boyce finds that for racial minorities, living near facilities such as gas or oil refineries or coal processing plants did not significantly bolster minority employment.

A new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by Michael Ash and James K. Boyce, finds that for racial minorities, living near facilities such as gas or oil refineries or coal processing plants did not significantly bolster minority employment. Instead, they found that minorities living near such plants are more likely to be exposed to pollutants but could not count on them to provide jobs. Ash and Boyce took information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and did a comparison as part of the study. (Phys.org, 10/3/18)