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)
Author: sgilroy
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)
Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics, and Gerald C. Friedman, economics, comments in stories about efforts to get single payer health care laws passed in California and New York, respectively. Pollin argues that if California adopts a single payer system, the cost of health care for consumers will go down. Friedman also says If New York lawmakers adopt a single payer system, the state would save $45 billion per year in health care costs. (KPCC, Sacramento Bee, Fox 40, Poughkeepsie Journal, 2/7/18)
From University World News
Ina Ganguli – 08 December 2017 Issue No:486
Valentina Tereshkova’s famous flight to space in 1963 became a striking symbol of the Soviet Union’s commitment to gender equality, heralding that Soviet women were indeed on “equal footing with men to advance science, culture and the arts”.
Meanwhile, it took 20 more years for the first US woman, Sally Ride, to enter space in 1983. Was Tereshkova’s flight indicative of broader gender equality among Soviet scientists, with the US lagging behind? Or did the words of the Chair of the Soviet Women’s Committee Zoya Pukhova in 1988, that “there is a gap between the official policy of equality for women, and the reality, in which few keep pace with men in the working world”, ring true in Soviet academe?
The Soviet Union was ahead of other countries at the time on many key measures of gender equality, such as female labour force participation and representation among scientific researchers.
READ MORE….
A news analysis on projects the U.S. government could have funded with just part of the $1.46 trillion spent on war-related costs between 2001 and June 2017 includes a reference to a study done by Gerald C. Friedman, economics, that says paying for expanded Medicare for more than 16 million people would cost about $5,527 per person. Friedman is incorrectly identified as being from the University of Amherst. (Newsweek, 11/6/17)
Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, says despite promises made by President Donald J. Trump that he will bring jobs back to the coal industry, that isn’t going to happen. He says people in coal mining regions need to be trained for new, cleaner jobs that provide them with the same security and financial support they need. (The Real News Network, 11/12/17)
Robert N. Pollin, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute and Distinguished Professor in economics, is cited in two news stories. A new report from the PERI says New York is going to need to make some big investments in renewable energy to meet its climate goals. The PERI study says the state needs to spend between $4.5 billion and $5 billion in addition to what is already planned. The study says this would create 150,000 news jobs and could be paid for with a fee on climate pollution, a carbon tax. Pollin also is identified in a column as a supporter of a “Green New Deal” where public sector jobs would be created to build a new green energy infrastructure for the country funded in part by a carbon tax. (The American Prospect, 11/16/17; Public News Services, 11/15/17)
Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, talks about a new report “Clean Energy Investment for New York State” co-authored by Pollin, Heidi Garrett-Peltier and Jeannette Wicks-Lim, also faculty at PERI. (The Real News Network, 11/19/17)
In America and Around the World, the Poor Will Pay for the GOP Tax Plan
A large cut in corporate rate in the U.S. would be perceived internationally as a full throttle acceleration of the global race to the bottom on corporate taxation.
By Léonce Ndikumana (Published by Common Dreams, 11/21/17)
It is Donald Trump’s main promise as a candidate: convincing American firms to come back home, creating millions of jobs, and launching a growth that would reverse two decades of sluggish investment and stagnant wages. It is in the name of this promise that Congress is legislating on tax, especially its corporate part.
Among other things, the tax bills now being considered in Congress, would cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% and allow multinational corporations to repatriate trillions of dollars they are holding abroad at a low tax rate. This is, according to the White House, a strategy to boost the competitiveness of American companies.
The argument has no empirical foundation. READ MORE….
Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, discusses why he believes investing in clean energy will produce both more jobs and a cleaner environment. He opposed moves by the Trump administration to roll back the Clean Power Plan put in place by the Obama administration. (The Real News Network, 10/13/17)