Economic Policy Institute

4 weeks ago | epi.org | Heidi Shierholz

In a move that starkly exposes just how disingenuous the Trump administration’s pro-worker rhetoric really is, President Trump rescinded the Biden administration’s executive order that increased the minimum wage for workers on federal contracts. The Biden-era rule implementing that executive order raised the minimum wage for workers on federal contractors to $15 an hour in 2022 and indexed it to inflation going forward. As of January 1, it was $17.75 an hour.

4 weeks ago | epi.org | Josh Bivens

Many of Donald Trump’s economic plans put forward during the presidential campaign seemed extremely unwise even to the corporate leaders who supported him and care about profits over everything else. Universal and large tariffs and mass deportations, for example, were clearly anti-growth policies that could hurt profit growth.

1 month ago | epi.org | Josh Bivens |Elise Gould |Hilary Wething |Ben Zipperer

Below is an excerpt from a piece originally published in The Briefing Book, a Substack publication. Read the full commentary here. Rising inequality has been a major social and economic problem for the United States for decades. The policy agenda to stop or even reverse this inequality must start with a clear understanding of what drove it.

1 month ago | epi.org | Josh Bivens

In parliamentary systems, winning an election gives one party control of both legislative and executive powers. This means there are big policy swings after elections when parties switch. In the United States presidential system, the separation of powers combined with legislative chokepoints—like the Senate filibuster—means that opportunities for very large policy swings are much less common.

1 month ago | epi.org | Josh Bivens

The Trump administration inherited the strongest economy of any president since George W. Bush—and unlike that economy, there was no obvious macroeconomic imbalance set to pull down growth. In short, the stage was set for the incoming administration to ride the desirable trends of rapid growth in jobs and real wages—as well as declining inflation—for an entire term of economic strength. Instead, the administration seems determined to squander and wreck the strong economy.