Economic Policy

Brief #134 – Economic Policy
By Inijah Quadri

The current federal minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 an hour. Despite being below the poverty line for a country like the USA, the minimum wage has not seen any increase since 2009.

There has been some level of advocacy at the federal level, such as we had with President Obama in 2015, but nothing really was done to raise wages, even after his rallying cry. This has led to even more advocacy for an increase in the federal minimum wage, as increases regularly happen at the state level without any issues.

Brief #137 – Economic Policy
By Stephen Thomas

There is an adage which, simply put, means that if a deal appears too good to be true, then it probably is. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has seen so many consumers misled by so-called deceptive earnings claims that the agency is developing a regulation to crackdown on the practice. The solution is composed of two phases.

Brief #136 – Economic Policy
By Greg Ziegler

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) released the second estimate of 2021 Q4 Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) on Thursday, February 24th. The first advanced estimate was released on January 27th which showed fourth quarter growth in 2021 of 6.9% and third quarter growth in 2021 of 2.3%.

Brief #135 – Economic Policy
By Alexandra Ellis

As the pandemic comes to its third year, state legislatures across the US are looking to cap nurses’ pay. States are calling for local and federal regulation of nursing agencies who employ nursing home nurses and travel nurses. Proponents of capping agency nurses. pay suggest there has been a significant increase of hourly wage for agency nurses.

Brief #134 – Economic Policy
By Greg Ziegler

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded the first of its eight scheduled meetings for 2022 on Wednesday, January 26th. The Committee is comprised of twelve members and is responsible for overseeing the nation’s monetary policy to promote the nation’s economic goals.

Brief #133 – Economic Policy
By Rosalind Gottfried

The number of people quitting or switching jobs reached a record high of 4.5 million in November, the fourth episode of record setting in 2021. As seen in previous assessments, the biggest changes are in lower paying occupations such as restaurant/bar and retail staffs.

Brief #132 – Economic Policy
By Rosalind Gottfried

The recent union vote, at a Buffalo, NY Starbucks, represents the first success in the company’s 8000 corporate retail outlets. Workers United is the entity representing the workers and is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union. Another area store failed to vote in a union while a third one had a successful outcome which has been contested by both sides.

Brief #129 – Economic Policy
By Rosalind Gottfried

The economic recovery has slowed in the third quarter and the unprecedented circumstances make it unclear what the indicators ultimately will mean for future growth. It is estimated that worker shortages are costing the economy sixty billion dollars in sales every month. Increased wages are failing to attract a crucial influx in returning workers. There are millions of pre-pandemic workers who have not returned to work. Workers are reluctant to return to work likely due to health concerns; childcare issues; and reconsideration of life priorities.

Brief #128 – Economic Policy
By Jared Sullivan

A new global agreement, endorsed by the Biden administration, aims to improve the international tax system by redistributing revenue that countries earn from taxing multinational corporations. The proposal was finalized and agreed upon on October 8th by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is scheduled to go into effect in 2023.