EPI experts talk key economic issues

A note from EPI's Kirstyn Flood: Economists from the Economic Policy Institute are out there every day speaking to the nation about what the coronavirus crisis means for workers today, tomorrow, and in the future. For recent posts on the impacts and responses to the coronavirus, click here.

EPI President Thea Lee on the coronavirus and inequality

EPI President Thea Lee joined Ali Velshi on MSNBC o discuss structural changes Congress should make to combat the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic, such as paid sick leave for all workers, an affordable health care system, and an unemployment insurance system that covers those who need it.

“This crisis has laid bare all the weakness, dysfunctionality, and underlying inequality in the U.S. economy. That means that we were ill-prepared for this crisis, but we shouldn’t be ill-prepared for the next crisis,” Lee said. Watch the video »

Coronavirus highlights urgent need for paid sick leave

Elise Gould, EPI senior economist, joined Sonali Kolhatkar on Rising Up with Sonali to discuss the need for paid sick leave and economic aid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“We need to have the government step in right now, and yes, provide those paid sick days but also provide those income supports to individuals and to states who need to take measures, as well,” Gould said. Watch the video »

EPI Economic Analyst David Cooper on job loss by state

EPI Senior Economic Analyst David Cooper spoke about the rising job loss in states on KTLA 5.

“We estimate that by the end of June, [California] is likely to lose about 2.3 million jobs,” Cooper said. “If policymakers in Congress don’t continue to act, the job losses could be even worse than we’re projecting right now.” Watch the video »

These are the industries hardest hit in the March jobs report

EPI's Elise Gould also spoke with Yahoo Finance about the dramatic job loss in March that resulted from COVID-19, particularly in the leisure ad hospitality industries.

“It’s hard to know what the counterfactual would be without the measures that Congress has already taken, but it is clear that they need to take more measures to protect Americans, so that they can keep paying rent and putting food on the table,” she said. “People are going to be struggling during this time and we need to do whatever we can.” Watch the video »

The unemployment rate is not the right measure to make economic policy decisions around the coronavirus-driven recession

Gould explains how the unemployment rate will understate the impact of the coronavirus and urges policymakers to use a different metric when setting triggers for aid.

“The unemployment rate is likely to drastically understate the problem,” she says. “That happened in the Great Recession and it’s likely to happen even more now. The employment rate, on the other hand, captures the layoffs either way.” Watch the video »

What we’re reading

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From some of its darkest hours, the United States has emerged stronger and more resilient. Read more »

U.S. Bets Furloughs Top Being Fired for 600,000 and Counting

“I was very happy about the furloughs,” said Shierholz, who has spent much of her career advocating for policies to help low- and middle-income families. “That’s what we should be doing. It’s one piece of bright news in this otherwise pretty grim labor situation.” Read more »