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** How can we thwart a depression? ([link removed])
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A note from EPI’s Kirstyn Flood ([link removed]) : The coronavirus pandemic has brought the U.S. economy to its knees; but what needs to be done to curtail a deep recession from turning into a deep depression? EPI’s experts weigh in.


** A prolonged depression is guaranteed without significant federal aid to state and local governments ([link removed])
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Congress is currently debating a new relief and recovery package—the HEROES Act—that would deliver significant amounts of fiscal aid to state and local governments—more than $1 trillion over the next two years. This is a very welcome proposal. The incredibly steep recession we’re currently in is guaranteed to torpedo state and local governments’ ability to collect revenues ([link removed]) .

This blog post highlights a couple of findings from the Great Recession of 2008–2009 that should inform policymakers’ decisions this time around.
* Growth in state and local spending was far slower during the recovery following the Great Recession than in any other post–World War II business cycle on record.
* This state and local spending austerity dragged heavily on growth during that time. If this spending had instead followed the trajectory it established following the recovery from the similarly steep recession of the early 1980s, pre-recession unemployment rates could have been achieved by early 2013 rather than 2017. In short, this austerity delayed recovery by over four years.
* Recent justifications for denying aid to state and local governments sometimes rest on claims that this spending has been profligate in recent years. This is absolutely not so—growth in state and local spending has been historically slow for nearly two decades. Given the importance of what this spending focuses on ([link removed]) (education, health care, public order), this decades-long disinvestment should be reversed, not accelerated due to an unforeseen economic crisis.
* If federal aid is passed that is sufficient to close the enormous revenue shortfalls the economic crisis will cause for state and local governments, it will create or save roughly 5–6 million jobs by the end of 2021. Without this aid, we will remain at least that far away from a full economic recovery by then. Read the blog post » ([link removed])

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** A prolonged depression is guaranteed without significant federal aid to state and local governments
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** The coronavirus recession will become a long depression unless federal policymakers act now ([link removed])
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The coronavirus recession is well upon us. In the U.S., layoffs related to the coronavirus began to intensify around the middle of March. By mid-April, the labor market had shed more than 20 million jobs, by far the most dramatic job loss on record—about two and a half times the job loss of the entire Great Recession. And the situation continues to deteriorate—an additional 12 million workers have applied for unemployment compensation since mid-April. There has never been anything like this. Federal lawmakers get to choose which path we take. They must act quickly and boldly. Read the blog post » ([link removed])


** Who are essential workers? ([link removed])
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While the coronavirus pandemic has shut down much of the U.S. economy, with over 33 million workers ([link removed]) applying for unemployment insurance between March 15 and May 9, millions of workers are still on the job providing essential services. Nearly every state governor has issued executive orders that outline industries deemed “essential” during the pandemic, which typically include health care, food service, and public transportation, among others. There are roughly 55 million workers in industries deemed “essential” at this time. Many of these workers are required to wor ([link removed]) k
([link removed]) without protective equipment. They have no effective right to refuse dangerous assignments and are not even being granted premium pay, despite working in difficult and dangerous conditions. Policymakers must address the needs of working people in relief and recovery legislation, and that should include ensuring workers have a meaningful right to a union. Read the blog post » ([link removed])


** More than a quarter of the workforce in 10 states has filed for unemployment ([link removed])
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The Department of Labor released the most recent unemployment insurance (UI) claims data this morning, showing that another 2.2 million ([link removed]) people filed for regular UI benefits in the week ending May 16 (not seasonally adjusted) and 1.2 million for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), the new program for workers who aren’t eligible for regular UI, such as gig workers. To mitigate the economic harm to workers, the next federal relief and recovery package ([link removed]) should extend the across-the-board $600 increase in weekly unemployment benefits ([link removed]) well past its expiration at the end of July. The package should also
include substantial aid ([link removed]) to state and local governments (without which a prolonged depression is inevitable ([link removed]) ), worker protections, investments in our democracy, and resources for coronavirus testing and contact tracing, which is necessary to reopen the economy. Read the blog post » ([link removed])


** Upcoming webinars
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** From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century, with William A. Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen ([link removed])
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Join authors William A. Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen on May 27 at 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m.–12:00 noon PT for a discussion ([link removed]) of From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century ([link removed]) . Through their assessment of the intergenerational effects of white supremacy on black economic well-being, Darity and Mullen confront the injustices of slavery, Jim Crow, and modern-day discrimination to make the most comprehensive case to date for economic reparations for U.S. descendants of slavery. EPI Director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE) Valerie Wilson will moderate the discussion. Register for the event » ([link removed])


** The pandemic, the economic crisis, and just transition ([link removed])
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EPI President Thea Lee will join a panel of experts on May 27 at 6:00–7:00 p.m. MT / 8:00–9:00 p.m. ET for a discussion ([link removed]) of life after the economic crisis. In addition to Lee, the panel features Robert Pollin, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, and Noam Chomsky, renowned linguist, historian, and philosopher, discussing their projections of how the crisis will unfold in the months and years to come. This webinar is a part of the Just Transition Listening Project ([link removed]) , launched by the Labor Network for Sustainability and partners. Register for the event »
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** Older workers and COVID-19: The harsh economic realities ([link removed])
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The current public health and economic crisis has affected older people—especially older people of color and those who were already poor before the crisis began—in a disproportionate and unprecedented way. Their health, work, and savings are all at a higher risk of decline than other groups in the labor market. Teresa Ghilarducci, labor economist at ReLab at The New School, will be a speaker and will moderate a panel of experts ([link removed]) on May 28 at 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m.–12:00 noon PT, including Kilolo Kijakazi, institute fellow at the Urban Institute; Monique Morrissey, economist at the Economic Policy Institute; and Richard Johnson, senior fellow at the Urban Institute. Register for the event » ([link removed])


** Watch recent EPI webinars
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** The System—Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, with former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich ([link removed])
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In this online event hosted by EPI on May 13, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich discussed his new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It ([link removed]) . In the book, Reich, an Economic Policy Institute founder, explores America’s power system, which he says is designed to bail out corporations rather than people—even in times of crisis. Corporations and the wealthy few benefit from what he calls a socialism for the rich—in which they hold nearly all of the country’s economic and political power—while everyone else is left to endure the harsh realities of capitalism. Watch the video » ([link removed])


** Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, with Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton ([link removed])
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Economist Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton discussed their book, Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism ([link removed]) , at an online event earlier this month. This disturbing and eye-opening book is among the first to unearth a shocking increase in what are known as “deaths of despair”—including suicides, drug overdoses, and alcoholism—among middle-aged white Americans. Watch the video » ([link removed])


** EPI in the news
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AFSCME ([link removed]) linked to a recent EPI blog post ([link removed]) on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, which states that federal aid to state and local governments is key to preventing a prolonged depression. | U.S. Business Leaders Call on Senate to Help States, Cities and Towns ([link removed])
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EPI’s blog post ([link removed]) on the millions of workers who have filed unemployment insurance claims is mentioned in a Route Fifty ([link removed]) article on the loss of employer-sponsored health insurance. | Medicaid Rolls and Costs Poised to Grow as Job Losses Mount ([link removed])
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ABC News ([link removed]) cited EPI’s analysis ([link removed]) of essential workers, which delves into their wages, demographics, and unionization rates. | ‘Heroes or Hostages?’: Communities of Color Bear the Burden of Essential Work in Coronavirus Crisis ([link removed])
Follow EPI on Instagram ([link removed])


** What we’re reading
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** Citi Warns That Coronavirus May Push 31 Million Women into Unemployment and Knock $1 Trillion from World GDP ([link removed])
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Global GDP could shrink as much as $1 trillion if a predicted 31 million women lose their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, Citi has warned. Read more » ([link removed])

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Trump Reportedly Wants to Restrict Visa Programs for Skilled Workers ([link removed])

President Donald Trump has said he wants to halt immigration while Americans face staggeringly high unemployment levels as a result of the coronavirus pandemic—including temporary visas for skilled foreign workers and for foreign students who went to college in the U.S. Read more » ([link removed])

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Teen Essential Workers Juggle Labor, Fear, Stress—and Remote Learning—to Help Support Their Families ([link removed])

Before Amara Jackson leaves to work eight-hour shifts at the Whole Foods on the border of Chicago and Evergreen Park, she finishes the day’s remote learning schoolwork, takes her vitamins, and sips a hot mug of “Immune Support” tea, adding honey to mask the taste. Read more » ([link removed])

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Thwarting a prolonged depression: Here’s how
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