Month: December 2014

A columnist writing about the effort to boost wages for fast-food workers to $15 per hour cites research done by Arindrajit Dube, economics, that says an increase of that magnitude would lead to prices rising by about 20 percent. Industry spokesmen say boosting pay to that level would increase prices by between 25 percent and 50 percent. The columnist argues that keeping the price of fast food low should not be a higher priority than paying workers a liveable wage. (Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, N.Y.], 12/6/14)

Research on the stability of large financial institutions done by Gerald Epstein, economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, and colleagues, finds that the interconnectedness of large banks continues to be a potential threat to the global economy. He also says sections of the Dodd-Frank federal law designed to lessen these threats aren’t strong enough to do the job. (Crain’s New York Business, 12/1/14)

• Robert Pollin, economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, comments in a story about the split among economists between faculty members with more mainstream, analytic views, and those with more heterodox or pluralistic views of the profession. Pollin says he is quite open about his “commitment to egalitarianism as a general pre-analytical social commitment.” He also says students who want a good grounding in mainstream economics and want to develop technical skills will find the UMass Amherst economics department a good fit. (Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, second quarter 2014)