Arindrajit Dube is co-author of a research paper that finds online labor markets aren’t as competitive as they might appear. Looking at one such market, they found that workers lose out because the people and organizations doing the hiring enjoy much more market power. (Washington Post, 8/2/18)
Gerald Friedman comments in a new story about the debate in Rhode Island whether the Affordable Care Act is working in that state, and the overall debate about health care costs prompted by a recent report that a top Blue Cross & Blue Shield executive just received a $1.5 million payout a year after he stepped down. Friedman says a single-payer system in Rhode Island would cost less and cover many more people, but he also recognizes it would face a tough sell politically. (RIfuture.org, 8/3/18)
Robert N. Pollin says the way to promote clean energy is to put money directly into its production and development and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. He says the long-term goal is to eliminate fossil fuel companies by making their markets contract. Other environmentalists are pushing for disinvestment in fossil fuels as a way to restrain the industry. (Financial Times, 7/30/18)
David M. Kotz, emeritus professor of economics, comments in a commentary about how the U.S. could end up on the wrong end of the trade war with China that President Donald J. Trump has initiated. He says the trade tensions could help set off a major recession. “U.S. businesses are having a hard time figuring out the effect of the trade wars on them,” Kotz says. “Uncertainty can lead to postponing investments, which could plunge the economy into recession.” He also says the U.S. government can’t exert its will over China and allow American business to do whatever it wants. (Commondreams.org, 7/28/18)
A columnist writing about how progressive economic policies such as raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers in Minnesota doesn’t cause job losses cites research done on the subject by Arindrajit Dube, economics. The writer says critics of the policy says workers in Minnesota are losing jobs compared to similar employment in nearby Wisconsin that doesn’t have a higher minimum wage. Dube’s research looked at the impact on jobs of counties that share borders but have differing wage rates and found there was no adverse effect on jobs. (StarTribune [Minneapolis], 7/25/18)
Lee Badgett says discrimination against LGBTQ in India costs between 0.1 and 1.4 percent of gross domestic product, based on a review of health care and workplace data. She says, “When a country loses that much GDP, normally we say that it’s had a recession.” Her comments are in a news story about how students and alumni from some of the top universities in India are seeking to overturn colonial era laws that are used as pretexts for mistreatment and exclusion of LGBTQ people. India’s Supreme Court is expected to issue rulings in coming weeks on the laws. (Washington Post, 7/25/18)
A new research paper co-authored by Ina Ganguli, economics, finds that international students in chemistry prefer to stay in the U.S. for postdoctoral research. Overall the study finds foreign students have a stronger preference for academic careers than U.S. students. “Our results suggest the U.S. is managing to retain talented foreign graduate students for postdoc positions,” the report says. (Inside Higher Ed, 7/24/18)
A news story about a proposal to create a new carbon tax that is moving through Congress is attracting some support from the fossil fuel industry and some environmentalists. The plan calls for a $40 per metric ton tax on carbon, with the amount increasing over time and the proceeds given back to the American public as dividends. A recent study done by the Political Economy Research Institute at UMass Amherst, however, says the tax would have to reach $200 per ton to begin changing consumer behavior and protect low-income consumers. (Climateliabilitynews.org, 7/17/18)
Gerald C. Friedman, economics, comments in a news story about why some progressive economists agree with President Donald J. Trump’s policies on international trade. He says the current system of free trade does create winners, but they don’t, in turn, compensate the losers. Without that second step, Friedman says, “free trade becomes a weapon against labor.” Friedman says he would like to see a big push for public investment in the U.S. combines with a broad effort to get international capital flows under control. (The Week, 7/16/18)