Research by Robert Pollin, distinguished professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, is cited in an opinion piece criticizing the $3 billion subsidy that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is trying to provide to the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn to have the corporation bring a new facility to his state. The authors say that Walker is overinflating the number of jobs the facility could create, while Pollin’s research shows that a similar $3 billion investment in education would create, on average, 87,300 jobs; in health care it would create 58,800 jobs; and in renewable energy, 51,300 jobs. (Milwaukee Shepherd Express, 9/19/17)
Author: sgilroy
Research done by Heidi Garrett-Peltier, Political Economy Research Institute, is cited in a story about how some residents of Rhode Island and Connecticut are opposed to expansion of Electric Boat’s program to build a new class of nuclear submarines. She says military-related spending generates fewer jobs and supply-chain jobs per $1 million than spending on clean energy, health care, education and infrastructure. “All those other sectors are a lot more labor-intensive,” she says. (Providence Journal, 9/15/17)
Deepankar Basu’s work on farmer suicides in india with Debarshi Das and Kartik Misra (current PhD student), has been cited in the Indian press.
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Deepankar Basu writes:
India’s inability to improve health outcomes significantly despite rapid growth has been one of the country’s major failings. But evidence from the latest round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) suggests that this may be changing. The infant mortality rate (IMR), an important summary measure of a country’s health, saw a marked improvement over the past decade, declining from 57 per 1,000 live births in 2005-06 to 41 per 1,000 live births in 2015-16. Read more….
Arindrajit Dube, economics, writes a column in The New York Times where he says a recent study of the impact of raising the minimum wage in Seattle from $11 per hour to $13 per hour on the loss of jobs that occurred may not be accurate. Dube says the results of the survey may be due to the difference between the economy in Seattle, with its technology boom and rapidly rising wages, and the rest of the state that has neither of those factors. In a related news story, Dube says more research is needed to determine whether the minimum wage increase in Seattle is set at the right level to protect jobs and raise incomes for low-wage workers. (Willamette Week [Ore.], 7/23/17; San Francisco Chronicle, 7/21/17; New York Times, 7/20/17)
James Boyce discusses how Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris accord sets the U.S. economy back. Read more….
Gerald C. Friedman, economics, the author of a 2013 report for the Physicians for a National Health Program that calls for an expansion of Medicare to cover all Americans that would generate huge savings in health care costs, is cited by a columnist arguing against the current Republican health care bill before the U.S. House. (Idaho Statesman, 3/21/17)
Robert N. Pollin, Distinguished Professor in Economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, is interviewed about how proposed cuts to the federal budget suggested by the administration of President Donald J. Trump will have a negative impact on efforts to deal with climate change. Pollin also says the proposed budget cuts will harm most of the non-defense parts of the federal government. (The Real News Network, 3/22/17)
The UMass Amherst department of economics formally opened Crotty Hall at a ceremony on March 22. The 16,800-square-foot academic building houses 35 offices and four conference rooms. Designed by architect Sigrid Miller Pollin of the architecture department and built with a $10 million gift from an anonymous donor, the building is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes and is the first net-zero building on campus. (Energy Manager Today, 3/24/17; News Office release)
Gerald C. Friedman, economics, says while it is unclear whether the Republican health care reform bill will pass the U.S. House, it is clear that it is intended to shift costs for the Medicaid program that benefits the poor. (WWLP-TV 22, 3/23/17)