The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is a
501(c)(3) non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
American, left-leaning
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...
based in
Washington, D.C., that carries out economic research and analyzes the economic impact of policies and proposals. Affiliated with the
labor movement the EPI is usually described as presenting a
left-leaning and pro-
union viewpoint on public policy issues. Since 2021, the EPI has been led by economist
Heidi Shierholz
Heidi Shierholz (born October 10, 1971) was Chief economist, Chief Economist to the United States Secretary of Labor, U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving under Secretary Thomas Perez. Shierholz is president of the Economic Policy Institute, a think t ...
, a former Chief Economist of the
Department of Labor
The EPI has a sister organization, the EPI Policy Center, which is a
501(c)(4) group.
History
EPI was founded in 1986 by economists
Jeff Faux,
Lester Thurow,
Ray Marshall
Freddie Ray Marshall (born August 22, 1928) is an American economist who is the professor emeritus and Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial Chair in Economics and Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
Early life and education ...
,
Barry Bluestone
Barry Alan Bluestone (born December 27, 1944) is an American academic who is the Stearns Trustee Professor of Political Economy, founding director of the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, and the founding dean of the ...
,
Robert Reich, and
Robert Kuttner.
Since 2021,
Heidi Shierholz
Heidi Shierholz (born October 10, 1971) was Chief economist, Chief Economist to the United States Secretary of Labor, U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving under Secretary Thomas Perez. Shierholz is president of the Economic Policy Institute, a think t ...
has served as the EPI's president. Shierholz succeeded Thea Lea, who was appointed by President
Joe Biden to a position in the
Department of Labor.
Policy proposals
EPI supported
Bernie Sanders's
Medicare for All proposal. In a March 2020 policy paper, it argued that the loss of jobs in the insurance industry and in administering the current system would be small, within the normal job churn, and easily absorbed by the economy. The paper argued that this cost would be outweighed by the benefits of universal health care and in small business formation. The EPI has also released policy papers analyzing U.S. investment in early childhood education.
In July 2012, EPI and the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
,
Center for Community Change,
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,
National Council of La Raza
UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR) ( La Raza), is the United States's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. It advocates in favor of progressive public policy changes including immigration reform, a path to citizen ...
and
SEIU proposed a budget plan titled ''Prosperity Economics'', a counter to the Republican Party's ''
Path to Prosperity
''The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America's Promise'' was the Republican Party's budget proposal for the Federal government of the United States in the fiscal year 2012. It was succeeded in March 2012 by "The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for ...
'' budget plan. The ''Prosperity Economics'' plan suggests that major public investment in areas like infrastructure is needed to jump-start the economy.
In response to the debate over the
United States fiscal cliff
The United States fiscal cliff refers to the combined effect of several previously-enacted laws that came into effect simultaneously in January 2013, increasing taxes and decreasing spending.
The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, which had been ex ...
, EPI economist Josh Bivens advocated taxing the rich and wrote, "Given this rise in
ncomeinequality, it makes sense that much of the future burden of reducing budget deficits should be borne by those who have benefited the most from
economic trend
*all the economic indicators that are the subject of economic forecasting
**see also: econometrics
*general trends in the economy, see: economic history.
*general trends in the academic field of economics, see: history of economics
Hist ...
s in recent decades."
Funding
Eight labor unions made a five-year funding pledge to EPI at its inception:
AFSCME,
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ...
,
United Steelworkers,
United Mine Workers,
International Association of Machinists,
Communications Workers of America,
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...
, and
United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
According to EPI, about 29% of its funding between 2005 and 2009 was supplied by
labor unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
and about 53% came from foundation grants.
In the 1980s, EPI took money from the
Tobacco Institute, a now-defunct tobacco industry trade group, to oppose
excise taxes on the tobacco industry's behalf. The Tobacco Institute worked with groups like EPI "to support the release of studies, editorials, press briefings, and testimony against regressive excise taxes" that would negatively impact the tobacco industry's bottom line if passed.
References
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Political and economic think tanks in the United States
Progressive organizations in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Think tanks established in 1986
1986 establishments in Washington, D.C.
501(c)(3) organizations