The federal minimum wage hasn’t increased in over a decade. After a brief but failed attempt by the Biden administration to raise it to $15 an hour, it will most likely remain at the current $7.25 for an indefinite time to come. This is a shame, for the economic benefits of wage hikes are beyond dispute, as many studies have shown, including those authored by Robert Pollin, distinguished professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Pollin is co-author of
The Living Wage: Building a Fair Economy (1998) and
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Measure of Fairness: The Economics of Living Wages and Minimum Wages in the United States (2008) and has worked with many U.S. non-governmental organizations on creating living wage statutes at both the statewide and municipal levels. In this interview, Pollin discusses why, even though we must continue to push for a $15 minimum wage, we must also consider what a true living wage looks like
Political scientist: War, another defeat ‘inevitable’ if Pashinyan stays PM
If Nikol Pashinyan remains Armenia’s leader, a renewed war and another defeat of Armenia are “inevitable”, according to political scientist Andranik Tevanyan, the head of the Political Economy Research Institute.
In a Facebook post on Monday, he said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev s latest statement on the “Zangezur corridor”, as well as the joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises are reminiscent of his aggressive speeches and the similar Turkish-Azerbaijani drills before 27 September 2020.
According to Tevanyan, the Azeri leader hinted to a new war just like he did in his speech at the UN last year. Azerbaijan wants to use the Armenian authorities’ refusal to open the Syunik corridor until the return of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) as an opportunity, he added.
California needs to catch up with climate action from Biden administration northbaybusinessjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from northbaybusinessjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The models used to produce global climate scenarios may overestimate the energy and emission savings from improved energy efficiency, warns new research by an international team including UMass Amherst economist Gregor Semieniuk.
The Manchin Conundrum
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 5, 2020.
If anyone should support building back better, itâs Joe Manchin III. West Virginiaâs economy is hurting; and even though Manchin defends coal, he has to know that coal jobs are not coming back.
Development of West Virginia has to be centered around something else, or the state will continue to lag. Due to the combination of a long-term depressed economy plus the COVID recession, fully 31 percent of West Virginiaâs workforce has filed for unemployment since the pandemic began.
Robert Pollin and his colleagues at the Political Economy Research Institute at UMass Amherst have just released a terrific report on how to transform the West Virginia economy via a clean-energy investment project. You should read it yourself, but the basic idea is that a green development strategy, coupled with a âjust transitionâ to re-employ or pension off fossil f