July 8, 2011

Debating Taboos: Securities Transaction Tax – Bring it Back or Leave it Out?

11:30 a.m.
Carnegie Institution for Science
1530 P St NW
Washington D.C., 20005

A financial transaction tax is a small tax placed on a specific type (or types) of financial transactions. The way it is often discussed is a small tax on each trade of stocks, derivatives, currency, and other financial instruments. "Debating Taboos" is a series of substantive debates organized by Ralph Nader that aims to bring attention to civic issues so controversial or taboo they have rarely, if ever, been addressed in the media, legislative bodies or the electoral arena. CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker co-moderated a debate on the need for a securities transaction tax. Also moderating the debate was Gus Sauter, chief investment officer of Vanguard Group. Robert Pollin, professor at UMass (Amherst), argued for the tax, and Jim Angel, professor at Georgetown University, argued against it. The debate was televised on C-SPAN.  You can watch the video here.

June 27, 2011

Strengthen Social Security ... Don't Cut It

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Rayburn House Office Building
B-354
Washington D.C., 20515

Social Security has not contributed a dime to the nation’s debt and cannot deficit spend. Policy makers in Washington continue to lump Social Security with other entitlement programs. But, as everyone knows, Social Security is a self-funding program paid through employee and employer contributions over workers’ lifetimes. CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker took part in a briefing that explored several issues that are likely to be before the Senate in the next month as part of the deficit debate, such as:

• Should Social Security’s cost-of-living-adjustment be changed, and if so how?
• Why is the CPI-E preferable to the chained CPI?
• How would a Balanced Budget Amendment impact Social Security?
• Would a reduction in employer payroll taxes create jobs?
• What is the implication for the Social Security Trust fund of an employer “payroll tax holiday”?

June 21, 2011

Pizza and Policy: How Old Media Breaks the News and Social Media Can Fix It

Noon - 2 p.m.
Community Service Building
100 W. 10th Street
Room 6
Wilmington, DE 19801

With Washington and the traditional press corps obsessed with deficits, budget cuts and the national debt; investing in communities, and promoting government spending to increase jobs and economic growth are completely ignored. Given our slow job and economic growth, Dean Baker from Center for Economic and Policy Research discussed the ways non-profits and community activists may want to frame their arguments when discussing economics, tax rates and government spending. The event was sponsored by the Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council. 

June 9, 2011

2011 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Policy Summit

2:40 - 4:10 p.m.
InterContinental Hotels Cleveland
9801 Carnegie Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio, 44106

No community has gone unscathed by the housing crisis and recent recession. However, low– and moderate–income communities have been disproportionately impacted by the housing market and economic crisis, further deepening the divide between the haves and the have–nots. Income inequality in this country is at an all–time high, and is among the highest in the developed world. In this environment, it is critical to revisit education and asset building policies, through the lenses of research and practice, that will support stability and upward mobility in poor communities.

June 9, 2011

Flexible, Family-Friendly Labor Policy: Maximum Benefit for Minimal Costs

12:15 - 1:45 p.m.
Economic Policy Institute
1333 H Street, NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005

Local, state and federal level efforts to enact legislation mandating paid sick or family leave and flexible work arrangements are often resisted on the grounds that they would impose costly burdens on employers and threaten the availability of jobs. Yet, new and ongoing research points to labor policy in novation that promotes work-family balance having the expected beneficial impacts without jeopardizing overall employment.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Economic Policy Institute hosted a forum examining the issues of paid family and sick leave in the United States while exploring the Australian example of mandating paid parental leave along with the right to request flexible work arrangements.

June 6, 2011

Three Employment Policy Crises: Jobs, Wages and Public-Sector Collective Bargaining

9 a.m. - noon
George Washington University
Cafritz Conference Center
Elliott Room (310)
800 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC

The nation is experiencing its greatest employment crisis since the Great Depression, yet national policy makers hold widely divergent views about jobs, wages and now public-sector collective bargaining. Prominent economic and employment experts took part in a policy briefing to discuss the latest research and findings to inform policymakers on unemployment and job growth, wage stagnation and the need for a new social contract, and the future of public-sector collective bargaining and pension reforms. CEPR Senior Economist John Schmitt participated in a roundtable discussion with researchers from several policy organizations.

June 6, 2011

Financial Regulation, New Financial Intermediaries, and Employment

2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
George Washington University
Cafritz Conference Center
Continental Ballroom
800 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC

CEPR's Eileen Appelbaum chaired a panel discussing the role of finance in the real economy and its effect on firms, jobs, and labor relations. Panelists included Damon Silvers of the AFL-CIO, Rosemary Blatt of Cornell University, and William Millberg of the New School for Social Research.

June 2, 2011

Using Scanner Data to Answer Food Policy Questions Conference

11:30 – 12:30 pm
Waugh Auditorium
Economic Research Service, USDA
1800 M Street NW
Washington, DC

CEPR's Shawn Fremstad took part in a panel on "Challenges and Successes of Using Scanner Data for Public Policy" at this conference. It was moderated by Ephraim Leibtag of the USDA's Economic Research Serivce and other panelists include Mary Muth (RTI International), Mark Lino (Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, USDA), and Helen Jensen (Iowa State University). Shawn's talk was based in part on a report he authored titled "Income, Inequality, and Food Prices."

May 25, 2011

2011 AAPI Summit

9 a.m. - noon
U.S. Capitol Visitor Center
HVC-215
1st Street SE and East Capitol Street NE
Washington D.C., DC 20515

The 2011 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Summit, hosted by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the House Democratic Leadership, took place on May 24-25th in Washington, D.C. CEPR's Director of Domestic Policy, Nicole Woo, took part in a panel on Wednesday the 25th from 9-9:40am on the AAPI perspective on the recession and the recovery.

May 25, 2011

How Federal Reserve Policies Add To Hard Times At The Pump

1:30pm
Rayburn House Office Building
Room 2247
45 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20219

CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker testified at a Congressional hearing on Fed policies and high gas prices, held by the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. A video of the hearing is available below or after the jump.