March 6, 2012

Transatlantic Perspectives on Current Financial and Economic Developments

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
George Mason University
School of Public Policy
Founders Hall 602
3351 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA, 22201

CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot took part in a roundtable discussion for the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program titled "Transatlantic Perspectives on Current Financial and Economic Developments." Other panelists included Sonia Ketkar and Jeremy Mayer of George Mason University's School of Public Policy. Desmond Dinan, also of George Mason University's School of Public Policy,  moderated. The event was sponsored by George Mason University and The Streit Council.

March 5, 2012

How Does the Global Economy Impact WIC?

1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Room 430
50 Constitution Ave NE
Washington, D.C. 20002

CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker took part in a panel discussion titled "How Does the Global Economy Impact WIC?" as part of the National WIC Association's 22nd Annual Washington Leadership Conference. Dean was joined on the panel by Robert Greenstein, director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Registration and agenda information can be found on the event's website.

February 24, 2012

The Impact of Social Policies and Workplace Law

11:15 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center
3800 Reservoir Road Northwest
Washington, D.C.

In response to the rapid growth of low-wage work, policymakers have proposed a wide range of interventions and strategies, from traditional approaches like raising the minimum wage and unionization, to investing in primary and secondary education and job training, to intervening in the labor market with “living wage” laws and stepped-up labor law enforcement. Yet systematic empirical analysis of the efficacy of these various interventions is relatively scarce. Which policy strategies are most and least effective, and under what conditions have they succeeded or failed? How does each of them impact low-wage immigrants and African Americans in particular?

CEPR Senior Economists Eileen Appelbaum and John Schmitt took part in a panel discussion on "The Impact of Social Policies and Workplace Law" as part of a larger two-day conference titled "What Works for Workers? A Conference on Public Policies and Innovative Strategies for Low-Wage Workers." Registration for the conference, which is sponsored by Georgetown University's Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, is $25. To RSVP, click here. Click here for a full agenda and paper abstracts.

February 23, 2012

Hill Briefing on Minimum Wage

11:00 a.m.
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Room 430
Washington, D.C. 20510

CEPR joined with the National Employment Law Project and the Economic Policy Institute to co-sponsor a well-attended briefing for congressional staffers on the minimum wage. John Schmitt walked congressional staffers through the extensive body of economic research that suggests that moderate increases in the minimum wage have little or no measurable impact on employment.

February 16, 2012

Annual Steinhardt Lecture at Lewis & Clark College

7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Lewis & Clark College of Arts and Sciences
Council Chamber, Templeton Center
0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road
Portland, OR, 97219

The economic debate between progressives and conservatives is routinely framed as a battle between progressives who support government intervention in the economy to promote equality and reduce poverty and conservatives who favor leaving things to the market. This “loser liberalism” framing, where the liberal agenda is about taxing the winners to help the losers, is likely to lead to bad policy outcomes and is also disastrous from a political standpoint.

CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker gave the college's annual Steinhardt Lecture, which covered some of the largely undiscussed government policies that redistribute income upwards. This list of policies includes patent and copyright protection, too big to fail insurance for large banks, and protectionist barriers that prop up the pay of doctors and other highly educated professionals. For more information, visit the event's website.

February 15, 2012

Where the Jobs Are: Employment Trends and Analysis

10:15 a.m.
Rayburn House Office Building
Room 2123
45 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, D.C.

The Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held the first in its series of hearings entitled “Where the Jobs Are.” The hearing focused on “Employment Trends and Analysis." Participants giving testimony included:

• John Abowd, Edmund Ezra Day Professor of Economics and director of the Labor Dynamics Institute at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
• John Berlau, director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
• Harold Sirkin, managing director at Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
• John Schmitt, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

A video of the testimony can be found below or after the jump.

February 10, 2012

Economic Mobility: What's the Problem and What to Do About It?

12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
New America Foundation
1899 L St NW
Washington, D.C. 20036

In a recent speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, President Obama described how the prospects of upward mobility for a child born into poverty have dimmed substantially, and he identified the path to inclusive prosperity as "the defining issue of our time." But has the climb up the economic ladder really become more arduous? Have more families in the middle class fallen downward? What can and should be done to increase economic security and create opportunities for upward mobility? The New America Foundation sponsored a discussion with Scott Winship, fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution and former research manager with the Economic Mobility Project. Participants included Heather McGhee, director of the Demos Washington Office; Shawn Fremstad, a senior research associate at the Center for Economic Policy Research; and Reid Cramer, director of the Asset Building Program at the New America Foundation.

A video of the event is available below or after the jump.

February 5, 2012

Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers

5 p.m. ET/2 p.m PT.
Firedoglake

It’s no secret that hundreds of companies have been slashing pensions and health coverage earned by millions of retirees. Employers blame an aging workforce, stock market losses, and spiraling costs- what they call “a perfect storm” of external forces that has forced them to take drastic measures. But this so-called retirement crisis is no accident. In the new book, Retirement Heist, Ellen E. Schultz, award-winning investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal, reveals how large companies and the retirement industry-benefits consultants, insurance companies, and banks-have all played a huge and hidden role in the death spiral of American pensions and benefits. CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker hosted a book salon on Firedoglake with Schultz.

February 4, 2012

Green Night Out

7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Singapore Vegetarian Kosher Chinese Restaurant
1006 Race Street, Chinatown
Philadelphia, PA, 19107

CEPR Senior Economist Eileen Appelbaum discussed "Paid Family Leave and Paid Sick Days: What Activists Need to Know and What They Can Do About It" at an event sponsored by The Green Party. The event also featured an endless supply of vegetarian kosher Chinese food for only $25 per person.

February 3, 2012

Empire Unplugged: A Salon with Dean Baker & Jeffrey Tucker on the Federal Reserve

8:00 p.m.
Montserrat House
2016 9th St NW
Washington, DC 20001

Is the Federal Reserve a legitimate or illegitimate institution? What is the case for it and against it? CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker took part in a debate with Jeffrey Tucker, an Austrian economics advocate, executive editor of Laissez Faire Books and former editorial vice president of The Mises Institute.