EPI’s Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN)—a group of 54 state and regional multi-issue research, policy, and advocacy organizations—has just launched an improved Web site. EARN’s member organizations strive to improve the lives of Americans through state and local policy, changing the nature of the national policy debate state by state. The new site features the latest reports issued by EARN groups as well as the ability to search for material on a given topic across all of the EARN sites.

EPI welcomes new staff economist
Economist Heidi Shierholz joined EPI’s staff this month. Her areas of research include income inequality, the gender wage gap, trends in employment and compensation, and the low-wage labor market. She previously worked as an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto.

Talking ’bout a revolution?
On Thursday, July 26, EPI economist Jared Bernstein spoke on renegotiating the social contract at an event entitled, “A New Social Contract,” jointly sponsored by the journal Democracy and the Hamilton Project.

Reforming health care
The New America Foundation hosted a July 20, 2007 event to promote their new slate of policy reform proposals, inviting EPI economist Elise Gould to discuss their health reform proposal at the forum.

• Minimum wage issues continue to be analyzed in the media, and EPI was quoted in the Boston Globe, CNN, and the Detroit Free Press (among other news outlets) in July and August.  Time Magazine also relied on EPI’s expertise in its long report in June on the minimum wage and the hazards facing many low-wage workers.
• The Economist magazine, in its assessment of the American economy, took inspiration from a familiar EPI theme: the job market is much weaker than the 4.5% unemployment figure suggests. “According to Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute, participation in the labour market has fallen most sharply among disadvantaged groups, usually the first to drop out of the jobs race when labour demand slackens.”
• EPI economist Josh Bivens appeared on Al Jazeera English on August 9 and CNN on August 10 to discuss the mortgage-sector problems and what they mean for the U.S. economy.
• In response to the new book Unleashing Capitalism, EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey’s August 12 op-ed in the Charleston Gazette explains how its authors misunderstand the current relationship between productivity and wages and fail to see that unions are essential for a strong, balanced economy. Visit EPI’s Viewpoints for the full text.

Save the date!
Robert Reich at EPI on Sept. 14
The American Prospect and EPI’s Agenda for Shared Prosperity will host an event for EPI co-founder and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich to discuss his latest book, Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life. RSVP instructions and other event details will follow shortly for this event to be held on the morning of Friday, September 14.

Save another date!
Barbara Ehrenreich at EPI on Oct. 2
The following Agenda for Shared Prosperity event will be held on Tuesday, October 2. Author Barbara Ehrenreich, Nancy Cauthen of Columbia University’s National Center for Children and Poverty, and EPI’s Jared Bernstein will discuss various issues and present new research on the topic of poverty amelioration. RSVP instructions and other event details will follow shortly.