News & Stories

In the 1950s and 60s, the American middle class grew from the “middle out” thanks to government policies encouraging education and home ownership. There was also plenty of demand for American-made goods, as much of Europe’s manufacturing base had been destroyed during WWII. Times weren’t good for everyone – most notably African Americans, Japanese Americans, […]

By Robert Kuttner, from The American Prospect: Once again, President Obama seems to be on the verge of folding a winning hand. Widely leaked reports indicate that the president and House Speaker John Boehner are making a fiscal deal that includes hiking tax rates back to the pre-Bush levels with a threshold of $400,000 rather […]

The Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) has published a brief on one of the proposed changes to Social Security under the “fiscal cliff” deal – this one known as the “Chained CPI.” The Chained CPI is a bit complex, but here’s the bottom line: it would cut benefits for Social Security recipients by shrinking […]

According to an Institute of Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) analysis of the November employment report, job growth improved, with 146,000 jobs added to nonfarm payrolls. Job growth was strong for women (91,000 jobs) and men (55,000 jobs). From IWPR: As of November, women have regained 54 percent (1.5 million) of the total jobs they lost […]

A recent Politico-George Washington poll conducted in “battleground” states asked respondents how they would reduce the federal budget deficit. A significant majority of voters indicated strong support for two proposals:  raising taxes on households earning more than $250,000 (60% favor), raising taxes on corporations (64% favor). Voters also opposed raising the retirement age for Social […]

Yesterday, the Department of Education announced a consortium of seven Puget Sound school districts were winners of Race to the Top funds, which will be used to improve early education. This award is in addition to another grant won by Washington state last year to fund early learning. Paul Nyhan at Thrive by Five Washington […]

Raising the age for Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67 is front and center in the GOP plan to avoid the fiscal cliff slope – but it’s merely a budgetary sleight of hand that shifts costs to seniors and their families, employers and the states. As a Kaiser Family Foundation report explains, 65- and 66-year-olds are […]

Recently, the New York Times released a database examining the incentives and subsidies corporations receive from various states. They identified 48 companies that have received more than $100 million in state grants since 2007, including companies with strong ties to Washington state such as Amazon ($348 million), Boeing ($338 million), Microsoft ($312 million), Weyerhauser ($406 million), and Orca Bay Seafoods […]

Given all of the recent talk about closing tax loopholes and deductions, here’s a chart showing sources of federal revenue. This chart is interesting because it comes from a recent report issued by the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, which is exploring “how U.S. citizens and multinational corporations have misused and at time violated tax statutes […]

Every day we hear about the fiscal cliff. But don’t be scared, because in reality it’s a fiction of rhetoric, foisted on the American people by Wall Street and inside-the-beltway politicians, especially those who just took a drubbing in November’s elections. The crowd of Wall Street elites and DC losers want to use the fiscal […]

For decades, economists have argued over the effects of a minimum wage on employment. The old argument against it goes like this: any increase in the price of a good (in this case labor) will decrease demand for it. But policymakers have long seen the value in a minimum wage – after all, what good […]

From the Huffington Post: Everyone I know is in favor of trade done right. Recently, I heard a congressman explain how investors interpret that. From that perspective, trade is done right when the investor’s property is protected from capricious foreign governments who might snatch property. I think he meant Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro — […]

Finnish students are among the best in the world. Their success has come through a system that would seem unorthodox here in the United States: no standardized testing, no private schools, fewer hours in school, teacher autonomy, full national funding, and equality in education, among other things. This document, prepared for a November 2012 conference […]

Noted economist Bob Kuttner says once you clear away all the smoke and mirrors, we’re facing a simple choice about our economy: We are shifting irrevocably to a service economy. But there are political choices to be made (or evaded). One path leads to an economy of minimum-wage fast food workers and security guards, many […]

Online news magazine Slate recently posted scans of comic books published by the Social Security Administration in the 1950s and 1960s designed to inform young people about the importance of Social Security – a common strategy to reach youth at that time. Slate writes: Why should young people care about Social Security? Some of these comics […]

In every education survey, Finland seems to come out on top. Finland. And I’ll bet you’re sick and tired of hearing how great Finland is. But I wanted to find out why, so asked the man who helped Finland do it — Pasi Sahlberg, from Finland’s education ministry — to reveal their secret. “Forty years […]

Given the decision of the Washington State Supreme Court in the McCleary case, which highlighted Washington’s failure to adequately fund education, the new legislature and Governor will soon be looking for new revenue to meet the state’s financial obligation to basic education. Educational reforms alone will require at least $1 billion in new public revenue in the 2013-15 […]

I wonder if this rain is going to make tomorrow’s Thanksgiving a little more difficult for some of us in Washington state. I worry about family and friends in transit to their intended Thanksgiving meals and holidays. I wonder if the floods will hold back or get worse. We don’t know if rail beds will […]

On Friday, KUOW’s Ross Reynolds discussed the potential expiration of the Bush tax cuts for income over $250,000 per year. He took calls from small several business owners, venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, and EOI Policy Director Dr. Marilyn Watkins (at 15:10). The top rate, currently 35%, applies to income earned over $388,000. Repealing the Bush […]

“It takes a village,” Pasi Sahlberg tells me, “to improve education systems.” Sahlberg is a former teacher, the current Director General of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture’s Centre for International Mobility and the author of the book Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland?. In his book, and […]

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, EOI hosted Finnish education leader and author Dr. Pasi Sahlberg for a conference on educational systems in Finland and Washington state. At the conference, Dr. Sahlberg spoke to state policymakers and education leaders about the success of the Finnish educational model. Here’s a sample of Sahlberg’s message, from The Seattle Times: Pasi […]

Note: Washington state Representative Tina Orwall (D-33), a member of EOI’s Board of Directors, was the prime sponsor of the Foreclosure Fairness Act. Story from the Public News Service. SEATTLE – Progress is being reported in the second year of Washington State’s Foreclosure Fairness Act (HB 1362), but local attorneys say there is still room […]

Now that the elections are over, our national policymakers have turned their attention to the so-called “fiscal cliff.”  Of course, it’s really more of a crest than a cliff, and the problem was created by Congress in the first place. Here are four easy steps that Congress and President Obama should take that will restore […]

From the Seattle Times: For more than a decade, Finland has scored at the top or near the top of the closely watched international exam known as PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment, while the United States has hovered near the middle. Pasi Sahlberg, who heads the Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation in Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, will be […]

Originally posted at Common Dreams, by Jesse Hagopian: On election night, as it became increasingly clear that Mitt Romney was going to lose the election to Barack Obama, I watched Fox News host Megyn Kelly ask you, “How do you think we got to this point?” You responded by saying: Because it’s a changing country. […]