News & Stories

By Dean Baker Originally published in TPM Cafe In the movie Lars and the Real Girl, the main character imagines that a female blow-up doll is his fiancé. To humor Lars, his brother and sister-in-law go along with the charade. Over the course of the movie, more people are drawn into the circle, until eventually […]

Women’s earnings are essential to economic security for the majority of families in Washington State. Women comprise about half of the state’s workforce. As job losses mount in the second year of the national recession, women’s support of family incomes is more important than ever. However, women continue to earn far less than men. On […]

As our state legislators put the final tweaks on what promise to be very ugly budget proposals, it’s worth thinking about the kinds of investments that save money and improve lives. Legislators should face down the soda pop lobby and add a 5 cent per 12 ounce can of soda. That would raise $277 million […]

Guest blogger: Stan Sorscher, Seattle, WA Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Inequality We should look at one other consequence of these policies. Trickle-down economics works very well for the top segments of our population. See Figure 5. Every economic policy will have winners and losers. Economists say that the winners could compensate […]

Family Values at Work: A Multi-State Consortium View the original fact sheet here Keeping the nation’s workers employed is a key priority in these difficult times. Especially during a recession, losing a job can be catastrophic for employees and their families, and can add demands on already strained state services. That’s why a policy such […]

Reprinted from the Everett Herald I woke up this morning, made the coffee and walked out to get the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. And I walked back in, empty-handed. The P-I is no more. As of today, thousands of P-I readers are victims of the latest out-of-state corporate cost-cutting decision. And who knows which will be the […]

Guest blogger: Stan Sorscher, Seattle, WA Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Households adjust Households have made a series of accommodations to stretch limited resources to maintain our standard of living. At least three major adjustments can be counted: additional wage earners, reduced savings, and tapping into housing equity.

Guest blogger: Stan Sorscher, Seattle, WA Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 America is focused on our banking crisis, the deepening recession and the trillion dollars demanded from taxpayers to avert even worse problems. We should look ahead to the recovery. What policies and mechanisms will restore prosperity? Conventional economic wisdom failed to […]

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: We applaud the long history, investigative journalism, and incisive and wise editorial work of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Even in the face of its impending closure, the P-I continues to be a central voice for improving our society and pointing out the pathway we need to take. Next month we presume we […]

Do Americans want government health care reform?: As President Barack Obama hosts a Thursday summit at the White House on health care reform, recent national polling suggests that nearly three out of four Americans support government programs to improve the country’s health care system. | CNN Obama takes on health care reform: President Barack Obama […]

Our current health care system has finally reached its tipping point. The cycle of higher premiums and lowered benefits have forced many businesses to cut back significantly on employer contributions or altogether abandon employee health care plans. As people lose employer coverage, more turn to Medicaid—increasing financial strain on government health care programs that already […]

Rerpinted from the Everett Herald: My neighbor across the street thought he was all set for retirement. Then the housing crash and the stock market slide took away his part-time job as a small contractor and the nest egg he had built up for the future. So now he’s driving around prescriptions for a local […]

Last year, even with a budget surplus, public outrage nixed a tax break sought by Microsoft and Yahoo for server farms in Eastern Washington. (The WaPoWa post – and P-I column – on it is still current reading.) This year we’ve got a hole in the state budget big enough to swallow 25% of the […]

Seattle P-I | I woke up this morning, made the coffee and walked out to get the P-I. As I began reading the headlines, I started thinking and moping about its presumed demise. Bad enough that it merged local with national news and business with sports. But in a month, we will most likely have […]

Check out this debate between Ellen Bravo of 9to5 and Tim Sheehy of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce (MMAC) discussing the benefits of Milwaukee’s new paid sick leave law. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK59QADy9KU]

Workplace insurance (a.k.a. L & I) might not grab headlines the way an $8 billion revenue shortfall does, but it affects every worker and business in Washington. “Retro” is an L & I program that lets employers pool risk in exchange for improving safety records. Last year, a review of Retro found a coding error […]

Economists urge Legislature to raise taxes to deal with budget: Twenty-two of them signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and many of them will be meeting with Brown today. | Publicola House Dems say they may put tax increase on ballot: House Democratic leaders say they’ll likely propose sending Washington voters a […]