In the News

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In the News

Fazzari on infrastructure spending

11.3.16

Anyone who reads op-ed pages could have noticed a recent shift in economic debate: More and more experts saying that monetary policy has shot its bolt and it’s time to crank up government spending on things like roads and bridges to spur growth. Professor Steven Fazzari shares the view that the Fed is out of ammunition.

"Do You Like Scary Movies?" Horror Films & Things That Make Us Scream

10.26.16

John Powers walks us through the history of film and breaks down what makes us scream.

Harvey Wingfield on wider pay gaps faced by people of color

10.21.16

Extensive research shows that even when controlling for factors like education, skill, and experience, women routinely earn less than men employed in the same professions. Professor Jake Rosenfeld shows that the decline in unionization has worsened the racial wage gap, particularly for black women working in the private sector.

Harvey Wingfield on racial wage gap

10.10.16

Valerie Wilson of the Economic Policy Institute and Adia Harvey Wingfield of Washington University in St. Louis discuss a new study finding a greater racial wage gap in 2015 than in 1979. They talk now about an economic trend that is getting some attention, the wage gap between white Americans and black Americans.

Sociology Major/Minor Approved

9.30.16

For over 25 years, no Washington University student has had the choice to major or minor in sociology. Starting this year, that’s about to change. The department, which returned to the Danforth Campus last year after being disbanded in 1991, has recently concluded the process of approving its major and minor and can begin enrolling students into the programs.

Rosenfeld says right to work laws definitely hurt organized labor

9.22.16

A new study could fuel conflict in Missouri’s upcoming election for governor. The future of labor unions hangs in the balance in the battle between Republican Eric Greitens and Democrat Chris Koster. Professor Jake Rosenfeld is behind the study, which contends the decline of unions effectively lowers wages for non-union workers.

Collins on Hillary Clinton and U.S. sick leave policy

9.16.16

As Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton demonstrated when she nearly collapsed from the effects of walking pneumonia early this week, the benefits of running for elected office may include many things, but sick days are not among them. Professor Caitlyn Collins says these figures reflect a widespread American bias that “valorizes work and the ideal worker image” at the expense of personal health and well-being.

Faculty of Color and the Changing University

9.16.16

Despite the excuses that administrators often give, a commitment to diversity can go beyond lip service and translate into more faculty of color in tenure-track, tenured, full professor and upper administrative ranks, argues Adia Harvey Wingfield.

Schachter's From “Different” to “Similar”: An Experimental Approach to Understanding Assimilation

9.6.16

Professor Ariela Schachter uses a nationally representative conjoint survey experiment to explore whether and how immigrants’ mobility gains shape native-born white citizens’ perceptions of symbolic belonging and finds that white natives are generally open to structural relationships with immigrant-origin individuals, with the exception of black immigrants and natives, and undocumented immigrants.

Rosenfeld on stagnant wages

8.31.16

Anemic gains in wages have plagued U.S. workers not just since the Great Recession ended seven years ago but for years before it as well. The underlying factors vary, but research just out suggests that a major culprit is lost in the noise over jobs going offshore, immigration and the minimum wage.

Rosenfeld on the how the decline of unions has effected nonunion workers

8.31.16

There’s this notion out there that unions are great for union members, and that’s pretty much it. But a new report from the Economic Policy Institute looks at how the decline in labor unions has affected nonunion workers. Professor Jake Rosenfeld says that strong unions mean higher wages for both union members and nonmembers.

Jake Rosenfeld and Patrick Denice report on union and nonunion wages

8.30.16

Pay for private-sector workers has barely budged over the past three and a half decades. In fact, for men in the private sector who lack a college degree and do not belong to a labor union, real wages today are substantially lower than they were in the late 1970s.