Ideas to Boost Wages in the New Economy: Ten Essays on Raising Wages for U.S. Workers

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth held a launch event for our book of essays on how to boost U.S. wages in the new economy on January 14, 2021, from 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. EST.

The book, Boosting Wages for U.S. Workers in the New Economy, features 10 essays by leading scholars on policies to raise wages by addressing underlying structures and dynamics in our economy. 

The essays (opens in a new tab)—developed in partnership with the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley and with funding from the Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust—guide policymakers on how to deliver broadly shared economic prosperity by making wages a key outcome to structural economic policy at the federal and state levels.

The event included a series of fireside chats to discuss how to reimagine the U.S. economy so that workers are able to share in the value they create, highlighting policy priorities and proposals to balance power and foster an equitable economy. The event began with an introductory keynote from Congressman Bobby Scott, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, about labor policy in the new Congress.

Speakers included:

• Congressman Bobby Scott (opens in a new tab), Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives (Keynote)
• Ioana Marinescu, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, on addressing market concentration and employers’ ability to undercut wages.
• Jesse Rothstein, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, University of California, Berkeley, and Faculty Director, California Policy Lab, on supporting policies to broadly share economic risks.
• Andria Smythe, Assistant Professor of Economics, Howard University, on making higher education more accessible.

Watch the recording of the event:

Please contact events@equitablegrowth.org (opens in a new tab) with any questions.