Speakers
- Sebastian Hickey, Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
- Zane Mokhiber, Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
- Ben Zipperer, Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
Session Description
In this session, participants will use Current Population Survey (CPS) data to perform analyses in statistical software packages Stata and R.
- Data analysis in R
1:30 – 2:40 pm ET
We will use R to inflation adjust minimum wage data and supplement this analysis using the EPI Current Population Survey extracts. In general we will show how to produce basic tables and graphics using data downloaded from the BLS and other public sources. Beginners are welcome, but it will help if everyone has basic familiarity with the programming concepts introduced in the R workshops at last year’s data bootcamp.
Key concepts: Data analysis in R, inflation adjustment, EPI CPS microdata extracts
- Introducing the new EARN code library
2:50 – 3:10 pm ET
EARN is excited to announce a new resource for network members: The EARN code library. The code library will make it easier for EARN researchers to share their own work and learn from analysis done by EPI and other EARN groups. In this session we will go over the components of the code library, the process for adding new projects to the repository, and the plan for launching the code library website.
- Data analysis in Stata
3:20 – 4:30 pm ET
In this 70-minute module, we will run a basic analysis of BLS published statistics and Current Population Survey (CPS) microdata. This module will assume basic proficiency in Stata and will build on concepts learned in last year’s data bootcamp modules. This module will cover using published state level statistics from BLS in Stata in a “tidy” manner, supplementing these published statistics with CPS microdata to allow for more fine grain analysis, dealing with small sample sizes and data volatility over time using the CPS microdata, and finally, putting it all together to produce a presentable table and graphics.
Key concepts: Tidy data analysis in Stata, dealing with small sample sizes, data smoothing (dealing with volatility and clumping), EPI CPS microdata extracts
Speakers
- Dave Cooper, Economic Policy Institute
- Amanda Posson, Every Texan
- Dustin Pugel, Kentucky Center for Economic Policy
- Jacob Vigil, New Mexico Voices
Session Description
Thanks to timely and ample federal relief programs, the United States’ recovery from the pandemic-induced recession has been swift: the economy regained more than twice the number of jobs lost in the Great Recession in less than half the time. However, public sector employment – particularly state and local government – remains severely depressed from pre-pandemic levels, with little improvement over the past year. Even with unprecedented federal fiscal aid to state and local governments, many states and localities are facing staffing shortages in key public systems, including education and healthcare, that have been growing for years. In this session, EPI experts will lead a discussion to figure out what is happening beneath the headline numbers; how it’s affecting public services; what lawmakers and advocates can do about it; how EARN groups are responding, and what it all means with the threat of recession and austerity looming.
Speakers
- Danielle Alvarado, Fair Work Center
- Teri Castillo, San Antonio City Council District 5
- Terri Gerstein, Harvard Labor and Worklife Program and Economic Policy Institute
- LiJia Gong, Local Progress
- Mazahir Salih, Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa
Session Description
This session will provide an overview of all of the different ways (even when constrained by abusive state preemption) that localities have used their various powers—including policymaking, enforcement, licensing, contracting, worker education, and public engagement—to fight for working people. This session will also provide the opportunity for small group discussions among participants to consider how they might play
Confirmed Speakers (More to come!)
- Lindsey Baker (Moderator), Missouri Budget Project
- Mel Borja, The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis
- Sana Shah, Connecticut Voices for Children
Session Description
EARN groups recognize that economic inequality has been rapidly increasing for the past several decades and our states’ regressive tax systems are a key contributor to economic injustice. However, states’ economic policy decisions are often controlled by the wealthy, who utilize political and economic influence to increase their wealth. In order to advance economic justice, it is necessary to form strategic partnerships among the majority of us who have not shared the economy’s gains. We all wield different types of power, and by building effective partnerships, EARN groups will be able to fundamentally reform the revenue structure and provide support to working families and boost public investment that would inject hundreds of millions of dollars into our chronically underfunded public systems of education, health care, and social services. These policy changes would benefit all working people who rely on a robust public sector as a lifeline to vital services and a source of living wage employment. In particular, women and workers of color would stand to gain the most from increased public investment and tax reform, as these residents have borne the brunt of austerity policies and our upside-down tax structure over the last few decades.
In this session, panelists will highlight how to build a successful advocacy plan by forming partnerships that lead to an effective “inside” and “outside” strategy to challenge longstanding austerity approaches, expand working families’ power over the state budget by enacting progressive tax reform, and to win dramatic investments in working-class communities.