Jul 27 2018
Medicare: Protecting Seniors and Families
Medicare is one of the success stories of the last half century. Since its passage in 1965, Medicare has facilitated the near-universal health coverage of the elderly population in America and the dramatic decline in their poverty rate. With Medicare’s help, seniors are able
to access the high-quality care they need while minimizing strain on their pocketbooks. Today, more than 58 million seniors and people with disabilities are able to live longer, healthier, and more financially secure lives.
to access the high-quality care they need while minimizing strain on their pocketbooks. Today, more than 58 million seniors and people with disabilities are able to live longer, healthier, and more financially secure lives.
In the wake of today’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) release, it is important to remember that large gains for a small group can keep total income growing, even while many or even most Americans see their incomes stagnate or shrink. Republicans will likely trumpet this as a sign that the tax cuts are working to improve the economy for all Americans. But it is important to think about what it actually does, and doesn’t, tell us about the economy. GDP is a measure of the total income generated in a year by the U.S. economy, but the whole doesn't always tell us enough about the parts.
This week, House Republicans plan to reveal their Tax Cut 2.0 plan. It is widely expected that the plan will make the temporary provisions of the new tax law permanent, including the 20 percent deduction on qualifying pass-through income. The benefits of the deduction flow mostly to the wealthiest Americans, such as those that own large hedge funds, law firms, and real estate companies. While just 2 percent of the benefits in 2018 will go to households earning under $50,000 a year, 44 percent will go to households earning more than $1 million.
Americans living in remote, rural, and tribal communities tend to have less access to high-speed broadband than their urban counterparts. Today, more than 23 million rural residents lack access to broadband, which prevents them from tapping into better medical care, online education, job training, and other services that fuel local economic growth. In all, broadband internet accounts for more than $30 billion in annual consumer benefits.
Jul 18 2018
Why the Fed Matters
The Federal Reserve (Fed) plays a critical, but largely hidden, role in the day-to-day life of every family in America. When you fill up your gas tank and stock up on groceries for the week, the prices you see are in part shaped by the Fed’s policies. When you cut your landlord a rent check each month, the Fed’s payment services help ensure your check clears on time. And when you’re finally ready to buy your first home, the Fed influences the mortgage rates you’re offered and even whether you’re likely to have a steady and well-paying job to afford that mortgage. From our most basic daily transactions to our most important financial decisions, the Fed has a tremendous impact on the economic livelihoods of Main Street and Wall Street alike.
In the wake of the Republican tax cuts, taxes on corporate profits are at historic lows. Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration promised that this historic tax cut would lead to large wage gains for working families. In June, though, the average hourly wage was unchanged from a year prior, after adjusting for inflation. For production and nonsupervisory workers (a good proxy for the median worker), wages were actually lower in June than a year prior. Meanwhile, U.S. public companies announced $437 billion in share buybacks in the second quarter, shattering the record they set in the first quarter.
In the January edition of Consumer Corner, we detailed Republican efforts to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the sole watchdog in financial markets for American consumers. Since then, Mick Mulvaney, the bureau’s interim director, has doubled down on these efforts, accelerating changes that weaken critical consumer protections and lighten oversight of banks and other financial institutions.