A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows the country needs to increase union membership significantly, create universal health care, a universal retirement system (beyond Social Security), expand college attainment and achieve gender pay equity to create more "good" jobs in the United States. 

The most striking feature of the U.S. economy over the last three decades has been the upward redistribution of income. The top 1.0 percent of households has managed to pocket the vast majority of gains over this period. That is a sharp contrast with the three decades immediately following World War II when the benefits of much more rapid growth were broadly shared.

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama joined a growing chorus of voices demanding that the national minimum wage be raised.  Tuesday, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative George Miller (D-Calif.) announced they will introduce the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013.

According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, more than 40 million Americans work in jobs where they have no access to paid sick days. In addition to the potential loss of wages and jobs for working families, the lack of paid sick days forces many people to go to work when they are contagious and get co-workers and customers sick and decreases productivity for workers who show up unable to perform to their normal level of ability. More and more cities and states are recognizing the realities of the damage having a workforce without paid sick leave does to workers and to the economy.

While media pundits raise faux concern every time the Social Security trustees release their annual report, falsely declaring the program is in dire trouble—even though the future modest funding shortfall can easily be fixed by scrapping the cap—it's important we take a look at a major factor in Social Security's finances: rich people. 

Who says economic policy has to be wonkish and dry? Not John Schmitt, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). He gets right to the point in his new report, “The Minimum Wage Is Too Damn Low.”

We asked economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), to expand upon recent reports that show a marked improvement in the nation’s jobs picture. In January, 243,000 jobs were created and unemployment dropped significantly for some of the hardest-hit workers. Baker’s intepretation of the data presents a still-mixed economic picture, but one bright point stands out clearly: President Obama’s support of the U.S. auto industry has been key to improving job creation for America’s workers. Be sure to pick up a copy of Baker’s latest book, The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive.

The road to economic growth and a full recovery lies in allowing the deficit to grow temporarily and investing in programs that put money in the hands of consumers, two nonpartisan experts said. 

Even though 216,000 jobs were created in March and the nation’s unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent overall, the jobless rate for blacks rose from 15.3 percent to 15.5 percent.

Last week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) spent a great deal of effort touting an economic report from the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee. That should be your first warning to step back, take a deep breath and adjust your skepticism meter.