As a research fellow in labor economics at The Heritage Foundation, James Sherk researches ways to promote competition and mobility in the workforce rather than erect barriers that prevent workers from getting ahead. Read his research.
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Fewer Americans either have or are looking for jobs today than at any point since 1978 — and President Obama’s health care law is about… Read More
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just reported that President Obama has already effectively raised the minimum wage. How so? The Obamacare employer mandate requires employers… Read More
Employers are responding to the uncertainty of the Obamacare rollout by slashing hours and limiting their new hires. Although the Obamacare employer mandate will not… Read More
Many Senators propose raising the minimum wage to reduce poverty. However, minimum-wage increases have no statistically significant effect on poverty rates. Few of the workers… Read More
In Monday’s Noel Canning case, the Supreme Court considered whether the president can make recess appointments during Senate sessions. Few observers expect the Supreme Court to… Read More
On January 1, maximum unemployment insurance (UI) benefits dropped across most of America. Not in North Carolina. The Tar Heel State already ended extended UI… Read More
Last year, four truck drivers talked to federal investigators about safety problems at Gaines Motor Lines. A week later, they were fired. Now the Department… Read More
Congress will soon vote on raising the federal minimum wage to over $10 per hour. Few realize that, from the perspective of many employers, the… Read More
Sponsored by Representative Tom Price (R–GA) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R–UT), the Employee Rights Act addresses insufficient protections employees have vis-à-vis unions. The bill would… Read More
President Obama has announced a 1 percent across-the-board federal pay increase in 2014. This comes on top of federal employees’ already scheduled seniority-based raises. Unless… Read More
If only the D.C. city council understood good intentions do not ensure good results. Council members are debating four different proposals to raise the city’s… Read More
Most people expect unions to protect workers, not attack their credit ratings. The Michigan Education Association (MEA) does not share these expectations. The union has… Read More
Today’s jobs report shows the labor market recovery remains weak—and businesses are telling the Federal Reserve one of the main reasons is Obamacare. Last week’s… Read More
Do American workers have lower living standards today than in 1989? To anyone with a camera GPS library stereo video recorder TV smartphone in his… Read More
A few years ago, President Obama declared he believed “in people getting rich based on performance and what they add in terms of value and… Read More
“My Administration has worked tirelessly to create jobs, help our residents obtain, employment, and escape poverty. It is because of these very commitments, in fact,… Read More
Many pundits and politicians argue that middle-class incomes have stagnated over the past generation. But more accurate data show that the typical household’s income has… Read More
Paul Krugman and many others argue that compensation has not grown as fast as productivity. However, most of the apparent gap between the growth… Read More
The D.C. city council recently approved legislation raising hourly minimum wages in retail stores to $12.50 an hour under the Large Retail Accountability Act (LRAA)…. Read More
File this under “Department of Exaggerated Statistics.” In the wake of the news that a temporary help agency became America’s second-largest employer, stories have appeared… Read More
Teachers in Deerfield, Kansas, just did something unusual—they voted to decertify their union. The Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) no longer represents them. Teachers disliking… Read More
Supporters of the Gang of Eight immigration bill argue they want to make immigrating legally simpler, but their bill would make the H-1B system for… Read More
The President has a right to nominate cabinet secretaries who share his political views. He does not have a right to appoint unqualified cabinet secretaries…. Read More
President Obama’s budget proposes raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour. This would hurt the very workers the President wants to help. When the… Read More
Union contracts often pick winners and losers in the workplace. However, teachers unions may soon lose the power to pick losers—at least in Kansas. Legislators… Read More
At the height of the recession, one in 10 Americans who wanted to work could not find employment. Since then, the unemployment rate has gradually… Read More
The federal government spends billions each year on job training programs. However, these programs are ineffective and waste billions on duplicative administrative expenses. A 2011… Read More
EconomyNews
President Obama argued in his State of the Union address that “no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.” That is a… Read More
The House just voted on a proposal to extend President Obama’s (misnamed) “federal pay freeze” for another year. While Congress has better ways of reducing… Read More
EconomyNews
During last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama proposed fighting poverty by raising the minimum wage. It sounds appealing but it will not… Read More
