Josh Bivens
Research and Policy Director
Areas of expertise
Macroeconomics • Globalization • Social insurance • Public investment
Biography
Josh Bivens is the Research and Policy Director at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). His areas of research include macroeconomics, fiscal and monetary policy, the economics of globalization, social insurance, and public investment. He frequently appears as an economics expert on news shows, including the Public Broadcasting Service’s “NewsHour,” the “Melissa Harris-Perry” show on MSNBC, WAMU’s “The Diane Rehm Show,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and programs of the BBC.
As a leading policy analyst, Bivens regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress on fiscal and monetary policy, the economic impact of regulations, and other issues. He has also provided analyses for the annual meeting of Project LINK of the United Nations and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Bivens is the author of Failure by Design: The Story behind America’s Broken Economy (EPI and Cornell University Press) and Everybody Wins Except for Most of Us: What Economics Really Teachers About Globalization (EPI). He is the co-author of The State of Working America, 12th Edition (EPI and Cornell University Press) and a co-editor of Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, No Jobs: Labor Markets and Informal Work in Egypt, El Salvador, India, Russia and South Africa (EPI).
His academic articles have appeared in the International Review of Applied Economics, the Journal of Economic Issues and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Bivens has also provided peer-reviewed articles to several edited collections, including The Handbook of the Political Economy of Financial Crises (Oxford University Press), Public Economics in the United States: How the Federal Government Analyzes and Influences the Economy (ABC-CLIO), and Restoring Shared Prosperity: A Policy Agenda from Leading Keynesian Economists (AFL-CIO and the Macroeconomic Policy Institute).
Prior to becoming Research and Policy Director, Bivens was a research economist at EPI. Before coming to EPI, he was an assistant professor of economics at Roosevelt University and provided consulting services to Oxfam America. He has a Ph.D. in economics from the New School for Social Research and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Education
Ph.D., Economics, New School for Social Research
B.A., Economics, University of Maryland at College Park
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Protestors Target Fed Policies at Meeting in Wyoming
September 4, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Multimedia
EPI Research and Policy Director Josh Bivens spoke with the Wall Street Journal about why the Federal Reserve shouldn’t raise interest rates.Understanding the Historic Divergence Between Productivity and a Typical Worker’s Pay: Why It Matters and Why It’s Real
September 2, 2015 | By Josh Bivens and Lawrence Mishel | Briefing Paper
The data series and methods we use to construct our graph of the growing gap between productivity and typical worker pay best capture how income generated in an average hour of work in the U.S. economy has not trickled down to raise hourly pay for typical workers.Why Recent Stock Volatility Shouldn’t Factor Into Interest-Rate Hikes
August 26, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
Recent volatility in stock markets in the U.S. and globally has led many economic observers to conclude that the Federal Reserve is less likely to begin raising short-term interest rates at its September meetings. I’ve been on Team Don’t Raise for a while now, but I’m not excited about those joining the cause in light of recent stock market swings.How Worried Should We Be About the Stock Market’s Recent Declines?
August 24, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
The stock market has taken a hit in the past few days, with concern over the Chinese economy driving a big selloff. How worried should we be? The short answer is: not very.Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations, U.S. Growth Version
August 19, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
Catherine Rampell wrote a piece having some fun with the bidding war among GOP candidates about how much they can promise to raise economic growth rates.Four Pinocchios for the Washington Post Fact Checker
August 14, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
In the Washington Post Fact Checker column today, Glenn Kessler got really exercised about Bernie Sanders’ totally accurate description of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on job losses that will occur if spending caps in the Budget Control Act (BCA) are not loosened in coming years.Summing up Today’s GDP Data Release
July 30, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
Today’s report on gross domestic product (GDP)—the widest measure of economic activity—does not paint an encouraging picture of America’s past or present economic health.News from EPI › Growth Resumes, but Full Economic Health Still a Ways Off
July 30, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Press Releases
Today’s report that gross domestic product (GDP) rose at a 2.3 percent rate in the second quarter of 2015 is clearly an improvement over the 0.6 percent growth in the first quarter, but it indicates that growth for 2015 is likely to be disappointing.The Federal Reserve Can Help Close Gender and Racial Wage Gaps by Pursuing Full Employment: Report from the Center for Popular Democracy and the Economic Policy Institute
July 16, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Working Paper
The Federal Reserve can contribute to closing gender and racial wage gaps by setting a clear target for wage growth and not considering an interest-rate hike until wage growth has strengthened.How the Federal Reserve Can Help or Hurt the Economy: What’s at Stake
July 8, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Fact Sheet
The Fed’s priorities should be spurring full employment and creating space for healthy wage growth.How Overtime Rules Could Help the Middle Class
July 3, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
The overtime rules the Obama administration announced Tuesday target genuine problems that middle-wage households face. They also do not require approval from Congress.A Vital Dashboard Indicator For Monetary Policy: Nominal Wage Targets
June 15, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Working Paper
This paper by EPI Research and Policy Director Josh Bivens was written for the Full Employment Project of Policy Futures, a new initiative at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.A Comprehensive Analysis of the Employment Impacts of the EPA’s Proposed Clean Power Plan
June 9, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Briefing Paper
The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Clean Power Plan mandating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants would likely lead to a net increase of roughly 360,000 jobs in 2020, with jobs added falling to roughly 15,000 in 2030.On Substance, Martin O’Malley Was Right About American Wages: Don’t Let Nitpicks Convince You That There Is Not A Crisis in American Pay
June 8, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
Three separate sources have recently “fact-checked” claims that Martin O’Malley made about American wages in his recent speech announcing his candidacy for the Democratic nomination.Did the Fed’s quantitative easing make inequality worse?
June 2, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Video
On June 1, EPI Research and Policy Director Josh Bivens presented a report at the Brookings Institution on how monetary policy influences income inequality.Gauging the Impact of the Fed on Inequality During the Great Recession
June 1, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Working Paper
In a recent working paper presented at a symposium at the Brookings Institution’s Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, EPI Research Director Josh Bivens assesses claims that the Federal Reserve’s very low interest rates and large-scale asset purchases (LSAPs), commonly known as quantitative easing, increased inequality by driving up the price of stocks and other assets.Yes, Trade Deficits Do Indeed Matter for Jobs
May 28, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
In today’s U.S. economy, trade deficit reductions engineered by ending currency management would boost U.S. output and employment, and trade deficit reductions will (all else equal) always and everywhere boost manufacturing employment.A Budget Informed by the Past, Present, and Future of the Economy: Josh Bivens at the Peterson Fiscal Summit
May 19, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Video
EPI Research and Policy Director Josh Bivens talks about creating a budget based on lessons of inequality in the past, recovery in the present, and priorities for the future.Investing in America’s Economy: A Budget Blueprint for Today and Tomorrow
May 19, 2015 | By Josh Bivens and Thomas L. Hungerford | Executive Summary
Introduction
The American economy continues to struggle after the end of the Great Recession and five years of historically austere federal spending during an economic recovery.More Notes on the Gains From Trade and Who Gets Them
May 18, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
The New York Times’ Binyamin Appelbaum wrote an excellent piece yesterday on the costs and benefits of globalization. But because I’ve thought a lot about this topic, I have some hobby-horse issues concerning how economists characterize how large the gains from trade are and how its gains and losses are distributed.The TPP Debate: Never Real and No Longer Polite
May 15, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
As Jeff Faux notes, we seem to have reached the part of the debate over the TPP when facts and evidence have largely given way to table-pounding.Today’s Jobs Data More Evidence That Currency Manipulation Is Not a Problem That’s Behind Us
May 8, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
Recent debates over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have highlighted the failure of the treaty to include a provision to stop countries from actively weakening the value of their own currency in order to run trade surpluses.Summing Up the Data on Jobs and Wages
May 8, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
Recent weeks have seen a raft of pretty bad economic news. Last month’s jobs report showed a marked slowdown in employment growth—with 126,000 new jobs reported in March, down from the 269,000 average pace of growth that had characterized the previous 12 months. And gross domestic product in the first quarter was essentially stagnant—rising at just a 0.2 percent annualized rate. March trade data showed an enormous rise in the trade deficit, which will likely drive the revised numbers on GDP into negative territory. Given this backdrop, there was a bit more at stake than usual in today’s monthly jobs report. So, what’s the verdict? Mixed.News from EPI › Respite from Bad Economic News, but Wage Growth Still Too Weak
May 8, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Economic Indicators
Today’s employment report shows that the economy added 223,000 jobs in April while unemployment ticked down slightly. This provides some evidence that the fundamental pace of the recovery has likely not significantly slowed since the end of 2014—but this is no cause for celebration.CEA Report Is Simply Not That Relevant to Current Trade Policy Debates
May 5, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) released a report last Friday touting the benefits of international trade for the American economy.Stagnant GDP at the Start of 2015 is the Latest Evidence That the Economy Hasn’t Reached Escape Velocity
April 29, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
The Commerce Department estimates that U.S. gross domestic product was near stagnant in the first three months of 2015, further evidence that the U.S. economy has not reached escape velocity. At a minimum, this means the Federal Reserve should put off interest rate increases for the rest of 2015.No, the TPP Won’t Be Good for the Middle Class
April 22, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
President Obama has been vociferously defending the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) recently. He insists that it will be good for the American middle class and that TPP’s critics arguing otherwise are wrong.The Trans-Pacific Partnership Is Unlikely to Be a Good Deal for American Workers
April 16, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Briefing Paper
The Trans-Pacific Partnership will likely constitute one more step toward using commercial agreements to maximize three things: (1) the damage done through global integration to the wages of most American workers; (2) the rents earned by those holding a monopoly on intellectual property claims; and (3) the influence that the preferences of global economic elites have on the policymaking of American trading partners.Method Revisions for the Missing Workers Indicator
Hardcore fans of EPI’s labor market indicators will notice a change today. Our estimate of the number of “missing workers”—potential workers who are no longer classified as in the labor force but who will likely be working or looking for work if the labor market improvement continues—has been revised.No, Post-NAFTA Trade Agreements Are Not Why the US Trade Deficit Improved After the Mid-2000s
March 27, 2015 | By Josh Bivens | Blog
As I’ve noted before, as trade agreements and other legislation (Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA) get debated, you’ll see more and more bad arguments in favor of them.