In the News
On any given day, Groundwork's analyses, op-eds, reports, and commentary are featured in leading publications and on the most influential news programs and podcasts.
On any given day, Groundwork's analyses, op-eds, reports, and commentary are featured in leading publications and on the most influential news programs and podcasts.
As The Hill reported, the cost of buying a home has hit an all-time high, thanks in part to high mortgage rates. “The Fed’s high interest rates are exacerbating our housing crisis while doing nothing to tackle the high prices that remain. Meanwhile, sky-high borrowing costs have pushed household debt to an all-time high and delinquencies are rising,” said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at the progressive Groundwork Collaborative and a former Treasury Department staffer.
Tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET, Groundwork Collaborative Director of Policy and Research Bilal Baydoun will testify before the Senate Banking Committee at a hearing titled, “Higher Prices: How Shrinkflation and Technology Impact Consumers’ Finances,” where he will outline the rampant corporate power behind price hikes facing consumers.
Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement this afternoon, Groundwork Collaborative Chief Economist Dr. Rakeen Mabud warned against keeping interest rates at 23-year highs: “The Fed is failing families struggling to get by and failing to bring down inflation. Chair Powell should move to cut rates.”
“The Fed’s high interest rates are exacerbating our housing crisis while doing nothing to tackle the high prices that remain. Meanwhile, sky-high borrowing costs have pushed household debt to an all-time high and delinquencies are rising,” said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at the progressive Groundwork Collaborative and a former Treasury Department staffer.
Groundwork Collaborative Executive Director Lindsay Owens ahead of Tuesday's rate decision from the Federal Reserve.
Groundwork Collaborative released a new video featuring Chief Economist Dr. Rakeen Mabud, who explains how the Federal Reserve’s refusal to lower interest rates is keeping housing costs high and making it more costly and more difficult for people to buy or even rent a home. The video comes ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on April 30 and May 1, where the Fed will announce the path forward on interest rates in the coming months.
Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive economic research group that released a February report on grocery inflation, attributes the phenomenon not just to grocer greed but to food-supplier profiteering.
Lindsay Owens, executive director of the liberal Groundwork Collaborative in Washington, has been calling on the Fed to cut rates for months. But in an interview, she said she did not think Fed officials would bow to pressure from Mr. Biden or anyone else — and that Groundwork’s own private polling was not conclusive on whether voters would reward Mr. Biden for trying. “I have seen nothing in the last few years that suggests that any advocacy, from organizations like mine or from the president, will change Powell’s calculus,” Ms. Owens said.
You would think such blatant acts of corruption would be nipped in the bud once it became common knowledge, but unfortunately, it’s going to be a push from all of us to roll back several of these unfair practices. Bilal Baydoun is the Director of Policy and Research with the Groundwork Collaborative and he joined me to break down how these practices work, and what we can do to try and prevent these kinds of things from continuing to happen in the future.
According to a recent report by Groundwork Collaborative, “Corporate profits are driving more than half of inflation.” The prices we are paying are outpacing the cost to produce the goods, and corporate profits are outpacing inflation. We pay more. Corporate shareholders keep the difference.