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.
"Today's stellar jobs report marks two straight years of unemployment below 4 [percent] and 18 months of cooling inflation, an achievement many economists did not think was possible," Bilal Baydoun, director of policy and research at think tank Groundwork Collaborative, said. "The data is very clear that we never had to sacrifice jobs for lower prices."
However, progressive economists are still doubling down on interest rate cuts and hoping central bankers will heed the call. “High interest rates will only slow our clean energy transition and put families in more debt. Chair Powell must change his tune and cut rates in March,” Groundwork Collaborative research director Bilal Baydoun said in a Friday statement.
In one sign the leftward pressure is unlikely to abate, Bilal Baydoun of the Groundwork Collaborative reacted to Friday's jobs number by reiterating his call for immediate cuts. "The data is very clear that we never had to sacrifice jobs for lower prices," he wrote in a statement. His group is closely aligned with liberal figures like Warren.
With its 2% inflation target in sight, the Fed has predicted three quarter-point rate cuts this year. Lindsay Owens, executive director at the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Groundwork Collaborative, said she would like to see those cuts happen as soon as possible, and for the central bank to take a fresh look at what has caused inflation to rise and fall.
The first jobs report of 2024 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the economy added 353,000 jobs and unemployment remained at 3.7%. "The data is very clear that we never had to sacrifice jobs for lower prices." Groundwork Collaborative’s Director of Policy and Research Bilal Baydoun states.
Groundwork Collaborative released a new report that identifies the underlying causes of recent grocery price inflation, including corporate profiteering, supply chain shocks, and climate change. The report also offers policy recommendations to reduce the risk of future grocery price spikes, such as investigating the use of slotting fees that require product manufacturers to “pay to stay” on shelves and scrutinizing anti-competitive mergers throughout the food supply chain.
The department also changed its calculations of federal food assistance benefits and adjusted them for inflation, effectively increasing the value of food stamps for many low-income Americans. Mr. Ramamurti and his co-authors, Elizabeth Pancotti and Clara Wilson, calculate those increases have more than outweighed the increased cost of groceries for 40 million families in recent years.
Corporate profits drove just 11 percent of price growth in the four decades prior to the pandemic. Businesses have been quick to blame rising costs on supply chain shocks from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. But two years later, our economy has mostly returned to normal. In some cases, companies’ costs to make things and stock shelves have actually decreased.
“In the U.S., no such protections for farmers and grocery stores exist, allowing big companies like Pepsi to raise prices at any time and with little consequence,” said Lindsay Owens, the executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive economic think tank in Washington, D.C.
“Anyone who claimed we needed to cause a recession to bring down prices was wrong. We never had to choose between a strong economy and low inflation." Groundwork Collaborative’s Director of Policy and Research Bilal Baydoun states ahead of the first Federal Open Market Committee meeting of the year.