The High Cost of Lost Wages: Current State of the UAW-GM Strike

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) recently used the REMI model to estimate the total financial burden on the national economy and individual states related to the United Auto Workers-General Motors strike currently underway throughout the country. Industry Week covered CAR’s analysis in an article detailing the fiscal challenges associated with a prolonged automaker strike.

The article describes the state-by-state impacts of GM’s labor dispute, in addition to detailing the methodologies implemented by CAR’s analysts. They also identified which states would be most affected financially as a result of the UAW-GM strike in terms of weekly compensation, social insurance tax collections, and personal income taxes.

The overall estimates provided by CAR found that the labor stoppage initiates an $857 million decrease in national weekly worker compensation for each week that it continues. This loss in compensation impacts payments to government social insurance programs and personal income taxes to the amount of $108 million in reductions per week of the strike.

You can access the article published by Industry Week by clicking here.

The costs of the UAW-GM strike combined with the plant shutdowns that occurred less than a year ago have created significant financial pressure for the auto manufacturer. Dynamic economic analysis can help evaluate the total impact of these events, while identifying the most beneficial strategies for restoring normal operations.

REMI Senior Economist Peter Evangelakis, Ph.D. analyzed the repercussions of the GM plant shutdowns during his webinar, “GM Plant Shutdowns: Fiscal and Economic Aftermath,” which you can access by clicking here.

Medicare 4 All? Healthcare’s Effect on Regional Economies

Over the past few months, several Democratic debates have featured discussions regarding healthcare in this country. Adding a public Medicare option, expanding tax credit availability, and abolishing private health insurance in favor of a single-payer plan have all been explored this year.

The country has reached a critical point in healthcare and we are running out of time to determine the future of this vital industry. It is important to perform rigorous impact analysis using dynamic economic modeling to evaluate all proposals, no matter what the policy, and REMI has been at the forefront of this type of economic analysis.

Senior Economist Peter Evangelakis, Ph.D. will be in Washington, D.C. on October 31st for our monthly policy luncheon as he presents “The Economics of Universal Healthcare: Case Study of Vermont Public Options,” which takes a more detailed look into these options and proposals. His presentation identifies the key findings discovered in an impact analysis conducted by Harvard University, Policy Integrity, LLC, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology examining the universal healthcare goals set by Vermont’s Act 128.

You can register for “The Economics of Universal Healthcare: Case Study of Vermont Public Options,” our upcoming Washington, D.C. policy luncheon on October 31st, by clicking here.

You can also access the entire report on Act 128 by clicking here.

Here at REMI, we recognize the importance of this policy decision on the majority of Americans and want to help advance the conversation through meaningful economic impact analysis.

Expungement and the Mississippi Economy

REMI will be joined by Sondra Collins, Ph.D., Senior Economist from the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, on Wednesday, October 9th from 2 to 3 p.m. (ET) to assess Mississippi’s recently enacted Criminal Justice Reform Act in regards to the changes made to expungement policy in the state and examine the corresponding economic growth.

“Expungement and the Mississippi Economy” will evaluate the change in employment and the state’s review as a result of forgiving the criminal records of a select group of past offenders and making more citizens eligible to work.

Mississippi’s House Bill 1352 went into effect on July 1st and the legislation includes several provisions that significantly alter the future of criminal justice procedures in the state. The bill expands expungement for misdemeanors, while also allowing people charged with misdemeanors to await trial at home, enabling those with drug convictions to receive public services like workforce training and nutrition assistance, and pushing back the payment of supervision fees for people released on parole or probation to 60 days.

In an article published by WLBT 3 in Mississippi, the state’s Governor Phil Bryant spoke about the bill, saying, “If people don’t believe Mississippi can be innovative, let them look to criminal justice reforms.”

Gov. Bryant also mentioned that, “You will see new opportunities with our community colleges, new opportunities in workforce development, new opportunities at a federal level very soon that will continue the work that Mississippi began.”

Here at REMI, we recognize the importance of this policy decision on many Americans and want to help advance the conversation through meaningful economic impact analysis.

You can access the article published by WLBT 3 by clicking here.

REMI Working with Local Community

Regional Economic Models, Inc. recently collaborated with Great Threads Embroidery from Belchertown, Massachusetts to embroider our logo on gifts for attendees of this year’s REMI Users’ Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Massachusetts covered Great Threads as a part of their larger story detailing a complex, the Belchertown State School, that could potentially become a coworking space after initially being constructed as an institution for children with developmental disabilities before being shut down in 1992.

REMI is proud to partner with Great Threads, which was one of the first businesses to occupy the building that could become a coworking space. The Belchertown Cultural Council hopes to bring more small businesses to the complex in order to “expand the offerings in Belchertown right now.”

The article includes pictures of Great Threads Embroidery owner Gary Ewing, the engraving process, and the finished lunchboxes for the 2019 REMI Users’ Conference. You can access the Daily Hampshire Gazette article by clicking here.

You can also find more information about this year’s REMI Annual Users’ Conference by clicking here.

SALT Deductions: Population Increase Expected in Florida

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 adjusted the threshold for state and local tax (SALT) deductions, which created an incentive for workers in high-tax states to consider moving to a state with lower taxes. For example, “individuals earning over $650,000 can save more than $69,700 in taxes per year by moving from New York to Florida.”

This type of high-tax to low-tax migration was the focus of an article published by Fox Business that covered the population estimates expected for Florida as long as provisions of the TCJA remain in effect. Florida ranks first in highest number of out-of-state movers to relocate since the legislation was enacted and experts believe those numbers will exceed 300,000 new citizens per year over the next three years.

According to researchers, that amount of increase in population is “analogous to adding a city slightly larger than Orlando every year.” REMI Senior Economist Peter Evangelakis, Ph.D. analyzed the implications of changes made to state tax codes shortly after the TCJA was signed into law during his webinar presentation, “SALT Substitute: States Respond to New Tax Law.”

You can read Fox Business’s full article on the demographic impact of changes to SALT deductions by clicking here.

You can access the presentation slides and a recording of Dr. Evangelakis’s webinar by clicking below.

Presentation Slides / Webinar Recording