Recent Wage Gains Aren’t Enough, Pakist an Skips the Democracy Summit, and More

December 15, 2021

Wages have risen recently for many of America’s essential workers. But with inflation at its highest level in nearly 40 years, those raises are not going far enough. In a new study, Molly Kinder, Katie Bach, and Laura Stateler find that frontline workers must often count their real hourly wage increases in pennies.

“[The democracy summit] provided a chance for Pakistan to present its perspective to a global audience that is not always inclined to view it kindly—including regarding its democratic progress and aspirations. But Islamabad gave up the platform the summit offered, and spurned the chance to be at the table when discussing key issues on which many question its commitments: those of human rights and democracy. That is a mistake,” argues Madiha Afzal.

A funny thing happened on the way to President Biden signing a historic, bipartisan, popular infrastructure bill: he lost popularity. While the bill polls highly with Americans, it also seems that the very process of passing the infrastructure legislation turned people off not only to Congress, but to the president himself. John Hudak, Elaine Kamarck, and Selene Swanson explain the dynamics at play.

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