CEPR News
February 26, 2026 |
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A new working paper written by Algernon Austin and Kate Bronfenbrenner highlights the challenges faced by Black workers in the Southeast. The paper analyzes survey data collected by researchers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) who interviewed workers across five states and found that they overwhelmingly believed that unions could help them: Roughly three-quarters saw unions as giving workers a voice at work, 67 percent believe unions help to reduce racial discrimination, and 60 percent believed unions improve the economic conditions of low-paid workers. In a region where the dominant economic model emphasizes corporate subsidies and tax breaks, unions can provide a necessary counterweight.
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| Trump’s Oil Blockade of Cuba Is Economic Violence. It Must End
President Donald Trump’s oil blockade against Cuba is part of “a new method of delivering lethal violence … broad, unilateral economic sanctions,” which generally target the population and are illegal under treaties that the US is bound by, as well as other international law, Mark Weisbrot writes in an op-ed in Newsweek.
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| Reduce Inequality to Address Affordability
Affordability is the political buzzword of the moment, and Algernon Austin shows that doing something to address income inequality would go a long way towards making life more affordable. Over the past 50 years, the bottom 80 percent have seen their share of total income shrink, while the top 20 percent has seen their share grow – with the most dramatic gains among the top 5 percent. Policymakers who want to campaign on affordability must advance policies that lift income for everyone.
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The Supreme Court Ruling on Tariffs Complicates Trump’s Efforts to Cripple Cuba’s Economy
In a press statement, Mark Weisbrot said the February 20 Supreme Court ruling “dealt a blow to President Trump’s use of tariffs as a weapon of economic warfare,” while Alex Main warned that the oil blockade “targets the civilian population, and especially public health” in Cuba.
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Jesse Jackson: A Tribute
Civil rights trailblazer Rev. Jesse Jackson championed a vision of America that uplifted working people while working to dismantle racism and bigotry. Jackson’s presidential campaigns galvanized progressive activists with a forceful message of economic justice while also challenging the Reagan foreign policy agenda. Dean Baker wrote a tribute to Jackson’s work and his legacy: “Jesse Jackson was a huge player in the changes that created the America that Donald Trump wants to destroy.”
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Ecuador Government Goes After the Opposition While Security Crisis Worsens
Ecuador’s record-high murder rate is undermining President Noboa’s security and anti-crime strategy, while his Trumpian tariff war with Colombia could affect Ecuador’s energy supply. Meanwhile, the Noboa administration is escalating its repression of the opposition Revolución Ciudadana party, Pedro Labayen Herrera writes in our latest Ecuador News Round-Up.
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| Soft Investment, Falling Federal Spending Lower GDP Growth
The fourth quarter GDP numbers were lower than expected, partly due to the government shutdown. Dean Baker sized up what the numbers mean across different economic sectors: Non-AI investment is weak, as is housing and manufacturing. Just as we have been seeing with the latest jobs reports, consumption is being driven largely by health care.
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| “From DC Across the Americas” ― New Videos
The Trump administration’s oil blockade is an illegal part of a regime change attempt that primarily harms the Cuban people, Francesca Emanuele explains in the latest “From DC Across the Americas” video. Such unilateral economic sanctions are illegal under international law and kill as many people worldwide as armed conflict does, Mark Weisbrot notes in another video.
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Reuters, citing Dean Baker, Start-of-Year Price Increases Seen Lifting Monthly US Consumer Inflation in January
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Newsweek, quoting Michael Galant, Donald Trump’s Latin America Moves Could Be Upended by New Bill
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The Guardian, quoting Hayley Brown, US Union Membership Soared to 16-Year High in 2025 Despite Trump Assault
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Responsible Statecraft, quoting Jake Johnston, Further US Intervention in Haiti Would Be Worst Trump Move of All
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Hecho en América (Rompeviento TV), interviewing Francesca Emanuele, La Doctrina Monroe y Trump Imperialista
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