Heidi Shierholz is the president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining EPI, she was the Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor during the Obama administration.

Throughout her career, Shierholz has provided policymakers and economic commentators with research and analysis on labor market dynamics, labor and employment policy, and the effects of economic policies on low- and middle-income families.

She is regularly called upon to testify in congress and her research and commentary on labor and employment policy, unemployment insurance, wage stagnation and inequality, racial and gender disparities in the labor market, employer and worker power, the effects of automation on the labor market, the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, and other topics have been cited in many broadcast, radio, print, and online news outlets, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post,  and The Wall Street Journal. After receiving her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan, she was an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario. She also has an M.S. in statistics from Iowa State University, and a B.A. in mathematics from Grinnell College in Iowa.

“Unions reduce the wage suppressing effects of corporate power by providing countervailing power to workers.”