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The Scale of Informal Labor and Its Impact on the Economy

By Dr. Gary Painter

KCET City Rising

Measuring the nature and impact of the informal economy is difficult due to the lack of a common understanding of its meaning. Some think of the new “gig” economy as informal because of the nature of independent contracting and lack of wage work. Others use more formal definitions, such as unincorporated, unregistered market enterprises (ILO, 2015). The size of informal employment is consequential; over 60% of workers in the world earn the majority of their income in the informal economy, reaching a high of 85.8% in the region of Africa (ILO, 2018).

Here’s how to handle Central American migrants — like the Cuban rafters and Soviet Jews before them

By Roberto Suro and T. Alexander Aleinikoff

LA Times

The United States has a long history of responding to migration emergencies with legislative remedies crafted for specific situations. Sometimes, the intent has been to open doors, at other times to close them. The current influx of Central American asylum seekers at our southern border also needs a highly targeted fix.

Unfortunately, what’s on the table in the negotiations now underway in Washington has little chance of solving the problem, or worse, aims to solve the wrong problem.

Saul Garlick and Gary Painter

Social entrepreneur Saul Garlick shares insights at Sol Price Center for Social Innovation speaker series

By Matthew Kredell

USC Sol Price School for Public Policy

The USC Price Center for Social Innovation kicked off the semester’s Social Innovation Speaker Series on January 17, with a discussion by social entrepreneur Saul Garlick, CEO of Unleesh. Garlick discussed his journey as a social entrepreneur, making the transition from nonprofits to for-profits, and the difficult balance between impact and profit.