Dems play politics with bogus 77-cent differential in male-female pay

An economist serving on a second-term president's Council of Economic Advisers might expect to weigh in on fundamental issues, restructuring the tax system or making entitlement programs sustainable over the long term. Barack Obama once talked of addressing such issues, and Republican leaders like House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp are doing so.

But that’s not what University of Michigan economist and CEA member Betsey Stevenson finds herself doing. Instead, she is defending the use of misleading statistics in support of legislation addressing a minor problem.

The legislation is Obama's latest pay equity measure, which failed to pass a test vote in the Senate last week. The misleading statistic is 77 cents, cited repeatedly by Obama as the amount women earn for every dollar earned by men.

When challenged on this by MSNBC's Irin Carmon, Stevenson admitted that the 77 cents figure is misleading. “If I said that 77 cents was equal pay for equal work, then I completely misspoke,” she admitted.

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