Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP)

The Challenge

In 2019 Gene Ludwig, Comptroller of the Currency during the Clinton Administration, founded the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP) as a not-for-profit organization with the mission of helping boost economic prosperity for all Americans, particularly low- and middle-income (LMI) households. Mr. Ludwig maintained that government economic statistics were misleading and did not reveal the actual economic challenges facing LMI families, resulting in government policy that did not address their needs. LISEP was established as an economic research organization aimed at development and promotion of alternative metrics that more accurately reflect the financial condition of America’s working families, with the goal of increasing awareness and affecting policy.

Our Role

In 2020 GPS Influence partnered with LISEP for its initial launch, starting with the debut of a new unemployment measure focusing not just on jobs, but living-wage jobs—branded as the True Rate of Unemployment (TRU). With this being the introduction of the first of several alternative economic metrics—and considering it was the public debut of LISEP—GPS determined that maximum visibility was key, thus establishing the organization’s credibility and viability as a valued news source among top-tier journalists in the financial press.

Our Approach

Following assistance in establishing basic communications infrastructure, including a social media presence, website development support, and supporting material for the TRU metric, GPS worked with and secured an exclusive with Axios on the release of the data, which was also featured in a segment on the documentary series, Axios on HBO, and was a discussion topic on Real Time With Bill Maher. This release on the new way of measuring unemployment was picked up by multiple national and regional media outlets. Subsequently, LISEP researchers developed additional metrics to measure wages, the cost of living, and quality of life. 

Results

• During the course of the GPS/LISEP partnership, LISEP has been mentioned by name in nearly 9,000 articles, ranging from top-tier publications, such as The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, to influential regional media outlets, including The Kansas City Star, Miami Herald, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Austin American-Statesman, among many others.
• Release of new alternative metrics to measure wages, the cost of living, and quality of life all secured prominent placement as exclusives with Bloomberg News, Time magazine, and Businessweek. 
• LISEP’s chairman and founder, Gene Ludwig, has been featured as a thought leader with essays recently published and placed with Fortune magazine, Newsweek, and Politico, among others. 

Outcome

The partnership with LISEP continues, with the organization now well established as a go-to source on economic issues as they pertain to low- and middle-income families. Within the past year alone, LISEP has been featured on PBS News Hour, the CBS Evening News, and Bloomberg TV. 

LISEP has also been sought out as an information source for prominent not-for-profit organizations for research assistance on LMI issues, as well as U.S. Senate and congressional committee staff.