Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. He writes a weekly column for the Guardian Unlimited (UK), and his blog, Beat the Press, features commentary on economic reporting. His analyses have appeared in many major publications, including the Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Post, the London Financial Times, and the New York Daily News. He received his Ph.D in economics from the University of Michigan.
Baker is author of many books, including Plunder and Blunder: The Rise and Fall of the Bubble Economy (Polipoint Press, 2009); The United States Since 1980 (Cambridge University Press, 2007); and The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer (Center for Economic and Policy Research, 2006).
The Terrible Tale of the TARP Two Years Later
Two years ago, the top honchos at the Fed, Treasury and the Wall Street banks were running around like Chicken Little warning that the world was about to end. This fear mongering, together with a big assist from the elite media (i.e. NPR, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, ...
Senator Simpson's Quick Budget Quiz
President Obama is apparently content to have an abrasive and abusive senator's son sit as co-chairman of his deficit commission. We can assume that these traits were a direct result of Sen. Alan Simpson's privileged upbringing and he is not going to change now that he is in his late ...
Senator Simpson: He's Not Just Offensive, He's Ignorant
Former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson, the co-chairman of President Obama's deficit commission, has sparked calls for his resignation after sending an offensive and sexist note to Ashley Carson, the executive director of the Older Women's League. While such calls are reasonable -- Simpson's comments were certainly more offensive than remarks ...
Social Security: The Republicans Are Right
President Obama comments on Social Security privatization in the last week sound like something that he stole from the playbook of the last Democrat in the White House. Just as President Clinton tried to tell us that the veracity of one of his statements on the Lewinski affair depended on ...
When Wall Street Rules, We Get Wall Street Rules
The middle class is getting whacked by the Great Recession. Fifteen million people are out of work, another 9 million workers can only find part-time jobs, and millions more have given up looking for work altogether. Those lucky enough to be employed are unlikely to see any substantial wage gains ...
Ben Bernanke: Wall Street's Servant
Last week, the Fed announced that it would use the proceeds from retired mortgage-backed securities to buy up more government bonds. This may have a very modest effect in keeping long-term interest rates low, thereby giving a small boost to the economy.Such a measure would be reasonable if the economy ...
The Lights are Out in Washington
I was late with my column this morning. It was the first time that I missed a deadline since I started college. This made me angry, not just because I hated to see a 34-year-streak end, but more importantly because of the reason I was late. Sunday afternoon a storm ...
The Budget Deficit Chicken Hawks
Most people are familiar with the concept of "chicken hawks." Chicken hawks are the politicians who are anxious to send other people to risk their lives in war, but somehow managed to avoid service when they had the opportunity to fight themselves. Former Vice-President Dick Cheney and former President George ...
Never Mind: America Speaks Again
Yes Saturday Night Live fans, Emily Litella is back! For those too young or too old to remember, Emily Litella was the frumpy commentator on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update." She would invariably go into a tirade over some misunderstood word or phrase. Ms. Litella would then be corrected by ...
The Senators Who Gave Us 15 Million Unemployed Want to Deny Them Benefits
It is amazing how people in Washington are so forgiving -- of each other. We have close to 15 million people unemployed and more than 8 million people under-employed because the folks managing our economy were incompetent. In spite of the efforts of economists and policy types to portray the ...
The Attack of the Real Black Helicopter Gang: The IMF Is Coming for Your Social Security
A few years back, there was a fear in some parts about black UN helicopters that were supposedly taking part in the planning of an invasion of the United States. While there was no foundation for this fear, there is basis for concern about the attack of another international organization, ...
Republicans: The Party of Unemployment
From now until Nov. 2, the Republican Party will be the party of unemployment. The logic is straightforward: The more people who are unemployed on Election Day, the better the prospects for Republicans in the fall election. They expect, with good cause, that voters will hold the Democrats responsible for ...
Wall Street Congratulates Washington: A Job Well Done
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is well known for pretentious columns that consist of letters that he suggests some prominent person write. I licensed Friedman's literary tool in order to present the following letter from the Wall Street CEOs to the political leadership in Washington.Dear Friends:We want you know ...
America Speaks Back: The Effort to Gut Social Security and Medicare Takes a Hit
The opponents of Social Security and Medicare are getting in high gear. After all, it makes perfect sense that after the collapse of a housing bubble has just destroyed the life savings of near retirees that we would cut their Social Security and Medicare. Okay, at least in Washington that ...
Representative Jason Altmire: Job Killing Deficit Hawk
Former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens was the object of considerable ridicule for his support of the infamous $400 million "Bridge to Nowhere." This played a big role in his defeat in the last election.It is appropriate that members of Congress pay a price for their support of wasteful projects that ...
The Cult of Subprime Central Bankers
The world is suffering from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. The crisis has left tens of millions unemployed in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. The huge baby boomer generation in the United States, now on the edge of retirement, has seen much of its wealth destroyed with the ...
While it may not be the job of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board to deceive Congress to advance the interests of the big banks, apparently no one has informed Ben Bernanke of this fact. Some people may recall the role that Mr. Bernanke played in helping to get ...
The Greek Crisis: Did Your Momma Tell You That?
Keynes quipped in the General Theory that the world is ruled by the ideas of long dead economists. I was reminded of this comment when I heard a member of Germany’s parliament scornfully dismiss the suggestion that the European Central Bank should target a somewhat higher rate of inflation. This ...
A Presidency in Peril: Warnings from Robert Kuttner
Like most progressives, Robert Kuttner had great hopes following President Obama's election in 2008. However, Kuttner also has been around long enough to realize the risk that President Obama might not live up to his potential in bringing about progressive change. His new book, A Presidency in Peril, documents how ...
Audit the Fed: What Did They Do With Our Money?
We're entering the final innings of the debate over financial reform. There are many important issues still up in the air including whether the law will do anything to break up the big banks and prevent them from engaging in risky trading. Remarkably, the place where the Obama administration has ...
Being Rude To The Deficit Hawks
I worked at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) for 6 ½ years. During this time, the credibility of my work and that of my colleagues was often impugned by describing EPI as "labor backed." This was partially true, we got 20-25 percent of our funding from unions. However, the clear ...
Attack Wall Street, Not Social Security
Suppose our top generals described the growing threat from a hostile Middle East power. The country has tens of billions of oil dollars, a growing army, chemical and biological weapons, and is in the process of developing nuclear weapons. After carefully describing the risks posed by this country, our generals ...
Why We Must Break Up the Big Banks
It's not often that I disagree with Paul Krugman, but there are occasions where at least one of us is wrong. And the treatment of too big to fail (TBTF) banks is one of them.Krugman argued in a column last week that breaking up the TBTF banks is not a ...
Did We Make a Profit on Citigroup?
The Washington Post (aka Fox on 15th Street) once again proclaimed TARP a success. The cause for the latest revelry is the fact that the government appears to be in a position to make an $8 billion gain on the stock it holds in Citigroup. Before we join the Post ...
Financial Innovation: What Is It Good For (I)?
Brookings economist Robert Litan picked up the gauntlet thrown down by Paul Volcker and others, and put out a lengthy paper defending the major financial innovations of the last four decades. Litan surveys the field and pronounces most of what he sees to be good. While there is certainly some ...
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February 5th, 2013
Tax Games and Redistributing Income Upward
The corporate profit share of national income is near a post-World War II high. The share of income going to the richest 1 percent is ...
January 30th, 2013
Timothy Geithner Saved Wall Street, Not the Economy
The accolades for Timothy Geithner came on so thick and heavy in the last week that it's necessary for those of us in the reality-based ...
December 19th, 2012
Michigan Republicans Deny Police Officers and Firefighters the Right to Work
That is what the headlines would say if anyone really believed that the anti-union laws passed last week in Michigan actually had anything to do ...
December 3rd, 2012
The Serious People Are on the War Path
Fans of arithmetic everywhere know that the large deficits of the last five years are the result of the economic downturn caused by the collapse ...
October 15th, 2012
The wrecking society: Economics today
There is an old story from the heyday of the Soviet Union. As part of their May Day celebrations they were parading their latest weapon ...
September 2nd, 2012
Poverty: The New Growth Industry in America
Recent trends in poverty rates should have the country furious at its leaders. When we get the data for 2011 next month, we are likely ...
August 21st, 2012
'Courage' in Washington Doesn't Have the Same Meaning
Last week Vice President Joe Biden did a courageous thing, he promised an audience in southern Virginia that there will be no cuts whatsoever to ...
February 18th, 2011
Unions badgering Wisconsin's finances?
You have to give Gov. Walker and his wealthy patrons credit. Here we have a situation where Wall Street fat cats wrecked the economy - ...
July 21st, 2011
The Drive to Cut Social Security: Why Are the Gang of Six Scared of Information?
A central theme of the Gang of Six's deficit reduction crusade is lowering the annual cost of living for Social Security. They propose to change ...
August 21st, 2012
'Courage' in Washington Doesn't Have the Same Meaning
Last week Vice President Joe Biden did a courageous thing, he promised an audience in southern Virginia that there will be no cuts whatsoever to ...
October 18th, 2010
Foreclosure Moratorium: Cracking Down on Liar Liens
As we all know, there is a major philosophical divide in US politics. On the one hand, there are those who think it is the ...
July 28th, 2011
President Obama Doesn't Understand the Origins of the Deficit
That is what he told the country in his address on Monday night. President Obama described a situation in which the government had been perpetually ...
August 31st, 2011
Do Liberals Have to Be Losers?
National political discussion of the economics and budgets over the last two decades have been dominated by the debate over President Clinton's tax increase and ...
August 29th, 2011
President Obama's job creation mirage
President Obama has discovered how serious the recession is. That's what he told an audience in Chicago last week. To be fair, he was referring ...
'Dirty Wars' by Jeremy Scahill
Why have you started a comedy festival in northern Michigan in the middle of winter?
Because if you were here in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere (which is actually somewhere to us), you'd need a few laughs too ... Continue Reading
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