Stories by Dean Baker

Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and author of the new book, The End of Loser Liberalism? subscribe to Dean Baker's feed

Robert Rubin Should Be Doing Hard Labor: Instead He's Trying to Resurrect Himself

Posted on: Mar 8, 2010, Source: TruthOut.org

Robert Rubin put in place all the pieces that set up the economy for the disaster that we are now living through. Why can't he get off the stage?

False Profits: We Will Be Suffering from Greenspan and Bernanke's Ineptitude for a Long Time

Posted on: Feb 8, 2010, Source: PoliPoint Press

An $8 trillion housing bubble fostered by the Federal Reserve has burst, and with it much of the wealth of America's middle class.

Big Banks Are Feeding Like Parasites on the Govt.'s Money

Posted on: Feb 3, 2010, Source: Boston Review

Big bank CEOs like to trumpet free-market ideology, but they depend on the government for survival in good times and bad.

It's No Sure Thing: Bernanke's Confirmation Is Coming Down to the Wire

Posted on: Jan 26, 2010, Source: The Guardian

It isn't Bernanke's job to bail out Wall Street at the expense of the rest of the country. It is his job to prevent the growth of dangerous bubbles. Time to go.

The Reason for 15 Million Unemployed: Poor Thinking at the Top

Posted on: Dec 9, 2009, Source: TruthOut.org

It is absolutely unacceptable to have 15 million people unemployed just because the people who call the shots are too dumb to figure out how to get them back to work.

The Vampire Banks Are Back: Will There Ever Be Meaningful Financial Reform?

Posted on: Nov 24, 2009, Source: CounterPunch

The halls of Congress are infected with financial industry lobbyists looking to block necessary changes to our broken financial system.

We Need Smart Solutions to Our Long Jobs Crisis

Posted on: Nov 2, 2009, Source: AlterNet

All the projections show that the unemployment rate is likely to continue to rising for the immediate future and remain high for years to come.

Will People-Power Defeat the Insurance Lobby This Time Around?

Posted on: Oct 27, 2009, Source: TruthOut.org

This is a case where the simple facts and persistent grassroots pressure may overcome the political power of a major industry.

Everything Is Bright and Sunny Again, Unless You Have to Work for a Living

Posted on: Oct 6, 2009, Source: AlterNet

So far we've seen economic recovery for the few, while the many live in continued pain.

Will Obama's Health Care Plan Make the U.S. More Like Europe?

Posted on: Aug 6, 2009, Source: Huffington Post

It might -- and that would be a good thing for business owners, manufacturing and those who are self-employed.

Our Economy Needs at Least $2 Trillion in Stimulus Spending Right Now -- Tens of Millions of Jobs Are at Stake

Posted on: Jul 15, 2009, Source: The Guardian

Politicians and pundits in Washington are either too ignorant, dishonest, or scared to talk about the expenditures that this economy needs.

What's So Scary About Offering People the Option of a Public Health Plan?

Posted on: Jul 7, 2009, Source: AlterNet

If the public plan is bad, then people will just stay with the options currently available in the private sector.

Why You May Be Stuck Holding the Bill for the Largest Taxpayer Rip Off

Posted on: Jun 23, 2009, Source: AlterNet

The health care industry is getting money out of our pockets because their friends in Congress have made sure the money flows from us to them.

Big Insurance Companies Are Sure to Fight Obama's Public Option

Posted on: Jun 16, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Insurers don't want to compete with a well-run public plan. Let's hope they have to.

We Spend Twice as Much on Health Care as Other Rich Countries -- and What Do We Get for It?

Posted on: May 18, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Our health care system isn't getting fixed because the people who run it like it just the way it is.

Outsourcing the Bosses: The Lesson of Fiat-Chrysler

Posted on: May 4, 2009, Source: AlterNet

What the new Chrysler will be getting from abroad is technology and top management.

Goldman Sachs Shook Tens of Billions Out of Tax-Payers -- Now They're Whining All the Way to the Bank

Posted on: Apr 20, 2009, Source: AlterNet

The Wall Street crew relied on its political power to ensure that the rules remained rigged, even though their crooked deck wrecked the economy.

We're Still Getting Screwed: Geithner Plan Will Make the Rich Richer!

Posted on: Mar 31, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Some hedge and equity fund managers could make hundreds of millions or even billions off the Geithner plan.

Treasury Continues to Fumble -- Will They Ever Get it Right?

Posted on: Mar 18, 2009, Source: Comment Is Free

Officials were wrong to let Lehman Brothers go bankrupt. Now they wrongly assume that all banks are too big to fail.

America's Granny-Bashers: Different Facts but the Same Policies

Posted on: Mar 16, 2009, Source: AlterNet

The top priority for the anti-Granny lobby is to cut Social Security and Medicare.

Should the Government Protect People's Health or Insurance Companies' Profits?

Posted on: Mar 10, 2009, Source: AlterNet

It's time for the government to prioritize the wellbeing of people over the wellbeing of insurance companies.

The Public Is Way Ahead of the Pundits in Knowing How to Solve the Economic Crises, And Obama Knows it

Posted on: Mar 4, 2009, Source: The Guardian

Obama recognizes that the public is way ahead of the pundits in seeing that the federal govt. is the only thing capable of generating a recovery.

President Obama: Social Security Is Healthy -- There's No Need to "Save" It

Posted on: Feb 19, 2009, Source: Comment Is Free

Here's a cheap and effective form of economic stimulus -- tell America's baby boomers that their welfare benefits are safe.

In Wake of Crisis, New Economic Thinking Emerges

Posted on: Feb 9, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Unfortunately, many liberals have not moved beyond Lyndon Johnson's thinking on the role of the government in the economy.

Plunder and Blunder; How the 'Financial Experts' Keep Screwing You

Posted on: Feb 6, 2009, Source: PoliPoint Press

Anyone with common sense, a grasp of simple arithmetic and a desire to go against the consensus should have seen the financial crisis coming.

Republicans Petrified That Economy Will Improve

Posted on: Jan 26, 2009, Source: AlterNet

If the economy begins to turn around on Obama's watch, the GOP can look forward to decades in the political wilderness.

Republicans Fight Obama's Stimulus Plan, Fearing Its Success Will Mean Years of Political Oblivion

Posted on: Jan 5, 2009, Source: AlterNet

For Republicans, one lesson of the New Deal is that it left the Democrats firmly in power for more than 20 years.

Sex and Money: Are Women Regulators Different?

Posted on: Dec 26, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

It is hard not to notice that two of the regulators who stand out for doing the right thing in this incredible financial mess are women.

Question for Economic Experts: Can You Say "Housing Bubble"?

Posted on: Dec 12, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

Millions of people may lose their homes and life's savings, all because the economists who are supposed to know better didn't.

Keep it Simple: Stop the Foreclosure Crisis with the Right to Rent

Posted on: Nov 18, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

There are a lot of complicated plans being discussed, but sometimes the simplest solution to a problem is best.

Fixing Health Care Could Be Obama's Path to Greatness

Posted on: Nov 5, 2008, Source: Huffington Post

Extending health care insurance can be an effective stimulus that will provide an immediate boost to the economy.

Alan Greenspan: Who Could Have Known?

Posted on: Oct 27, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

Greenspan thinks that if the geniuses running the Fed couldn't predict the meltdown, nobody could.

The Flat Earthers Try to Pin Financial Meltdown on Fannie and Freddie

Posted on: Oct 14, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

In the Flat Earth version, the real villains in the story were the public/private mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

How World Leaders Can Reverse the Economic Meltdown

Posted on: Oct 12, 2008, Source: Campaign for America's Future

A broader stimulus package is desperately needed to right a listing economic ship.

John McCain's Whiners' Recession Deepens

Posted on: Sep 9, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

Most workers in the country have just seen the equivalent of a 2 percentage point increase in their tax rate, and it has gotten almost no attention.

The Villains of the Housing Crisis Are Denying All Responsibility

Posted on: Aug 26, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

The housing crisis is a result of reckless deregulation by specific individuals.

After the Housing Bill: Time to Address Foreclosures

Posted on: Jul 29, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

The housing bill will likely help less than five percent of the families facing foreclosure over the next two years.

Obama-Care Versus McCain-Care: Real Differences in Plans for Our Health System

Posted on: Jul 10, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

The two candidates are worlds apart on the most pressing domestic issue of our time.

Bush Economy Sheds 62K Jobs in June; Sixth Straight Monthly Decline

Posted on: Jul 5, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

Private sector job gains in the Bush years may fall below 3 million by November.

Low-Income Renters Paying Tab for the Housing Bailout

Posted on: May 20, 2008, Source: TruthOut.org

That's right; Congress wants to take away money from low-income renters to help bankers who made bad loans.

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