Tag Archives: Dean Baker

A different viewpoint by myself which is not so new and very workable. Dean Baker at CEPR offers up his viewpoint on saving Social Security. I believe we are in close proximity to a solution except I would suggest a different source of funds. Dale, Bruce, and Arne have talked this simple solution up until blue in the face. People still want to tax other entities and impair the existing Social Contract with Labor or the Worker. “Big Victory on...

As I read Dean Baker’s perspective on Low Income families, I find it hard to believe. The market in the Southwest has dried up due to high prices and interest rates. One or the other has to be lower to attract buyers. Builders have not lower prices and bank rates have remained high. One builder was complaining of a lack of interest in a rate at 6%. Coupling to a higher price this is very true. It is also taking anywhere from 6 to 12 months to...

It is refreshing to see Dean Baker using one of the words I use to describe what the FED does when they are hiking Interest Rates. Those FED actions do not create results over night. Because they can’t, read on. Powell appears to be frustrated by the lack of economic slowing. Maybe there are other issues behind the slow reaction such as supply chains, fiscal stimulus early on, healthcare subsidies, etc. The latter two were vital otherwise we...

A lot has been said about building semiconductor manufacturing plants in the US. One plant grows the silicon wafers and the other plant fabricates (fabs) the semiconductors. The manufacture of semiconductors is not labor intensive. Growing wafers is boring business as one engineer told me a decade back. The US did manufacture much of its need domestically at one time (see graph at the left). However, U.S. policymakers held tight to the belief...

Central planning (Socialism?) in democratic societies There is a lot being written on the causes and cures for the economic consequences of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The predictable distinction is among those that think that this is essentially a demand shock, mostly to services, and those that are concerned with the disruption to supply chains. And to some extent both are correct. But that is not the more relevant problem here, which is whether we need just more government or a...

So if you believe a simplified version of conservative views on the economy, Trumponomics is pretty contradictory (and yes they are contradictory, even if one may doubts about why). Tax cuts should lead to growth, via supply side economics, and the recently proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum do exactly the opposite. Protectionism (not a very good name, I prefer managed trade, as I discussed here before) has made a come back, but while many heterodox economists have suggested that 'free...

Synopsis review.Thoughts On EconomicsDean Baker's Rigged And Robert Reich's Saving CapitalismRobert Vienneau

Barkley has mentioned this particular article several times now. I would be negligent if I did not post a link to it so we could read it. New Health Care Plan: Open Source Drugs, Immigrant Doctors, and a Public Option, 25 March 2017, CEPR, Beat The Press, Dean Baker. There are two obvious directions to go to get costs down for low- and middle-income families. One is to increase taxes on the wealthy. The other is to reduce the cost of health care. The latter...

In their recent NYTimes op-ed Paul Volcker and Peter Peterson say: Yes, this country can handle the nearly $600 billion federal deficit estimated for 2016. But the deficit has grown sharply this year, and will keep the national debt at about 75 percent of the gross domestic product, a ratio not seen since 1950, after the budget ballooned during World War II. The practical consequence of large deficits and debts, according to them is that: Our current debt may be manageable at a time of...

This Tuesday June 28, 2016, the AFL-CIO is holding a conference titled “Trading Up: A Critical Perspective on Jobs, Governance & Security in U.S. Trade Policy,” from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in Washington, DC. The full program is here. Participants include Joseph Stiglitz, Dean Baker, Tom Palley, Rob Scott, Jeff Faux, among others.You can join online for what should be an lively and insightful debate—especially given recent developments around the Brexit and the Trans-Pacific Partnership...