Dean Baker
Truthout
Utah, United States
Contact Dean
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Dean:
Unemployment Hits New Half-Century Low as Job and Hour Growth Soar in January
The prior two months’ data was also revised up, bringing the average gain over the last three months to 356,000 jobs. → Read More
OMG, a Right-Wing Jerk Can Buy Twitter! Media Concentration Matters
It’s more than a bit bizarre that until Elon Musk bought Twitter, most policy types apparently did not see a risk that huge platforms like Facebook and Twitter could be controlled by people with a clear political agenda. While just about everyone had some complaints about the moderation of these and other commonly used platforms, […] → Read More
Preview: Did Wage Growth in October Stay at a Noninflationary Pace?
If wage growth remains moderate in the October data, there is a solid case that the Fed’s work is done. → Read More
Wage Growth Slows Even as Unemployment Ticks Back Down to 3.5 Percent
Wages have grown at a pace consistent with the Fed’s inflation target. → Read More
Hey, If the Government Pays for the Research, It Doesn’t Have to Grant Patent Monopolies
It really shouldn’t not sound too radical to say that companies only get paid once for their work. If the government pays for the research, it doesn’t also give you a patent monopoly. → Read More
Price Increases Persist Despite Supply Chain Progress
The overall Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent in August, core was up 0.6 percent; up 8.3 percent and 6.3 percent year-over-year, respectively. Overall, the picture shows inflation persisting in a wide variety of areas where it seems that supply chain issues are being overcome. This is not a good story. Food at home prices […] → Read More
The Fed Should Wait and See
Joseph E. Stiglitz & Dean Baker see dampening inflation and inflation expectations as reason enough for pausing interest-rate rate hikes. → Read More
Bernie Sanders Makes the Washington Post Oped Page: We Don’t Need Government-Granted Patent Monopolies to Finance Drug Research
Moving away from … government-granted patent monopolies to a system of direct public funding will be a long process. But we have to get the debate started. → Read More
Wages Set to Avoid Price-Spiral as Private-Sector Jobs Surpass Pre-Pandemic Rate
The Fed’s plans for aggressive rate hikes are based on a concern for a 1970s-type wage-price spiral. → Read More
The Surge in Imports and the Drop in GDP: Offloading the Ships Lined Up Offshore
Rather than being a bad report with a drop in GDP, this report is overwhelming good news. This rise in inventories is exactly what we want to see if inflation is to be slowed. → Read More
PREVIEW: What to Look for In the First Quarter 2022 GDP Report
The main story in the first quarter is likely to be a sharp slowing in GDP growth from the extraordinary 6.9 percent pace of the fourth quarter of 2021. The biggest factor in this slowing will be a slower pace of inventory accumulation. → Read More
Fighting Inflation the Fun Way: Starting at the Top
If we want to reduce inflationary pressures there are a whole set of policies that would lower the incomes of people at the top of the income ladder. Unfortunately, we are not likely to go this route. → Read More
If Wage Growth Is Driving Inflation, Why Is Workers’ Share of Income Falling?
It is very hard to make the wage-price spiral inflation story from the 1970s fit the current situation for a simple reason: the wage share of income has fallen sharply since the pandemic. → Read More
March Employment Growth Closes in on Pre-Pandemic Levels
While job growth remains strong, wage growth may be slowing. → Read More
February Job Growth Strong as Private-Sector Hours Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels
The unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent, with disadvantaged groups seeing the largest gains. → Read More
January Sees Strong Job Growth as Omicron Leads to Cuts in Hours, Not Jobs
There's little evidence that wage growth is slowing. → Read More
Marginalized Workers Facing Labor Market Discrimination See Largest Jobs Gains
The most disadvantaged workers are seeing the greatest declines in unemployment. → Read More
Big Pharma Fights Back - Center for Economic and Policy Research
Naturally, no one expects to be able to get $50 billion a year out of the hide of a huge industry without a serious fight. The pharmaceutical companies surely have all their lobbyists working overtime courting members of Congress. → Read More
Biden Admin Could Handle Legal Barriers to Transferring COVID Vaccine Technology
Biden could offer to cover the legal expenses of former pharma engineers facing lawsuits for sharing their expertise. → Read More
More People Are Turning Down Low-Paying Jobs With Bad Working Conditions
In the context of the last two months' extraordinary growth, August's weaker jobs gains should not be a surprise. → Read More