Dean Baker

It is easy to see what sets the NYT apart from more mediocre publications: its reporters have the ability to read minds. We see this demonstrated yet again in an article on the Bush administration’s opposition to a draft G-8 statement that would call for large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The article […]

Better late than never, but is it really news that most workers have benefitted little from the country’s growth over the last quarter? Apparently, that is what a joint study by the Brookings Institute, Heritage Foundation, Urban Institute and American Enterprise Institute uncovered with funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Of course, my former employer, […]

I wonder if the Washington Post would print an article that said that importing shoes and textiles is not about getting lower priced goods, but rather necessary because of domestic shortages. It would make as much sense as its article on H1-B visas in today’s paper. This is apparently its anti-market edition, where rising prices […]

The Commerce Department reported a 16.2 percent jump in new home sales in April coupled with an 11.1 percent decline in the median price. These data are very erratic, so both numbers should be viewed with considerable skepticism. Most of the news reports seemed to get this fact, although USA Today was perhaps overly cheery […]

The Washington Post has a good article about the growing use of earmarks by members of Congress to get funding for pet projects for their states or congressional districts. While the Post is right to draw attention to this abuse of the appropriation process, it badly misleads readers because it fails to put these numbers […]

Congratulations to the Wall Street Journal, it was only two months behind CEPR in catching the fact that the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ establishment survey is likely overstating job growth, especially in construction. So, there you have it. You can either read about the economy in CEPR’s data bytes, or you can read about it […]

You probably didn’t know that Mitt Romney was ill and in need of saving, but of course neither is Social Security, according to the projections from the Congressional Budget Office. But that doesn’t stop the Washington Post from talking about “saving federal health and retirement programs from insolvency.” The projections show that Social Security will […]

USA Today decided to get its entry in the summer horror flicks out early, The Return of the Granny Bashers XCIV tells readers how the affluent elderly are ripping off their children and grandchildren by collecting Social Security and Medicare (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!). This horror story is so chock full of misleading information that it’s difficult for […]

That’s the question millions (okay thousands) of NYT readers should be asking of an article that claims employers are now unhappy with immigration bill that they helped craft. The article asserts that employers complain that the bill will not “cure the severe labor shortages they foresee in the coming decade.” Unless the reporter who wrote […]

On Tuesday I will be giving a couple of talks in the SF area. This is both an advance excuse in case I miss some blogging on Tuesday and Wednesday and also an invitation to any interested BTPers in the area. At 1:00 on Tuesday I will be speaking on my new book, The United […]