Dean Baker

How hard is it to get the the unemployment right for one of the largest economies in the world? Well apparently it’s too hard for the Wall Street Journal. An article arguing that Germany has faces a shortage of skilled workers tells readers that the unemployment rate in Germany is 10.2 percent. Well, I won’t […]

Well, it’s still New Year’s Day and I see that someone is already breaking my resolutions (#10) for economic reporting. A New York Times article tells readers that the battle in Congress over the Medicare drug bill, “highlights the profound differences between Democrats and Republicans over the future of the nation�s health care system, the […]

The New York Times had a column Sunday that pointed out that other wealthy countries have better health care outcomes than the United States, at a much lower per person cost. While the column included much useful information, it concluded that the main obstacle to reform in the United States is that the public does […]

The Washington Post again committed the cardinal sin of not putting budget numbers in context. It ran an article today touting the doubling of aid to Africa during the Bush administration. While this is mostly good news for the people of the region (restrictons on funding for items like condoms and the usual cronyism make […]

The New York Times editorial page has moved far on Social Security, leaving the chorus of crisis mongers to be an important voice of reason in last year’s debate. However, it now appears to be regressing. Today’s lead editorial notes the plans of Chile’s government to overhaul the privatized Social Security system that had served […]

The NYT has a good article today on the surge in primary school enrollment in sub-Saharan Africa. It points out that after stagnating for nearly two decades, primary school enrollment rates have begun to soar across sub-Saharan Africa. While the article includes much useful information (including the problems providing adequate classroom space, textbooks, and teachers […]

In the interest of providing the public with better reporting on economic issues the association of economic reporters approved the following list of resolutions for 2007: (Okay, no such association exists and this list is completely invented, but I can dream.) 1) Put Numbers in Context Virtually no one can attach any meaning to the […]

It is standard wisdom that globalization has led to a redistribution from wages to profits. In fact, an NYT column by Tyler Cowen actually presents this redistribution as a reason to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits. (For low income workers, the cuts are offset by contributions to private accounts.) I hate to ruin a […]

The Financial Times reports that the value of euro notes in circulation worldwide now exceeds the value of dollar notes. This should tell us two things. First, the dollar is not essential to world finance. People are happy to hold euros and other currencies, no one needs to hold dollars. Second, the euro passing the […]

The NYT has a good piece about how some of the insurance companies in the Medicare drug plan failed to notify seniors of changes in their plan. These changes often involve higher prices and the dropping of some drugs from the plan. Of course, even seniors who did get notified would have to read through […]