Dean Baker

Now that the data are showing that home prices are falling, news reports are again citing statements from the experts who told us that home prices would never fall. According to these experts, house prices declines are no big deal after the extraordinary appreciation of the last decade. The data indicate otherwise. People have been […]

Since many folks seem confused on the idea of free trade in doctors, let me make a few points that may help clarify the issue. First, we should think about trade in doctors like we think about trade in manufactured goods. When the Bush 1-Clinton administration wanted to increase trade in manufactured goods with Mexico, […]

NPR had a piece this morning on the possibiity that Medicare reimbursements for doctors will be cut. It told listeners that if this cut went into effect, then there may be a shortage of doctors who are willing to serve Medicare beneficiaries. In other contexts, such as supplies of farm workers, custodians, and restaurant workers, […]

The NYT has a column today reporting that people’s assessment of the economy is heavily influenced by their view of the situtaion in Iraq. While I am open to this view, the chart (sorry not linkable) accompanying the column left me unconvinced. Eyeballing the numbers, we start in May ’03 with more than 70 percent […]

The NYT had an article today on Berlin�s mayor. At one point the article discusses Berlin�s economy, telling readers that it has a 17 percent unemployment rate. It would have been helpful to point out Berlin�s unemployment rate is 17 percent using the official German measure of unemployment. This measure counts anyone who is working […]

The NYT gives us yet another crisis story about declining congestion and pollution in Italy. You guessed it — fewer children and falling population. According to the article, economists say that communities will struggle to find people for certain jobs like ambulance drivers or police officers. It sounds more like Italy has a shortage of […]

National Public Radio (NPR) did a piece today on a series of ballot initiatives in western states that would prohibit regulatory �taking.� �Takings� in this context are defined as government regulations that reduce the value of property. This could happen, for example, if the government limited development on a plot of land in order to […]

Remember the days when the European welfare state led to economic stagnation and high unemployment? Well, like hula hoops and bobby socks, this story may be a relic of the past. The latest data from the OECD show that employment to population (EPOP) ratios for prime age workers (ages 25-54) are almost identical in the […]

The Times reported today that the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts a 5 percent increase in holiday sales for 2006. It notes that this is a lower pace than the 6 percent increases seen the prior two years. It would have been helpful to adjust this prediction for inflation. The CPI for commodities, excluding food, […]

With the annual meetings of the IMF-World Bank in Singapore, there has been another round of stories about how certain fast growing countries are getting an increased voice at the IMF to correspond with their growing importance in the world economy. As I noted in prior posts, Mexico is one of the four rabbits on […]