Dean Baker

Not according to the WSJ. It tells us that economists are near unanimous in thinking that Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke should be reappointed. After telling us that the economists who it polled were nearly unanimous in believing that Bernanke should be reappointed as Fed chair, the article concludes: “Though the economists were overwhelmingly […]

Suppose that the Washington Post thought that it would be a really good idea to open a new branch of the University of Illinois in the Chicago suburbs. Suppose that the state didn’t go along. Would it be good reporting to have news article after news article that discussed the economic impact of this decision? […]

We all know the sad story about the Canadian cancer victim who would have died if she had to depend on Canada’s health care system. Morning Edition did the simple thing that news organizations are supposed to do, they investigated whether cancer victims are really left to die in Canada. Well it ain’t so. Give […]

The WSJ told readers to expect a strong job recovery. The point is that firms have laid off many workers and therefore will need to start hiring as soon as demand picks up. There’s a problem in this story. Hours per worker have been cut by more than 2 percent in this downturn. This reduction […]

Not according to USA Today. It told readers that: “the key reason is that lawmakers are fearful that tough pay curbs might get in the way of the financial services industry helping foster an economic recovery.” It’s not clear how USA Today was able to make this determination. In the event that members of Congress […]

As every Washington Post reader knows, the United States and much of the industrialized world faces a dire future because of stagnant or declining populations. As a result in 20 or 30 years we will have an enormous labor shortage in which there is no one to change the bedpans of all us soon to […]

In keeping with its strict editorial policy of only letting others tell readers what “populists” think, the Post front page article on setting executive compensation at banks receiving bailout money never presented the views of an actual populist. Therefore readers got to see the comment of Robert Profusek, a lawyer at Jones Day who is […]

Gretchen Morgenson has another outstanding piece examining former Goldman CEO Henry Paulson’s extensive contacts with Goldman when he was Treasury secretary. –Dean Baker

Logic is often missing in debates over economic policy. The NYT tells us that Canadian manufacturers are being hurt by the “buy America” provisions in the stimulus package. Okay, so let’s help them. We’ll get rid of the Buy America provisions, but we’ll also get rid of the stimulus. Now, they will all go out […]

The WSJ noted the 0.1 increase in the length of the average workweek last month and highlighted the 0.3 increase in hours worked in manufacturing. In doing so, they missed much of what happened in July. Typically, the auto industry shuts down many of its factories in July to retool for the new model year. […]