Dean Baker

There were few people in the media still trying to spin the “green shoots of recovery” story following the release of the June employment report yesterday, but most news reports managed to overlook one of the most important items in the data. The downturn has led employees to cut back both jobs and reduce hours […]

Latvia was one of the great bubble countries of the world, until last year, borrowing vast sums (denominated in euros) from west European banks. The country is now seeing its economy contract at close to a 20 percent annual rate. The European Union is offering to help (how else can those loans to the banks […]

The NYT noted that one factor depressing Morgan Stanley’s profit last quarter was its improved credit standing, which increased the market value of its debt. The NYT implied that this was a peculiar accounting rule. The rule may be peculiar, but it goes both wars. In prior quarters, Morgan Stanley increased its profits (or lowered […]

I just wanted to see if my computer could type those words. His assessment of the Waxman-Markey bill looks right on the money to me. It’s worth reading. –Dean Baker

That would seem to be the case based on a front page Washington Post article with a subhead: “Diverse Ideology Cuts Democratic Edge.” The piece is referring to a number of Democrats in the House and Senate who tend to side with the Republicans on many issues. It could be the case that these Democrats […]

The Republicans are fond of calling any Obama administration policy that they don’t like “socialist.” Apparently focus groups show that it can be effective rhetoric with at least some segment of public, but it’s not a terribly serious way to discuss policy. Therefore it was surprising to see the NYT refer to some of the […]

That is the question that the NYT should have been asking in an article that reported President Obama’s opposition to taxing imported items from countries that have not taken steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The point of his cap and trade program is to make items that require large amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) […]

It would be great if, as a general practice, newspapers did take the time to assess the accuracy and plausibility of the arguments put forward by political figures. If they considered this part of their job, they would have pointed out, for example, that drilling for offshore oil would have never have a substantial effect […]

Bernie Madoff did not forfeit $170 billion in assets, in spite of what the USA Today headline and the first sentence of the AP article say. Obviously it was a typo (they meant millions), but it is really asking too much of the copy editors of the business section of the country’s most widely circulated […]

The saving rate has risen, surprise, surprise, surprise. The housing wealth effect is one of the most well-known phenomena in economics. The basic point is that people will spend more as a result of their housing wealth. Estimates of the size of the effect vary, but most are in the range of 5-7 percent, meaning […]