Publications

Article Artículo

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Between 1989 and 2020, Spending on Prescription Drugs Rose from 0.6 Percent of GDP to 2.4 Percent of GDP

The current level of spending of roughly $500 billion a year comes to more than $1,500 for every person in the country.

Dean Baker / October 21, 2021

Article Artículo

Disability

Health and Social Programs

United States

The Social Security Disability Trust Fund Has Gotten Healthier: Have Workers?

The financial health of the Disability Insurance Fund has improved, but individuals may be suffering due to an inability to receive the benefits they need to support themselves.

Anaïs Goubert and Dean Baker / October 20, 2021

Article Artículo

Private Equity

United States

Eileen Appelbaum’s Testimony on “Protecting Companies and Communities from Private Equity Abuse”

In ways large and small, Main Street is being pillaged by Wall Street’s largest private investment firms.

Eileen Appelbaum / October 20, 2021

Article Artículo

Inequality

Intellectual Property

Rich Jerks in Space

Wealth as a bookkeeping entry should be largely a matter of indifference to the rest of us. When the super-rich pull away large amounts of resources for their fun and games, that is a big problem.

Dean Baker / October 20, 2021

Article Artículo

Private Equity

United States

Letter to Sen. Warren on Stop Wall Street Looting Act

The Stop Wall Street Looting Act will, for the first time, create sensible rules for the private equity industry that will allow productive investment to continue while halting the kinds of abusive practices that wipe out jobs and cripple strong companies

Eileen Appelbaum / October 20, 2021

Article Artículo

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Intellectual Property

The National Debt and Patent/Copyright Monopolies

Any serious discussion of the burden of the debt must also talk about the trillions of dollars of patent and copyright rents that the government is committing the country to when it grants these monopolies.

Dean Baker / October 18, 2021

Article Artículo

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Wall Street

If This is a Wage-Price Spiral, Why Are Profits Soaring?

It hardly seems as though businesses are being forced by costs to push up prices. It instead looks like they are taking advantage of presumably temporary shortages to increase their profit margins.

Dean Baker / October 16, 2021

Article Artículo

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Inequality

Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve Board

What we are seeing right now is a Federal Reserve Board that is doing the right thing in the face of the hysteria of its critics. The critics want to see it move rapidly to slow the economy so that they can again get good help cheap.

Dean Baker / October 15, 2021

Article Artículo

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Jobs

Workers

The High-Paid Media Types Are Unhappy Workers Are Getting Higher Pay

After decades of wage stagnation for those at the middle and the bottom of the wage ladder, it’s good to see some real progress for at least some low-paid workers.

Dean Baker / October 14, 2021

Article Artículo

COVID-19

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Inequality

United States

Women

Young Men Aren’t Falling Behind Young Women

Young women at all age levels are less likely than young men at all age levels to be in school or work.

Shawn Fremstad, Julie Yixia Cai and Tamara Sokolowsky / October 13, 2021

Article Artículo

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Inflation

United States

Core Inflation Still Moderate, But Rent Increases Are Grounds for Concern

The overall picture is still transitory with the overall CPI up 0.4 percent, and the core just 0.2 percent.

Dean Baker / October 13, 2021

Article Artículo

United States

Workers

Labor Market Facts from Recent CEPR Research for Hispanic* Heritage Month

October 13, 2021

Article Artículo

Health and Social Programs

United States

Social Security: What If We Made it Bigger?

The Social Security trust fund shortfall is modest, and only modest solutions are needed to address it.

Sarah Rawlins / October 12, 2021

Article Artículo

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Inflation

United States

PREVIEW: What to Look for in the September Consumer Price Index

We should expect a rise in the core index of around 0.3 percent.

Dean Baker / October 12, 2021

Article Artículo

COVID-19

Intellectual Property

The Preventable Horrors of the Pandemic and the Short Case for Open Research

In general, and in a global health emergency in particular, we should be looking to share technology as widely as possible, not locking it up behind patent monopolies and other protections.

Dean Baker and Arjun Jayadev / October 11, 2021

Article Artículo

Jobs

United States

Workers

Cheap Fun Saturday: Job Growth Under Biden and Trump

So, for the Trump crew, it now stands that Biden has created 4,797,000 jobs in his first eight months in office, compared to a loss of 2,876,000 jobs in the four years of Donald Trump's presidency.

Dean Baker / October 09, 2021

Article Artículo

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Econ 101 for the “It’s Hard to Get Good Help” Crowd at the Washington Post

Any good economist can quickly recognize the "it's hard to get good help" cry of the privileged.

Dean Baker / October 09, 2021

Article Artículo

Economic Crisis and Recovery

Globalization and Trade

Building Back Better and the September Jobs Report

The problems that are most apparent in this report indicate the urgency of many of the items in Biden’s agenda. Our senators and congresspeople should give them serious thought.

Dean Baker / October 09, 2021