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Dean Baker - Latest News [Page 2]
The Anti-Stimulus Crowd Blows a Gasket
Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 2:34 pm | Dean Baker
The anti-stimulus crowd is getting desperate. The possibility that a young charismatic new president will push through an ambitious package that begins to set the economy right is truly terrifying to this crew. After all, if the economy begins to turn ... More >>
Baker: TARP II: Money for Banks, Not Homeowners
Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 12:39 pm | Dean Baker
TARP II, the second helping of $350 billion that is supposed to restore the health of our financial system, will soon be dished out by the Obama administration. Ostensibly, much of this money will go to help homeowners stay in their homes. But, as is the ... More >>
The Anti-Stimulus Crowd: The Fear of Success
Tuesday, 6 January 2009, 10:02 am | Dean Baker
At least some Republicans are starting to muster an anti-stimulus drive, claiming that President-elect Obama's package will not help the economy. Their drive is centered on what they claim is a careful rereading of the history of the New Deal. According ... More >>
Overcoming Fears of Falling Stock Prices
Tuesday, 25 November 2008, 10:18 am | Dean Baker
The stock market's historic plunge over the last year has pushed the news media into a state of near hysteria. News shows and headlines routinely roll out the scorecard on the market's new lows in the same way they might list the victims of a terrorist ... More >>
Obama's Path to Greatness: Health Care as Stimulus
Thursday, 6 November 2008, 1:35 pm | Dean Baker
President Obama will have a historic opportunity to establish himself as a truly great president in his first days in office. He can take advantage of the current economic crisis to announce plans to jump start national health care insurance. Extending ... More >>
Greenspan Says, "Who Could Have Known?"
Tuesday, 28 October 2008, 10:36 pm | Dean Baker
That's right, the former Maestro told Congress last week, when asked about the meltdown of the housing bubble and the resulting financial crisis, "we're not smart enough as people. We just cannot see events that far in advance ." More >>
Any Pay Cuts on Wall Street Yet?
Wednesday, 22 October 2008, 1:27 pm | Dean Baker
Congress assured us that there would be no more big paychecks for incompetent Wall Street bankers when they passed their bailout bill. They told us that the tough pay provisions would put an end to the multimillion-dollar payouts to these folks. More >>
The Fannie/Freddie Flat Earth Theory
Wednesday, 15 October 2008, 11:31 am | Dean Baker
For the last month, most of the world has been watching the Wall Street gang drowning in their own greed as they threaten to pull the rest of us down with them. However, while we have been distracted, the Flat Earth Society has developed its narrative ... More >>
Bailout Fails to Recognize Housing Bubble
Thursday, 2 October 2008, 6:56 pm | Dean Baker
The Case-Shiller 20-city index fell by another 0.9 percent in July. It has fallen at an 8.6 percent annual rate over the last three months and is down by 16.3 percent from its year ago level. Nominal prices have now declined 19.5 percent from their ... More >>
Big Banks Go Bust: Time to Reform Wall Street
Wednesday, 17 September 2008, 12:29 am | Dean Baker
With the demise of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, IndyMac, Bear Stearns and now Lehman Brothers, we've been treated to the failure of more major financial firms than during any year since the Great Depression. The sight of rich bankers getting the boot might ... More >>
McCain Would Privatize Social Security
Tuesday, 16 September 2008, 1:43 pm | Dean Baker
The Republicans have already turned to sick sexual innuendo and nonsense about their vice-presidential candidate, pigs and lipstick in order to distract the public from the real issues in this campaign. One of the items that should be on top of the list ... More >>
John McCain Wants to Drill in Your Toilet: Part II
Wednesday, 3 September 2008, 10:01 am | Dean Baker
Two months ago, I wrote a column saying that John McCain wants to drill in your toilet . I was joking at the time, but that comment turned out to be pretty much accurate. The Republicans' top slogan going into the fall elections is "drill here, ... More >>
Dean Baker: Swift Boat Economics
Tuesday, 19 August 2008, 12:32 am | Dean Baker
In the last election, the Republicans invented their brilliant Swift boat strategy to get George W. Bush back in the White House. Challenged by a decorated Vietnam War veteran, President Bush, who couldn't be bothered in serve in a war that he supported, ... More >>
The Compromise "Drill Anywhere" Plan
Tuesday, 5 August 2008, 12:36 am | Dean Baker
Senator McCain and the Republicans in Congress are calling Senator Obama and the Democrats environmental wimps for refusing to allow the oil industry to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, environmentally sensitive offshore areas and ... More >>
Dean Barker: Barack Care Versus John Care
Wednesday, 2 July 2008, 6:38 pm | Dean Baker
By far the most important domestic policy issue facing the next president will be fixing the health care system. The United States stands out among wealthy countries in not guaranteeing health insurance to its citizens. More >>
John McCain Wants to Drill in Your Toilet
Wednesday, 25 June 2008, 2:51 pm | Dean Baker
That is not true, as far I know, but it makes about as much sense as McCain's plans to drill off the coast of Florida and in other environmentally sensitive areas. This is McCain's response to the pain of millions of families hit by $4 a gallon of gas. ... More >>
Universal Health Care or John Care
Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 4:06 pm | Dean Baker
With the Democratic presidential race winding down, the presidential campaign can again focus on the real issues facing the country. At the top of the list, alongside ending the Iraq War, is providing universal health care. More >>
Developing the New "Capitalists' Man"
Tuesday, 29 April 2008, 12:29 am | Dean Baker
In the wake of revolutions in Russia, China, Cuba, and elsewhere, there was talk of creating a new type of person with a socialist mindset. The idea was that people in the prerevolutionary capitalist societies had been educated to be individualistic ... More >>
Sanctity of Contracts: Mortgages and Credit Cards
Tuesday, 15 April 2008, 10:40 am | Dean Baker
Momentum is building in Washington for a large-scale housing bailout. It is virtually certain something will happen. The big questions are how large will the package be and will it be designed to help homeowners or to bailout out the banks? More >>
The Foreclosure Prevention Act
Tuesday, 8 April 2008, 10:48 am | Dean Baker
Conservatives used to complain liberals always wanted to throw money at problems. While there may have been some truth at times to this charge, Congress decided to literally take this path in its approach to the housing bubble last week. More >>
