Article • BUYOUTS: Private Equity Reshaping the Economy
The May 2026 Buyouts newsletter examines how policy shifts, market risks, and growing political pressure are exposing vulnerabilities in the private equity industry.
Article • Data Bytes
The unemployment rate should remain stable, but is not clear that workers are able to secure wage gains — a concerning development in a time of rising inflation.
Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
Even if AI boosts productivity, history shows the solution is shorter work time, not panic over mass unemployment.
Article • Expose the Heist: Power and Policy in Unprecedented Times
Things are changing at FEMA – and for the first time in a while, the news isn’t all bad.
Article • Expose the Heist: Power and Policy in Unprecedented Times
Trump policy decisions are raising fuel costs, which will make it harder to fight wildfires this summer.
Article • Expose the Heist: Power and Policy in Unprecedented Times
Medicaid work requirements will cause people to lose health care — and deliver millions of dollars to private contractors.
Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
While hospital monopolies raise prices, patent protections on drugs and medical equipment are a deeper driver of high health care costs and inefficiency.
Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
Rising Chinese AI competition could lower costs and limit extreme wealth concentration, countering both US tech dominance and inequality.
Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
The opioid crisis shows how drug patent incentives can drive harmful behavior without meaningful reform.
Podcast
In this episode, Dean Baker and renowned macroeconomist Claudia Sahm discuss the economic shocks from attacking Iran and the Federal Reserve’s policy stance amid geopolitical tensions.
