Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
California’s proposed one-time billionaire wealth tax would raise significant revenue while giving voters a direct say on the concentration of wealth and political influence.
Article
As the Trump administration intervenes more directly in hemispheric affairs, CEPR will be closely following developments throughout Latin America and the Caribbean — and here in Washington. To help keep track of it all, we will be posting regular updates on this page, pointing readers toward the most interesting and relevant news and analyses.
Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
Trump’s proposed military budget would increase defense spending by hundreds of billions of dollars, far exceeding the cost of many domestic programs that have faced intense political opposition.
Podcast
On this episode of Mostly Economics, Dean Baker talks with Tahir Amin, co-founder and CEO of I-MAK and co-author of Pharma Monopoly, about how drug patents drove up prices and blocked vaccines during the pandemic.
Article • Data Bytes
Irregular scheduling creates income volatility for millions of workers. Policymakers could address this problem and create more security for lower wage workers.
Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
High health care costs are largely driven by government-granted patent monopolies on drugs and medical devices, making price controls a response to existing market intervention rather than the source of it.
Article • Expose the Heist: Power and Policy in Unprecedented Times
The outbreak of cyclosporiasis is a catastrophe made worse by the Trump administration’s moves to weaken the already limited and chronically underfunded public health infrastructure in the US.
Article • Expose the Heist: Power and Policy in Unprecedented Times
Senate Republicans voted to carry on with a controversial program that uses AI to limit access to health care for Medicare recipients.
Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
House prices are falling despite restrictive zoning, but soaring homeowners insurance costs driven by climate change continue to undermine housing affordability.
Report
Is there an AI bubble? Some key indicators point to one — and when bubbles burst, there can be massive shocks in the housing and job markets that last for years. This weekly tracker will compare current trends on Wall Street with historical averages.
