Dean Baker co-founded CEPR in 1999. His areas of research include housing and macroeconomics, intellectual property, Social Security, Medicare, and European labor markets. His blog, Beat the Press, provides commentary on economic reporting. His analyses have appeared in many major publications, including The Atlantic, The Washington Post, the Financial Times (London), and the New York Daily News. Dean received his BA from Swarthmore College and his PhD in economics from the University of Michigan.
Dean has written several books, including Getting Back to Full Employment: A Better Bargain for Working People (with Jared Bernstein, Center for Economic and Policy Research, 2013); The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive (Center for Economic and Policy Research, 2011); Taking Economics Seriously (MIT Press, 2010), which thinks through what we might gain if we took the ideological blinders off of basic economic principles; and False Profits: Recovering from the Bubble Economy (PoliPoint Press, 2010), about what caused — and how to fix — the 2008–2009 economic crisis. In 2009, he wrote Plunder and Blunder: The Rise and Fall of the Bubble Economy (PoliPoint Press), which chronicled the growth and collapse of the stock and housing bubbles and explained how policy blunders and greed led to catastrophic — but completely predictable — market meltdowns. He also wrote a chapter (“From Financial Crisis to Opportunity”) in Thinking Big: Progressive Ideas for a New Era (Progressive Ideas Network, 2009). His previous books include The United States Since 1980 (Cambridge University Press, 2007), The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer (Center for Economic and Policy Research, 2006), and Social Security: The Phony Crisis (with Mark Weisbrot, University of Chicago Press, 1999). His book Getting Prices Right: The Debate Over the Consumer Price Index (editor, M.E. Sharpe, 1997) was a winner of a Choice Book Award as one of the outstanding academic books of the year.
Among his numerous articles are “The Benefits of a Financial Transactions Tax,” Tax Notes 121, no. 4 (2008); “Are Protective Labor Market Institutions at the Root of Unemployment? A Critical Review of the Evidence” (with David R. Howell, Andrew Glyn, and John Schmitt), Capitalism and Society 2, no. 1 (2007); “Asset Returns and Economic Growth,” with Brad DeLong and Paul Krugman, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2005); “Financing Drug Research: What Are the Issues,” Center for Economic and Policy Research (2004); “Medicare Choice Plus: The Solution to the Long-Term Deficit Problem,” Center for Economic and Policy Research (2004); “Professional Protectionists: The Gains From Free Trade in Highly Paid Professional Services,” Center for Economic and Policy Research (2003); and “The Run-Up in Home Prices: Is It Real or Is It Another Bubble?,” Center for Economic and Policy Research (2002).
Dean previously worked as a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and an assistant professor at Bucknell University. He has also worked as a consultant for the World Bank, the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress, and the OECD’s Trade Union Advisory Council. He was the author of the weekly online commentary on economic reporting, the Economic Reporting Review, from 1996 to 2006.
All from Dean Baker
How Much Have Elon Musk and the DOGE Boys Cost Us?
Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative promised $2 trillion in government savings but has delivered minimal documented savings—many of them exaggerated or false—while likely causing greater long-term costs through service disruptions, lawsuits, and regulatory rollbacks that benefit the wealthy.

Trump’s Now You See Them, Now You Don’t Tariffs
Trump’s erratic tariffs were supposed to bring back manufacturing jobs and end our trade deficits. They aren’t likely to do either.

Trump’s Chaos May Allow for New Thinking on Patent and Copyrights
It is important to understand that trade policy, patent and copyright monopolies are not the ‘free market’ — they are government policies that have benefited the rich.

Donald Trump’s Handout to the Pharmaceutical Industry
Donald Trump’s recent executive order on drug prices could be a huge boon to Big Pharma.

China’s Growth Leaves Trump’s MAGA USA in the Dust
The IMF projects that China will add almost $5.1 trillion to its GDP between 2024 and 2026. The United States, meanwhile, is projected to add just over $2.5 trillion.

Iron Dome Technology: Elon Musk’s License to Steal Taxpayer Dollars
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are using government power to funnel public money into private profit, exemplified by a needless “Iron Dome” project that would enrich Musk through a lucrative licensing deal.

Section 230: We Really Should Talk About It
Most people are bothered by the ability of the rich to buy elections with their vast fortunes. They should feel the same way about the ability of the rich to control the media.

Trump Derails Manufacturing Boom on Day One
Donald Trump did not end the Ukraine war or lower prices on his first day in office, but he does have a credible claim that he brought a quick end to the the factory construction boom he inherited from Joe Biden.

China’s Economy and Silliness on Deflation
Understand the dynamics of China’s economy and the silliness on deflation. Discover the longstanding issues in economic narratives.

Trump is Bringing the World Together and It’s a Beautiful Thing
Trump is bringing the world together in a surprising way. Understand the new dynamics of global trade and alliances forming.
