Dean Baker's Blog, page 42

There Was No Housing Bubble and Everyone Agrees We Have to Crack Down On China's Practices on Intellectual Property

I am speaking here in my capacity as “no one,” as in “no one saw the housing bubble and the risks it posed to the economy.” The reason for my comeback is the new consensus that we have to do something about China’s “bad practices,” which generally mean its lack of respect for the intellectual property claims of U.S. corporations.

This Washington Post piece gives us a good example, telling us:

“There is now a wide consensus in the United States to challenge China on its worst actions. After...

There Was No Housing Bubble and Everyone Agrees We Have to Crack Down On China's Practices on Intellectual Property

I am speaking here in my capacity as "no one," as in "no one saw the housing bubble and the risks it posed to the economy." The reason for my comeback is the new consensus that we have to do something about China's "bad practices," which generally mean its lack of respect for the intellectual property claims of U.S. corporations.

This Washington Post piece gives us a good example, telling us:

"There is now a wide consensus in the United States to challenge China on its worst actions. After...

Another Timothy Geithner Scandal

Tim Geithner might have left his job as Treasury Secretary seven years ago, but his legacy lives on. The Wall Street Journal reported that the financial firm Morningstar had reached a settlement with the SEC over marketing it had done for firms whose bonds it had rated.

SEC rules prohibit rating agencies from doing promotional work for firms whose bonds it rates. This is done to prevent the obvious conflict of interest, that it may give better ratings as part of a promotional effort.

This...

Another Timothy Geithner Scandal

Tim Geithner might have left his job as Treasury Secretary seven years ago, but his legacy lives on. The Wall Street Journal reported that the financial firm Morningstar had reached a settlement with the SEC over marketing it had done for firms whose bonds it had rated.

SEC rules prohibit rating agencies from doing promotional work for firms whose bonds it rates. This is done to prevent the obvious conflict of interest, that it may give better ratings as part of a promotional effort.

This...

Leonhardt Gives Obama Too Much Credit: There Was Little Policy Reason for Structure of Make Work Pay Tax Credit

David Leonhardt argues in his column that Democrats have to make the benefits of government more visible to people and criticizes them for failing to do so. While he does have a very good point, he ignores all the ways that conservatives (defined as people who want to redistribute money upward) use the government to structure the market to give more money to those on top.

This includes items like longer and stronger patent and copyright protection and trade deals which are designed to subject...

How Does the WaPo Know the Trump Administration "Seeks More Accountability from [Federal] Employees"

This assertion appeared in the middle of an article about how the Trump administration plans to reduce the number of days that federal employees can telework rather than show up in their office. Of course seeking more accountability is a legitimate reason to change a policy, however there is absolutely zero evidence presented in the piece that reducing telework will actually increase accountability.

In fact, the very end of the piece reports on the impact of a decision to sharply reduce...

Do Reporters Get Paid a Bonus for Referring to U.S. Trade Deals as "Free Trade?"

Just wondering, since they do it so often in contexts where it is inappropriate, like this Washington Post piece on Bernie Sanders foreign policy. After noting how Trump has upended U.S. foreign policy in many areas, it adds:

"Sanders would deliver another jolt — echoing some of Trump’s criticisms of military actions and free trade but realigning the country’s priorities even more thoroughly."

The piece could have far more accurately said "U.S. trade policy." Of course patent and copyright...

The Crushing Burden of Japan's Debt and Other Scare Stories for Small Children

Jim Tankersley and Jeanna Smialek had a column in the NYT talking about how economists seem to be worried about the economy, in spite of low unemployment and continued growth. The economists cited had a variety of concerns, but most seemed to center on the possibility that the government will lack the tools to respond to the next recession.

The basis of the concern is that the federal funds rate, at 1.5 percent, is already very low, leaving little room to fall further. In terms of fiscal...

The Persistence of Horrible Economic Reporting: They Just Don’t Care

(This post originally appeared on my Patreon page.)

Last month, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Chuck Todd responded to a question about whether he was surprised that the Trump administration would deliberately spread misinformation (i.e. lie):

“I fully admit, listening to you ask that question now, and me giving you the honest answer of, yeah, I guess I really believed they wouldn’t do this. Just so absurdly naive in hindsight.”

This answer had to have people all over the country banging...

Do 0.05 Percent of Italy's Workers Really Account for 1.4 Percent of It's GDP?

I'm asking because a New York Times piece on the troubles facing a steel factory in southern Italy asserted that closing the troubled factory would cost Italy 1.4 percent of its GDP. According to the piece, the plant directly employs 10,500 workers. That is a bit less than 0.05 percent of Italy's workforce of 23,400,000.

The piece is surely right in highlighting the importance of the plant to a very depressed region in Italy, but the claim its closing would reduce Italy's GDP by 1.4 percent...