Dean Baker's Blog, page 81

The Economy's Performance Under Trump Is Not the Same Thing As His Policy Agenda

A Washington Post article on Republican politicians' apparent willingness to accept Donald Trump's racist comments told readers:

"Trump and his allies frequently counter by offering economic data that they say is favorable to minorities, seeking to separate Trump’s harsh rhetoric from his policy agenda."

This comment implies that Trump's policy agenda has somehow been helpful to blacks and other minorities. It is true that the economy has continued to grow during the Trump administration. I...

George Will's "Epic Economic Collapse"

Yes, it is yet another story of the big one is on its way. This time it's from George Will.

Will rightly mocks Donald Trump's boast that the 4.1 percent growth in the second quarter was extraordinary. Following Nobel laureate Robert Shiller, Will tells readers:

"since quarterly gross domestic product enumeration began in 1947, there have been 101 quarters with growth at least equal to the 4.1 percent of this year’s second quarter. The fastest — 13.4 percent — was 1950’s fourth quarter, perhap...

Jake Tapper's Inaccurate Fact Check On Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Medicare for All

I already did a tweet on this, but thought it was worth posting here. Jake Tapper did a completely inaccurate fact check on Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over their claim that a study by a right-wing think tank showed that Medicare for all would save the country $2 trillion over a decade (roughly 0.8 percent of GDP). Tapper misrepresented their comments to say that they claimed the study would save the government $2 trillion. He then points out that the study showed Medicare for...

Jake Tapper' Dishonest Fact Check On Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Medicare for All

I already did a tweet on this, but thought it was worth posting here. Jake Tapper did a completely dishonest fact check on Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over their claim that a study by a right-wing think tank showed that Medicare for all would save the country $2 trillion over a decade (roughly 0.8 percent of GDP). Tapper misrepresented their comments to say that they claimed the study would save the government $2 trillion. He then points out that the study showed Medicare for...

More Mind Reading at the NYT on Trade

A piece on the status of NAFTA told readers about "the extent of administration officials’ frustration with Canada." Sorrow folks, the NYT really has no idea about the actual extent of the Trump administration official's frustration with Canada. They know what these people say and what they do.

As folks familiar with politics know, statements from political figures do not always reflect what they think.

Falling Housing Starts: Fallout from the Trump Tax Cut?

The textbook story of why the Trump tax cut would be bad for the economy is that it would lead to higher interest rates, which would discourage investment and construction. (It should also lead to a rise in the dollar against foreign currency, which increases the size of the trade deficit.)

Given the textbook story it would have been reasonable to expect that the weak housing start data reported by the Commerce Department on Thursday would get some attention. While the Wall Street Journal was...

Economic Factors and the Trump Vote

I was involved in an exchange on the extent to which economic factors, as opposed racism, sexism, and xenophobia, played a role in Trump's election. While this is probably not a good way to spend one's time I kept trying to make a point that as best I can tell everyone is ignoring.

Due to worsening conditions for the working class (defined here as people without a college degree) the rate of educational upgrading has slowed dramatically over the last four decades. If we continued to see the s...

Does France's Economy Need to be Renewed

That's the question millions area asking after reading this NYT profile of France’s labor minister, Muriel Pénicaud. The largely positive piece refers to France's "famously voluminous labor code," then goes on to tell readers:

"The campaign to renew the French economy, one of President Emmanuel Macron’s flagship policies, involves steering toward a Nordic-style labor model known as “flexible security.” The changes aim to rebalance the welfare state by creating more flexibility for companies t...

Job Gains for Blacks: Trump Versus Obama

The Washington Post reported on Sarah Huckabee Sanders apology for saying that Trump had created more jobs for blacks in the first 20 months of his administration than Obama had in eight years. It then reported on her correction that in the first 20 months, dating from the election, Trump had created more jobs.

While the piece noted that economists think the president's ability to affect the economy is limited, it would have been worth mentioning that the economy was in a free fall, losing 70...

Disney Defends Free Speech Against Copyright

Seriously, at least when it comes to its own productions, in this case, a documentary on Michael Jackson. It's a great example of how the only principle that matters is making the rich richer.