Taking Economics Seriously
by Dean Baker
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'There is nothing wrong with economics, Dean Baker contends, but economists routinely ignore their own principles when it comes to economic policy. What would policy look like if we took basic principles of mainstream economics seriously and applied them consistently? In the debate over regulation, for example, Baker--one of the few economists who predicted the meltdown of fall 2008--points out that ideological blinders have obscured the fact there is no "free market" to protect. Modern show more markets are highly regulated, although intrusive regulations such as copyright and patents are rarely viewed as regulatory devices. If we admit the extent to which the economy is and will be regulated, we have many more options in designing policy and deciding who benefits from it. On health care reform, Baker complains that economists ignore another basic idea: marginal cost pricing. Unlike all other industries, medical services are priced extraordinarily high, far above the cost of production, yet that discrepancy is rarely addressed in the debate about health care reform. What if we applied marginal cost pricing--making doctors' wages competitive and charging less for prescription drugs and tests such as MRIs? ..."--Product Description. show lessTags
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In this RSA Animate, renowned academic David Harvey asks if it is time to look beyond capitalism towards a new social order that would allow us to live within a system that really could be responsible, just, and humane?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0
A Watson Institute video on the global trend toward Austerity budgets featuring Mark Blyth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmsjGys-VqA
Inequality, Leverage and Crises:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2010/wp10268.pdf
The Egyptian Tinderbox: How Banks and Investors Are Starving the Third World:
http://www.truth-out.org/the-egyptian-tinderbox-how-banks-and-investors-are-star...
This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and show more creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U show less
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0
A Watson Institute video on the global trend toward Austerity budgets featuring Mark Blyth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmsjGys-VqA
Inequality, Leverage and Crises:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2010/wp10268.pdf
The Egyptian Tinderbox: How Banks and Investors Are Starving the Third World:
http://www.truth-out.org/the-egyptian-tinderbox-how-banks-and-investors-are-star...
This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and show more creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U show less
Feb 6, 2011German
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The Enlightened Economist
107 works; 1 member
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11+ Works 396 Members
Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington DC. A frequent guest on National Public Radio, CNN, and CNBC news programs, Baker has written for the Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly, and the Financial Times. He writes a column for the Guardian, the American Prospect, and Truthout.org. He is the author of show more several books, including Plunder and Blunder: The Rise and Fall of the Bubble Economy and Vie Conservative Nanny State. He received his Ph. D. in economics from the University of Michigan. show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Taking Economics Seriously
- Blurbers
- Warren, Elizabeth; Johnson, Simon
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- 730,729
- Reviews
- 1
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- (4.00)
- Languages
- English
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- Paper, Ebook
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- 3
- ASINs
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