Mostly Economics

What if every new service contract you've signed secretly stripped away your right to sue? Senior Economist and CEPR co-founder Dean Baker speaks with Brendan Ballou, former federal prosecutor and founder of the Public Integrity Project, about his new book When Companies Run the Courts. From the McDonald's coffee case to the Supreme Court, forced arbitration is reshaping American justice and our rights.

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Economist Arindrajit Dube joins Dean Baker to discuss his book The Wage Standard, making the case that higher wages create fewer economic problems than we've been told. They examine why the federal minimum wage has stagnated for over a generation and why sectoral wage standards may be the key to rebuilding the middle class.
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Ha-Joon Chang, Cambridge economist and author, joins Dean Baker to discuss how South Korea went from one of the world's poorest countries to an economic powerhouse. They also dig into Trump's tariffs, shareholder capitalism, and the Iran war's ripple effects.

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Dean Baker sits down with Ed Zitron, CEO of Media Relations and Primary Research and one of the most prominent voices sounding the alarm on the AI bubble. They dig into Nvidia's ballooning valuation, data centers that exist mostly on paper, circular financing schemes, and why this bubble may be worse than the dot-com crash. The math isn't adding up for Dean or Ed.

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The US tax code is not broken. It is working exactly as the wealthy designed it. Spare the wealthy, tax the worker. Dean Baker sits down with Amy Hanauer, Executive Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, to expose how loopholes like carried interest were deliberately built to protect fortunes and make working people foot the bill. The result is a rigged system that keeps rewarding wealth and punishing work.

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Today's episode is about the US-Israel war on Iran, its legitimacy and the economic impacts on people in the US. Our guest, Matt Duss, is the Executive VP at the Center for International Policy, former foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders, and co-host of Undiplomatic Podcast.

Matt debunks myths about Iran's nuclear ambitions and Middle East conflicts. This discussion challenges mainstream narratives and unpacks the lies that's gotten the US into yet another war.

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Right-wing billionaires are buying up local TV news networks and a federal regulator is helping them do it. In this week's episode, Dean Baker and Milo Vassallo, executive director of the Media and Democracy Project, break down what media consolidation means for communities across. They dig into the Nexstar-Tegna merger, the FCC's role under Brendan Carr, the fall of local journalism, and what a coalition of state attorneys general is doing to fight back.

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In this episode, Dean Baker and renowned macroeconomist Claudia Sahm discuss the economic shocks from attacking Iran and the Federal Reserve's policy stance amid geopolitical tensions. Gain insights into how global events influence US inflation, energy markets, and monetary policy decisions.

Claudia Sahm is the Chief Economist at New Century Advisors and a former Federal Reserve economist.

In the Season 1 finale, Dean Baker and Jared Bernstein answer listener-submitted questions on the biggest economic issues of the moment: the affordability crisis gripping American families, the surprising Democratic victories in off-year elections, and how the government shutdown is erasing critical economic data. From policy solutions to political implications, Dean and Jared tackle your questions with their wonderful blend of expertise and candor. Thank you for supporting our first season of Mostly Economics. We will return in 2026!

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz discusses his book "The Road to Freedom," explaining why real economic freedom means more than just keeping government small. Stiglitz breaks down how access to healthcare and education creates freedom, why drug companies profited from taxpayer-funded vaccines, and how pollution is really about property rights. Despite exploring serious inequality challenges, he shares an optimistic vision for building an economy that works for everyone.