National economist speaks at Wisconsin community forums
Dean Baker Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research based in Washington DC predicted that the Housing Bubble would burst when most people were riding the wave and using their home value as an ATM. In a 2005 article in Bankrate.com, it stated “Dean Baker is so confident that a housing bubble exists that he is performing an experiment on himself. In May 2004, Baker and his wife sold their two-bedroom condominium in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and rented a similar unit a couple of blocks away. They had owned their condo for seven years and almost tripled their money but Baker felt like a fool holding onto it because he was sure prices would plummet."I've been jumping up and down, yelling, 'There's a problem here. I've done everything I can to publicize it and warn people. I don't know what else I could do." (Bankrate.com)
This economic prophet visited Wisconsin in September,2011 to talk about the current economic slump. Baker spoke in Milwaukee, LaCrosse and Eau Claire to local Alliance for Strong Communities groups about how the housing bubble exploded the economy and how substantial federal aid to states can heal the financial wounds. Money makes the economy work; it is the oil in the fiscal engine. Without money, there is no demand for goods and services. Without demand, businesses do not hire people or expand. Without employment and construction, there are no jobs. It is a vicious circle. The federal government is the only player who can break the cycle, send money into the system through job programs and infrastructure investments to jumpstart the economic machine. He also talked about international finance issues and the need for more public oversights of the Federal Reserve which governs the monetary policies most crucial for recovery.
See Dean Baker's entire Eau Claire presentation on Chippewa Valley Community TV (search for Dean Baker)
Read Dean Baker’s latest book (free e-Book): The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive