Nominee's Background:
Dr. Dean Baker is a macroeconomist and Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. He previously worked as a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and an assistant professor at Bucknell University.
He has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, and the OECD's Trade Union Advisory Council. His columns have appeared in many major media outlets including the Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Post, and the London Financial Times. He is frequently cited in economics reporting in major media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and National Public Radio.
http://www.cepr.net/pages/dbbio.htm
Nominating Speech:
Dean Baker predicted the current financial crisis caused by the collapse of the housing bubble. Through the bailout fight Dean Baker was a tireless advocate for a progressive responses. He seemed to appear on nearly every TV and radio talk show in the country, fighting to ensure that a Main Street stimulus, and accountability for the mortgage banking industry be part of any government response. He was one of the first and few American voices demanding that the government not waste tax payer money on buying bad debt, but get temporary equity shares in whichever institutions it helped to ensure that governance be established, and obscenely compensated corrupt executives be held accountable.
He also authored a plan by through which homeowners in danger of default could participate in a rent-to-own program to ensure they were able to stay in their homes.
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Progressive Criteria:
The Treasury Department will
Put protecting consumers ahead of protecting the interests of banks, including protecting confidentiality, measures against identify theft, protections against predatory lending, especially from credit card companies;
Work to guarantee bankruptcy protection for ordinary Americans;
Support adding labor and environmental safeguards to international trade agreements;
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