Budget Horror Stories: Health Care and the Future of the National Deficit; Dr. Dean Baker

We continually hear horror stories about future budget deficits in the United States. What we don’t hear, overlooked by press and policy makers alike, is that future deficits are driven largely by projections of rising health care costs.  If health care costs are stabilized, we won’t have serious budget problems. If they are not stabilized, then we will face serious economic problems regardless of what happens with the deficit.   Join Dr. Dean Baker, Senior Economist & Co-Founder, Center for Economic and Policy Research as he discusses his research on the future of health care costs and the national budget.  Following his talk, Dr. Jason Scorse, Director of the Center for the Blue Economy and Chair of the International Environmental Policy program at the Middlebury Institute, will moderate a discussion on a wide range of economic and social issues.   The public will have an opportunity to ask questions and be part of the discussion as well.

About the Speaker

Dean Baker co-founded the Center for Economic and Policy Research in 1999. His areas of research include housing and macroeconomics, intellectual property, Social Security, Medicare and European labor markets. He is the author of several books, including Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer. His blog, “Beat the Press,” provides commentary on economic reporting. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan.   Read More

Suggested Pre-Reading

Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer, by Dr. Dean Baker

Change of Lecture Location:  Now in McGowan 102

We had initially scheduled this event in the Irvine auditorium, but have moved the venue to a smaller, more intimate space, the McGowan Building, room 102.   The McGowan Building is located at 411 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA  93940, on the corner of Franklin and Pacific. View the campus map.

Parking

Parking is available in any Middlebury Institute campus lot after 5 p.m., or on the street (time limits on surrounding streets end at 6 p.m.)

Questions

Contact Rachel Christopherson at the Center for the Blue Economy at cbe@miis.edu or (831) 647-6615.