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Gerald Friedman

Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Chapter Member: Boston SSN
Areas of Expertise:
  • Economy
  • Democracy & Governance
  • Inequality
  • Health Care
  • Public Health

Connect with Gerald

()413) 218 - 2701

About Gerald

Friedman's research focuses on topics in the labor history of the United States and Europe, the evolution of economic thought, labor economics, economic theory, the history of slavery in the Americas, and on current economic issues. Friedman has been a correspondent on economics to television and other media outlets, a consultant to labor unions, and has drafted funding plans for campaigns for single-payer health insurance in Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and the state of Washington, and to Physicians for a National Health Plan. He is currently working on plans for Ohio.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

The Moral and Practical Case for Universal Healthcare Coverage

SSN Key Findings Brief,

In the News

Gerald Friedman quoted on declining quality of health insurance in Eli Sherman, "Massachusetts Workers Pay More for Health Insurance, But Coverage Lacking" Wicked Local, May 14, 2019.
"Take it from an Economist, Medicare for All is the Most Sensible Way to Fix Health Care," Gerald Friedman, USA Today, April 8, 2019.
Gerald Friedman's research on union membership discussed in Eli Sherman, "Embattled Unions Growing in Massachusetts," Wicked Local, March 18, 2019.
"Single-Payer Critics Miss the Point - We're Falling Behind," Gerald Friedman, Huffington Post, October 18, 2017.
"'Medicare for All' Could be Cheaper Than You Think," Gerald Friedman, The Conversation, September 19, 2017.
"Why Market Competition Has Not Brought Down Health Care Costs," Gerald Friedman, The Conversation, June 29, 2017.
"Pox on Both Your Houses: Neither Presidential Candidate Cares for Workers," Gerald Friedman, Observer, September 1, 2016.
Guest to discuss how single-payer healthcare would be both affordable and efficient on the David Pakman Show, Gerald Friedman, October 9, 2014.
Interview on single-payer health care campaignsGerald Friedman, Physicians for A National Health Program, May 27, 2014.
Interview on Bernie Sanders' single-payer healthcare systemGerald Friedman, Physicians for A National Health Program, November 20, 2013.
Guest to discuss the positive economic effects of a single-payer healthcare system on the David Pakman Show, Gerald Friedman, October 7, 2013.

Publications

"Economic Analysis of the New York Health Act," April 1, 2015.

Analyzes the economic effects of the New York Health Act, which would establish a comprehensive, universal health insurance program for all New Yorkers.

Reigniting the Labor Movement: Restoring Means to Ends in a Democratic Labor Movement (Routledge Press, 2008).

Argues that the traditional, reformist unions, have declined to the point that one can reasonably question their viability.

State-Making and Labor Movements (Cornell University Press, 1998).

Studies the origins of the modern labor movement in France and the United States before 1914.