Mark Weisbrot is Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. Mark Weisbrot received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan. He is co-author, with Dean Baker, of Social Security: The Phony Crisis (University of Chicago Press, 2000), and has written numerous research papers on international and domestic economic policy. He is currently Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington, D.C. He writes a weekly column on economic and policy issues that is distributed to over 550 newspapers by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. His opinion pieces have appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and most other U.S. newspapers. He appears regularly on national and local television and radio programs, and has been a guest on ABC World News Tonight; CNN, C-SPAN Washington Journal; Fox News; NPR`s Morning Edition, Diane Rehm Show and Kojo Nnamdi Show; Newshour with Jim Lehrer; BBC-TV World News and other programs.