Gerald Friedman 
Professor of Economics | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
Gerald Friedman's research focuses on topics in the labor history of the United States and Europe and the economics of health care.
Expertise (6)
Health Care Economics
Economic History
Labor History
Economics
Labor Economics
Health Economics
Biography
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.
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Education (2)
Harvard University: Ph.D., Economics
Columbia University: B.A., Economics and History
Links (4)
Media Coverage (5)
How the end of slavery led to two different minimum wages
Marketplace radio
2021-02-09
Gerald Friedman comments in a story about a proposal to eliminate the minimum wage for tipped workers, currently $2.13 an hour, and pay these workers at least the federal minimum wage. Friedman says tipping originated with wealthy Americans who returned to the U.S. from travels to Europe in the mid-1800s when tipping was standard there. Eventually, strong labor unions in Europe eliminated tipping while the end of slavery cemented the practice in the U.S.
The local economy is on the brink — but of what?
The Boston Globe print
2020-03-12
Gerald C. Friedman comments about how changes to the economy brought on the coronavirus are affecting Boston. “It’s a precarious situation,” Friedman says. “We really don’t know where this is going.”
Sanders releases plan to pay for $52 trillion worth of new government programs
Sinclair Broadasting tv
2020-02-25
Gerald Friedman comments on Bernie Sanders’ plan for about $52 trillion in new government spending over 10 years.
Can Elizabeth Warren afford to be all in on ‘Medicare for all’?
Los Angeles Times print
2019-10-24
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has “painted herself into a corner, She wants Medicare for all, but she didn’t think through the politics,” says Gerald Friedman. He says she’s in a bind with her reluctance to say if new taxes will be required to pay for her plan.
Medicare For All: A Conversation with Professor Gerald Friedman
The Healthcare Policy Podcast online
2018-08-08
According to a recent Kaiser/Washington Post survey 59 percent of Americans support Medicare for All (M4A). Per a March New England Journal of Medicine poll 61 percent of physicians said single payer would make it easier for them to deliver cost-effective, quality health care.
Publications (5)
Medicare expansion is a discount compared to ObamaCare
The HillGerald Friedman and Travis Campbell
2021-02-02
Economics Professor Gerald Friedman writes write that while President Biden’s healthcare proposal includes both building on the Affordable Care Act and expanding Medicare, only Medicare expansion has the proven ability to control costs. (
The Case for Medicare for All (BOOK)
PolityGerald Friedman
2020-03-09
For decades, Americans have wrestled with how to fix their broken healthcare system. In this razor-sharp contribution to the healthcare debate, leading economist and former adviser to Bernie Sanders Gerald Friedman recommends that we build on what works: a Medicare system that already efficiently provides healthcare for millions of Americans.
How the US could afford ‘Medicare for all’
The ConversationGerald Friedman
2019-10-04
Health care is Americans’ number-one priority, based on recent polls, so it’s no wonder it’s been a hot topic in the Democratic primary.
Take it from an economist, Medicare for All is the most sensible way to fix health care
USA TodayGerald Friedman
2019-04-09
I've spent decades studying US health care. Time to get real: Medicare for All is the only reasonable path to controlling costs and covering everyone.
Center for American Progress' health care plan does have real merit
The HillGerald Friedman
2018-03-04
Gerald C. Friedman writes an op-ed arguing that the new Medicare Extra for All plan proposed by the Center for American Progress is a blueprint for achieving universal health care for all Americans.
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