Sunday, October 1, 2023 | 

Robert J. Samuelson

Columnist

Robert J. Samuelson is a Washington Post columnist.

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Opinion
Will Trump win the battle for public opinion?
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Price inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, is important not only for the effect on personal spending but also because of the inflation indication provided to the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Opinion
The inflation mystery
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
In this Friday, Jan. 4, 2019, photo, Chinese residents pass by a decor marking the new year outside a shopping mall in Beijing. A U.S. delegation led by deputy U.S. trade representative, Jeffrey D. Gerrish arrived in the Chinese capital ahead of trade.
Opinion
Why the global economy remains so weak
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Opinion
The odd couple: Trump and Powell
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Will the Social Security program exist to help future generations?
Opinion
Boomers crush millennials. Read all about it!
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
The discount and low-interest rate available are posted on a Chevrolet Malibu in Denver.
Opinion
Should we love or hate ‘negative’ interest rates?
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Fifteen percent of Americans are living in poverty, and 21% of American children live in poverty.
Opinion
Will the real poverty rate please stand up?
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
US Federal Reserve, Washington, DC,
Opinion
Should the Fed fight back?
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Photos provided by the White House Historical Association show the south portico of the White House
Opinion
Have we lost our economic dynamism?
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
It was probably inevitable that we would have a “retirement crisis” as hordes of baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) sprint and stumble into their “golden years.” But it’s a fake crisis.
Opinion
The elderly aren’t so poor after all
New data refute the stereotype that most of the elderly are poor and are living on the edge. Some are; most aren’t.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
This Feb. 1, 2010, file photo shows the National Debt Clock in New York.
Opinion
The great deficit gamble
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Mergers and acquisitions have become a staple of modern capitalism. American capitalism is middle-aged. The M&A surge is one way older firms strive to overcome internal stagnation.
Opinion
To heck with profits!
We’ve been here before: one of those portentous moments when corporate America promises to be more socially “responsible.” These episodes are, it seems, a permanent feature of modern capitalism.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Wagner Unemployment Bill during the Great Depression with Rep. Theodore A. Peyser, D-N.Y.; Labor Secretary Frances Perkins and Sen. Robert Wagner, D-N.Y.
Opinion
Learning from the Great Depression
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One as he departs Friday, July 12, 2019, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: Is the economy turning against Trump?
Most economists aren’t yet predicting a recession, but they’re drifting in that direction.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
A bank employee counts U.S. dollar banknotes next to stack of 100 Chinese yuan notes at a bank outlet in Hai'an in eastern China's Jiangsu province, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019. China's yuan fell further Tuesday against the U.S. dollar, fueling fears about incr
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: The China-America trade crackup
The central — and unanswerable — question now is whether we are stumbling toward a larger and unmanageable global economic crisis. There are several possibilities.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington, Wednesday, July 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: The Fed’s jobs machine
Since World War II, there have been two other long stretches of economic expansion: one in the 1960s, then again in 1990s and early 2000s. Both ended badly.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
From left, Marianne Williamson, Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, forme
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: The indestructible welfare state
Americans dislike the concept of the welfare state. That’s for Europeans. We prefer the “safety net.” But we are deluding ourselves. Our safety net is their welfare state; the differences are those of detail, not fundamental principle.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
The dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington is pictured on April 18, 2019.
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: Are we shortchanging the military?
There is a larger issue here that Congress and presidents have assiduously avoided for decades. What is government for?
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell presents the monetary policy report to the Senate Banking Committee, July 11, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: The Fed’s dreary choices
On inspection, it’s unclear that the economy needs another jolt of cheap credit. Although the Fed has been raising rates since December 2015, they’re still low by historical standards.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Social security cards with statements.
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: Here’s how the internet attacked me
This is the internet’s new normal. It expands our choices but compromises our freedom. It encloses society in a permanent cocoon of suspicion. There’s no escaping its grasping tentacles.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: Will the global debt bomb explode again?
How much longer can the borrowing boom continue?
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Archive photo of Alice M. Rivlin. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: America’s cycle of disappointment
Just as economic entrepreneurs create and sell new products or services, policy entrepreneurs could create and sell new policies. The process was straightforward.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to receive credentials from newly appointed foreign ambassadors to Russia in Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, July 3, 2019. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: Is Putin right that liberalism is obsolete?
You may dislike or detest Putin for many good reasons, but you have to acknowledge that he’s a keen observer of the times.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Democratic presidential candidates from left, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourk
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: Ambition on display — but what else?
In this army of candidates, do we have anyone who can exert that sort of leadership, especially when much of the persuasion that needs doing involves the delivery of relatively unwelcome news?
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, June 22, 2019, before boarding Marine One for the trip to Camp David in Maryland. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: Can Trump beat the economy?
So it’s Trump against the economy. If he can seem to control the economy (whatever the reality), he may overwhelm his opponent regardless of the case against him.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria, left, and Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso attend a press conference of the revised OECD Code of Liberalization of Capital Movements during the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting Saturday, June 8
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: The fate of Japan — and everyone else
To put it bluntly: Japan is slowly going out of business; its population is shrinking and it resists immigration. This cannot continue indefinitely.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
In this May 18, 2019, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at a house party campaign stop in Rochester, N.H.
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: The Democrats’ fairy-tale campaigns
Democratic presidential candidates expect the government (aka, “the country”) to do for them what they don’t want to do for themselves, or are incapable of doing.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
FILE - In this May 17, 2019, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the National Association of REALTORS Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: The brave new world of trading blocs
In a fascinating new paper, economists David Jacks and Dennis Novy argue that today’s contentious trade disputes recall what happened during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
FILE- In this Aug. 22, 2018, file photo a chart on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the rise of the S&P 500 index since 2009. The bull market for U.S. stocks is now 10 years old and the longest since World War II. That lifespan s
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: Why are wage gains so weak?
Considering that the economy has been expanding for nearly a full decade, wage gains remain sluggish.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a rally at Burnett Park in Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday, April 25, 2019. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Opinion
Robert Samuelson: Single-payer is no panacea
If only healthcare were that easy.
By Robert J. Samuelson, Columnist
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