WASHINGTON — The Pentagon and the welfare state have been locked in brutal combat for decades, and the Pentagon has gotten clobbered. Protecting the country was once the first obligation of government. No more. Welfare programs — Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and other benefits — dwarf defense spending. As a result, we have become […]
Robert Samuelson
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Economic boom might be followed by bust
WASHINGTON — We don’t need an economic boom, but that’s what we may be getting. Since the 2016 election, the stock market is up roughly 24 percent, reports Wilshire Associates. The price of the cybercurrency bitcoin soared more than 1,000 percent before retreating. The unemployment rate of 4.1 percent is the lowest since 2000. The […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The simple solution: Kill the tax bill
WASHINGTON — What the Republicans are offering on taxes is a bad bargain for America’s future. They would borrow — roughly $1.5 trillion over a decade — to finance tax cuts that are pleasing for the present. Future Americans would pay the bill. There are at least three reasons why the Senate should reject its […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Trade policies have become complicated
WASHINGTON — Most Americans likely think that our trade policies have been largely the same since the Republic’s earliest days. The assumptions are that we are free traders now and always have been; also, that we have long been a manufacturing power, boosting exports. If we sometimes lose in global competition, the main cause is […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
End for mortgage interest tax deduction?
WASHINGTON — If you want to understand why the tax code is so hard to overhaul, consider the case of the mortgage interest deduction. The issue is so sensitive that the House and Senate are dealing with it in completely opposite ways. To its many defenders and beneficiaries, the mortgage interest deduction symbolizes and subsidizes […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
America needs higher, not lower, taxes
WASHINGTON — We Americans are having the wrong debate. Almost all the arguing over the Trump administration’s proposed tax cut centers on two issues. Will the tax reduction stimulate faster economic growth? And is the proposal too generous toward the wealthy and too stingy toward the middle class and poor? Interesting questions, to be sure […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Where will ‘Jay’ Powell lead the Fed?
WASHIINGTON — It will be Powell’s Fed. Assuming he’s confirmed by the Senate, Jerome (“Jay”) Powell will become the 16th chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in early 2018. Almost by definition, he instantly becomes the most important economic policy-maker in the world. But who is he? Outside economic circles, hardly anyone knows. So let’s […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Consolidation is the future of health care
WASHINGTON — The big news in health care last week was the disclosure that CVS Health Corp. — owner of a vast network of drug stores — is considering buying Aetna Inc., one of the nation’s largest health insurers, for roughly $66 billion. It’s undeniably important, but why? Clearly, economic concentration in health care is […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Tax cuts and economic growth
“Do we have any historical evidence that lowering tax rates, particularly among the richest strata, generates economic growth, as the Republicans always predict? Has this ever worked?” — a reader WASHINGTON — The answer is “no.” As Congress tackles “tax reform,” we really don’t have conclusive historical evidence of the relationship between tax rates and […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Trump off the mark with NAFTA
WASHINGTON — The NAFTA war is heating up. It’s a confusing conflict because perceptions are driven by political rhetoric, not economic reality. NAFTA, of course, stands for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has eliminated most tariffs among the United States, Mexico and Canada. During the campaign, candidate Donald Trump denounced NAFTA as a […]