WASHINGTON — The most uncovered story in Washington these days is the loss of U.S. military power — a lesson particularly important in light of recent events: the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis; President Trump’s insane decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria; North Korea’s announcement that it will keep nuclear weapons after all; […]
Robert Samuelson
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Federal Reserve has to find the right balance to preserve growing economy
WASHINGTON — The nine-year economic recovery is dead. Long live the recovery. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) — the Federal Reserve’s main policymaking body — meets this week to decide whether or not to raise interest rates. No matter what it does, the decision is likely to be criticized. Since late 2015, the Fed […]
advertisement
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Corporate debt levels seen as cause for concern
WASHINGTON — Pay attention to the financial markets. If the Great Recession and 2008-09 financial crisis taught us anything, that was it. Until then, the Federal Reserve had focused mainly on fighting inflation and unemployment. What we learned is that overborrowing, shaky mortgages and inflated stock and home prices could also plunge the economy into […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Income stagnation — real or politics?
WASHINGTON — We in the media have a problem. Actually, it’s a big problem for all of us. We have become addicted to the notion that, except for the top 1 percent or the top 10 percent, the incomes of most Americans have stagnated for decades. The problem is that, at best, this is an […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Resolution of China-U.S. trade war questionable
WASHINGTON — The United States-China trade war goes on … and on and on. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet in Argentina at a summit meeting of the G-20 — roughly speaking, the world’s 20 most important economies. The object is to halt the war. Larry Kudlow, director of […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Sluggish productivity growth hampers economy
WASHINGTON — Here’s today’s economic quiz: Was the 2007-09 Great Recession more damaging than the Great Depression of the 1930s? Surely the answer is “no.” In the 1930s, unemployment reached 25 percent. By contrast, the recent peak in the jobless rate was 10 percent. Case closed. Not so fast, objects economist J. Bradford DeLong of […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
U.S. economy not so much an election factor
WASHINGTON — One lesson of the midterm elections is that economic growth is losing its power to unite the country and to reduce explosive conflicts over race, religion, ethnicity, immigrant status and sexuality. This is unfamiliar. Economic progress has been a routine part of our election narratives. The presumption is that a strong economy favors […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Can elected officials overcome distrust? Doubtful
WASHINGTON — President Trump and Congress face a mountain of unfinished business — and chances are that most of it will stay unfinished. Of course, no one knows what will happen, and the president and congressional leaders of both parties have made the usual noises about cooperation. “There are a lot of good things that […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Sensible policies require patience and sacrifice
WASHINGTON — We now know, or will soon, who won the fiercely contested midterm elections, but we also know who lost: We all did. This election has been a referendum on President Trump, which suits both Republicans and Democrats just fine. Democrats are betting that the public has increasingly tired of Trump’s lies and his […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Americans losing cohesion, becoming fragmented
WASHINGTON — Perhaps it was naivete, ignorance or stupidity — or all three — but when I was growing up in the 1950s in a suburb of New York City, I had no sense of anti-Semitism. By that, I do not mean that I looked around and found little evidence of anti-Jewish feeling. I mean […]