<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> 
<rss version="2.0"> 
 <channel> 
<title><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson - Articles - RealClearPolitics]]></title><link>http://www.RealClearPolicy.com/authors/rss/archive/30695.xml</link><description><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></description><category domain="30695">Author</category><item>
							<title><![CDATA[What Really Caused the Financial Crisis?]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/04/15/what_really_caused_the_financial_crisis_140048.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/04/15/what_really_caused_the_financial_crisis_140048.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2019 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- It is astonishing that, even though the global financial crisis occurred a decade ago, we do not yet have a clear and convincing explanation of its basic cause. To be sure, theories abound. Liberals blame Wall Street greed and lax government oversight. The conservatives'...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[The Social Security Fantasy]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/02/11/the_social_security_fantasy_139423.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/02/11/the_social_security_fantasy_139423.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2019 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- One of the great challenges of our time is to prevent Social Security and other programs for the elderly from taking over the national government. It may already be too late. Recently, the Congressional Budget Office reported that federal spending on the 65-plus population...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Alfred E. Neuman's Law of Deficits]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/02/06/alfred_e_neumans_law_of_deficits_139374.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/02/06/alfred_e_neumans_law_of_deficits_139374.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 06 Feb 2019 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Let's coin a new law of politics. Call it Neuman's Law after Alfred E. Neuman of Mad magazine fame, whose philosophy is, "What, me worry?" Neuman's Law postulates that there is never a good time to raise taxes or cut federal spending. This explains why, since 1961, the...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Defense Spending Is Less Than You Think -- Here's Why]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/01/28/defense_spending_is_less_than_you_think_--_heres_why_139285.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/01/28/defense_spending_is_less_than_you_think_--_heres_why_139285.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jan 2019 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Whenever I or someone else suggests that we need higher defense spending, there is an incredulous response from critics: U.S. military spending equals the outlays of the next eight countries combined; how can we possibly be spending too little when we spend so much more...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Our Unhappy New Year]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/31/our_unhappy_new_year_139050.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/31/our_unhappy_new_year_139050.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 31 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- As we enter 2019, the question that looms over America is simple: Can we govern? The answer is no. Unless this changes -- truly a long shot -- the new year may be as disappointing as the old.
Our society seems handcuffed by unsolvable problems: large and persistent budget...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Good Luck to the Fed]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/17/good_luck_to_the_fed_138932.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/17/good_luck_to_the_fed_138932.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[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...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[The Fed's Latest Worry]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/12/the_feds_latest_worry_138908.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/12/the_feds_latest_worry_138908.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 12 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[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...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[More Data Exposing the Income Stagnation Myth]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/10/more_data_exposing_the_income_stagnation_myth_138866.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/10/more_data_exposing_the_income_stagnation_myth_138866.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 10 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[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...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[The Stock Market Decline Means ... What?]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/05/the_stock_market_decline_means__what_138844.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/05/the_stock_market_decline_means__what_138844.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 05 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- The stock market giveth; the stock market taketh away.
With Wednesday a federal holiday to honor former President George H.W. Bush, the U.S. stock market will be closed until Dec. 6. But there's no moratorium on wondering what the effects of Tuesday's dramatic market...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Trump vs. the Fed]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/03/trump_vs_the_fed_138804.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/03/trump_vs_the_fed_138804.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 03 Dec 2018 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- President Trump, do yourself a favor. Stop attacking the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell (yes, the same Powell you nominated). The result would be better for you, better for Powell and -- most important -- better for the country.
Unfortunately, Trump can't...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Are China and the U.S. Locked in a Permanent Trade War?]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/28/are_china_and_the_us_locked_in_a_permanent_trade_war_138774.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/28/are_china_and_the_us_locked_in_a_permanent_trade_war_138774.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 28 Nov 2018 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet later this week 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 the White House's National...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Was the Great Recession Worse Than the Great Depression?]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/27/was_the_great_recession_worse_than_the_great_depression_138747.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/27/was_the_great_recession_worse_than_the_great_depression_138747.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Tue, 27 Nov 2018 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[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...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Can They Overcome Distrust? Doubtful]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/07/can_they_overcome_distrust_doubtful_138580.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/07/can_they_overcome_distrust_doubtful_138580.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 07 Nov 2018 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[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....]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[The Future of Anti-Semitism]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/10/30/the_future_of_anti-semitism_138509.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/10/30/the_future_of_anti-semitism_138509.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Tue, 30 Oct 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[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 that...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Losing Faith in the Future?]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/09/18/losing_faith_in_the_future_138105.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/09/18/losing_faith_in_the_future_138105.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Tue, 18 Sep 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- It has long been an accepted axiom in the United States -- and also in many advanced democracies -- that the future would be better than the past. People took it for granted that living standards would rise and that life would be more comfortable and stable. Well, kiss that...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Legacies of the Financial Crisis]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/09/12/legacies_of_the_financial_crisis_138056.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/09/12/legacies_of_the_financial_crisis_138056.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 12 Sep 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Ten years after the 2008-09 financial crisis, we're swamped with studies and reminiscences. What are the legacies of the crisis? How long will they endure? Are they accurate -- or just convenient scapegoats? Here are three takeaways.
(1) We can no longer rule out another...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[NAFTA Is Dead -- Long Live NAFTA]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/29/nafta_is_dead_--_long_live_nafta_137936.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/29/nafta_is_dead_--_long_live_nafta_137936.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 29 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- When the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994, it was widely regarded -- by friend and foe alike -- as an ambitious experiment in economic engineering. To advocates, it promised the benefits of stronger economic growth for its three member countries:...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Still Arguing Over Lehman]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/27/still_arguing_over_lehman_137897.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/27/still_arguing_over_lehman_137897.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 27 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Who lost Lehman Brothers? Could it have been saved?
As we approach the 10th anniversary of Lehman's collapse (Sept. 15), these questions won't go away. The Lehman bankruptcy is portrayed as the pivotal event that converted severe -- but familiar -- disruptions in financial...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Will What Happens in Turkey Stay in Turkey?]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/20/will_what_happens_in_turkey_stay_in_turkey_137837.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/20/will_what_happens_in_turkey_stay_in_turkey_137837.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 20 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- The pertinent and unanswerable question about Turkey is whether the country's present economic turmoil is an isolated event, mostly confined to Turkey itself, or whether it portends a larger economic convulsion that shakes markets around the world. Among economists and...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Trump's No-Win Trade War]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/13/trumps_no-win_trade_war_137783.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/13/trumps_no-win_trade_war_137783.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- When all is said and done, President Trump's trade war may be fated to fail. There are many reasons why. One is that the target countries -- prominently, China, Japan and Germany -- won't accede to his demands. This is already happening. Another threat is a backlash among...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[The Age of Malware]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/08/the_age_of_malware_137761.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/08/the_age_of_malware_137761.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 08 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Welcome to the Age of Malware. It promises to be a huge downer and, possibly, a great tragedy.
For years, we have regarded personal computers, the internet, smartphones and various digital devices as evidence that America continues to dominate the central new technology of...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[The Triumph of Downward Mobility]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/06/the_triumph_of_downward_mobility_137721.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/06/the_triumph_of_downward_mobility_137721.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 06 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- It's an axiom among many Americans that each future generation will live better than its predecessor. New technologies, greater efficiencies and a can-do spirit will reward us with higher living standards. There might be periodic stumbles, but the long-term trajectory is...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Think There's Been a Productivity Boom? Think Again.]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/01/think_theres_been_a_productivity_boom_think_again_137688.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/08/01/think_theres_been_a_productivity_boom_think_again_137688.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 01 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Let's travel back in time to 1995. Most Americans still remembered the calamitous inflation of the late 1970s (prices rose 13 percent in 1979). Many federal benefits, including Social Security, were (and are) tied to inflation. But was the inflation overstated, as many...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Understanding the ETF Debate]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/25/understanding_the_etf_debate_137628.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/25/understanding_the_etf_debate_137628.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Can we make sense of ETFs?
If you're in the investing class, you doubtlessly know that ETF stands for "exchange-traded fund." Along with index mutual funds, they track a given stock or bond index. The best-known ETFs mirror the Standard and Poor's 500 stock index. If the...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Economic Nostalgia's False Promise]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/23/economic_nostalgias_false_promise_137589.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/23/economic_nostalgias_false_promise_137589.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 23 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- We Americans have long been obsessed with economic growth -- "prosperity" in everyday lingo. The idea that we have some sort of special aptitude for invention, wealth creation and economic self-improvement is part of our imagined national character. It's who we are. Not...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[The Coming Welfare Wars]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/19/the_coming_welfare_wars_137563.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/19/the_coming_welfare_wars_137563.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Thu, 19 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration may have declared it over, but a new War on Poverty is coming anyways. It will be fought largely over the "work requirement" -- should the government require welfare recipients either to get a job or to train for one? It's a philosophical as much as...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[The $247 Trillion Global Debt Bomb]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/16/the_247_trillion_global_debt_bomb_137523.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/16/the_247_trillion_global_debt_bomb_137523.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- The untold story of the world economy -- so far at least -- is the potentially explosive interaction between the spreading trade war and the overhang of global debt, estimated at a staggering $247 trillion. That's "trillion" with a "t." The numbers are so large as to be...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Why Aren't Wages Rising?]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/11/why_arent_wages_rising_137495.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/11/why_arent_wages_rising_137495.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 11 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- It's a mystery. The U.S. economy seems strong. Since the nadir of the Great Recession, employers have added about 19 million workers. The unemployment rate is 4 percent, near the lowest level since 2000. By standard economic theory, the strong demand for labor should be...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[Neo-Isolationism Won't Work]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/03/neo-isolationism_wont_work_137407.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/03/neo-isolationism_wont_work_137407.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- On this July Fourth, America has taken a turn for the worst. The great delusion of Donald Trump's presidency is that we can thrive by embracing nationalism even though major economic and political events are increasingly driven by international forces. Trump is an...]]></description>
						</item><item>
							<title><![CDATA[The Return of Smoot-Hawley?]]></title>
							<link>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/06/27/the_return_of_smoot-hawley_137365.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/06/27/the_return_of_smoot-hawley_137365.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jun 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Robert J. Samuelson</author>
							<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- The ghost of Smoot-Hawley seems to haunt President Trump. You will recall that Smoot-Hawley was the sweeping tariff legislation that Congress passed and President Hoover signed in mid-1930. Most economists have exonerated the legislation as a major cause of the Great...]]></description>
						</item></channel>
		</rss>