Robert Samuelson https://tj.durangoherald.com/section/robert-samuelson/feed/ Latest local news from The Durango Herald. Fri, 14 Aug 2026 21:00:31 -0600 en-us 30 https://tj.durangoherald.com/we-already-have-a-welfare-state-so-whats-next/ WASHINGTON – It seems unavoidable. Like it or not, the U.S. welfare system is bound to play a big role in the 2020 election. The recent Democratic debate on health care is just a prelude to a broader discussion. The... Mon, 05 Aug 2019 23:33:09 -0600 8F2664C5-FA27-7F3A-E053-0100007F350D https://tj.durangoherald.com/heres-how-the-internets-tentacles-grabbed-me/ WASHINGTON – I got hacked. It was scary. In this age of cybereverything, we all live in dread that we’re going to be attacked by the internet. Nearly everyone seems vulnerable. The internet is changing how we work, play, socialize,... Thu, 25 Jul 2019 23:33:10 -0600 8E478A6D-620C-60E8-E053-0100007F589F https://tj.durangoherald.com/bernie-the-30s-called-and-wants-its-decade-back/ WASHINGTON – Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, is a man from the 1930s. If you didn’t believe that before, you certainly should now. Sanders last week gave a powerful speech at George... Mon, 24 Jun 2019 23:33:28 -0600 8BD8B592-BAA8-7C70-E053-0100007F09F0 https://tj.durangoherald.com/maybe-theres-something-we-can-do-on-warming/ WASHINGTON – On global climate change, I’ve changed my mind – just slightly. I’ve written about this issue for more than two decades, and my theme has been monotonously consistent. As a starting point, I’ve accepted the prevailing scientific view... Mon, 21 Jan 2019 17:33:09 -0700 7FD701CF-DC27-558F-E053-0100007FF369 https://tj.durangoherald.com/what-sears-and-ge-declines-say-about-capitalism/ WASHINGTON – General Electric and Sears have fallen on hard times, and that tells us a lot about U.S. capitalism. Both were once great enterprises -– symbols of American ingenuity and imagination. The temptation will be to blame their troubles... Thu, 17 Jan 2019 17:33:10 -0700 7F843304-EE20-5909-E053-0100007F80D4 https://tj.durangoherald.com/hike-defense-spending-and-maybe-cut-welfare/ 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 rash decision to withdraw... Mon, 24 Dec 2018 17:33:28 -0700 7DC82268-193A-07B8-E053-0100007F96C2 https://tj.durangoherald.com/great-recession-worse-than-great-depression/ 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... Thu, 29 Nov 2018 17:03:12 -0700 7BBD2C9E-5699-42F3-E053-0100007FDC6E https://tj.durangoherald.com/solving-climate-change-may-well-be-impossible/ WASHINGTON – If there were any doubt before, there should be none now. “Solving” the global climate change problem may be humankind’s mission impossible. That’s the gist of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the... Mon, 15 Oct 2018 17:03:22 -0600 7846D437-A12F-243E-E053-0100007F6796 https://tj.durangoherald.com/samuelson-why-we-dont-prepare-for-the-future/ Robert Samuelsondu1-i-syn WASHINGTON – More than 20 years ago, I wrote that Americans would solve their most pressing problems through either consensus or crisis. We would debate the country’s controversial issues until we reached agreements that, though not fully satisfying... Mon, 10 Sep 2018 17:11:19 -0600 758D7210-3A05-4B6E-E053-0100007F8D97 https://tj.durangoherald.com/samuelson-the-triumph-of-downward-mobility/ du1-i-syn 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... Mon, 06 Aug 2018 17:09:00 -0600 72CD51DA-4C85-7089-E053-0100007F12C4 https://tj.durangoherald.com/samuelson-get-ready-for-the-coming-welfare-wars/ du1-i-syn 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 concept of a “work requirement.” Should the government require welfare recipients either to... Thu, 19 Jul 2018 21:57:00 -0600 71674226-C05F-28C1-E053-0100007F091B https://tj.durangoherald.com/samuelson-why-our-neo-isolationism-will-not-work/ du1-i-syn WASHINGTON – As we near 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... Mon, 02 Jul 2018 17:41:06 -0600 700D75B2-1F7B-0AD3-E053-0100007FDA7E https://tj.durangoherald.com/samuelson-history-of-1930-tariff-legislation-is-haunting/ Samuelsondu1-i-syn 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... Thu, 28 Jun 2018 17:45:01 -0600 6FB7956A-5D89-06D8-E053-0100007FA3A8 https://tj.durangoherald.com/samuelson-consequences-of-unraveling-trade-rules-unclear/ Robert Samuelson, The Washington Postdu1-i-syn WASHINGTON – The escalating trade war between the United States and China poses crucial, though unanswerable, questions: Is this the beginning of the end of the post-World War II international trading system or will the... Fri, 22 Jun 2018 08:52:48 -0600 6F3D2A6B-5FBA-0CD2-E053-0100007FF779 https://tj.durangoherald.com/samuelson-trumps-trade-myths-about-politics-not-economy/ Robert Samuelson, The Washington Postdu1-i-syn WASHINGTON – You cannot understand President Trump’s so-called “trade war” without acknowledging that it’s mostly about politics and not about economics. Trump has embarked on a giant marketing campaign to convince us that foreigners, and... Mon, 11 Jun 2018 17:04:24 -0600 6E612778-F614-6ECE-E053-0100007F5ABF https://tj.durangoherald.com/samuelson-the-threat-from-italys-economic-turmoil/ Samuelsondu1-i-syn WASHINGTON – If you’re nostalgic for the 2008-09 financial crisis, you can cheer up. Another debacle may be on its way. Its epicenter would be Italy, which may threaten the rest of the world economy. Under the worst-case assumptions,... Thu, 31 May 2018 18:03:52 -0600 6D83251C-79A6-46A3-E053-0100007F6DAF https://tj.durangoherald.com/our-new-capitalism-strikingly-resembles-the-old/ WASHINGTON – We flatter ourselves into thinking that we live in a time of exceptional economic upheaval. The truth is that the present resembles the past. What we learned – and forget – is that a dynamic economy is inherently... Mon, 21 May 2018 17:03:10 -0600 6CBFBDE3-EB1D-6EFB-E053-0100007FBDE2