Robert Samuelson https://www.durangoherald.com/section/robert-samuelson/feed/ Stay informed with the latest breaking news, local stories, sports, business, weather, and community events from Durango, Southwest Colorado, and the Four Corners region. Fri, 10 Jul 2026 18:52:07 -0600 en-us 30 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/robert-samuelson-the-time-has-come-to-impeach-and-remove-trump/ Imagine, if you will, the consequences if Trump had embraced this pivotal distinction. He need not have jettisoned many of his policy preferences. He could have still favored lower taxes, fewer regulations, tighter immigration controls, tougher trade policies against China... Mon, 28 Oct 2019 05:33:25 -0600 95AC7C90-91B2-54DB-E053-0100007FBC3F https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/fed-shouldnt-pick-a-fight-with-president-trump/ Dudley was head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and vice chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee from 2009 to 2018. He made his proposal in two columns for Bloomberg Opinion. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell had no knowledge... Tue, 10 Sep 2019 05:33:07 -0600 91E50606-B5B4-5931-E053-0100007F067D https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/on-economy-leadership-conspicuous-by-its-absence/ There are parallels between the present tumultuous situation and past episodes of economic disruption, including the Great Depression of the 1930s. Just for the record: This is not a forecast of another Depression, when annual U.S. unemployment peaked at about... Wed, 21 Aug 2019 05:33:06 -0600 9080F636-6F99-1A5F-E053-0100007FF5B4 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/who-will-be-the-fall-guys-for-the-next-recession/ It also encompassed last week’s most important political news, notwithstanding all the public attention understandably focused on the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. There is growing evidence of a possible recession. If one materializes, President Trump could lose... Fri, 16 Aug 2019 05:33:17 -0600 90173043-EDB8-5A04-E053-0100007F16D1 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/on-china-and-trade-trumps-reputation-sinks/ What triggered the latest confrontation was Trump’s recent decision to slap a 10% tariff on roughly $300 billion of Chinese exports to the United States; earlier moves imposed a 25% tariff on $250 billion of Chinese exports. Trump’s actions reflected... Tue, 13 Aug 2019 05:33:06 -0600 8FDCBD9D-199A-28AE-E053-0100007F6F6B https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/we-already-have-a-welfare-state-so-whats-next/ The battle lines are clearly drawn. Democrats deplore rising inequality. They see a revitalized welfare state – with universal health coverage and more college subsidies – as making the system fairer. By contrast, President Trump favors more tax cuts, which,... Mon, 05 Aug 2019 11:33:16 -0600 8F12CFBA-8083-46BA-E053-0100007F49C0 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/heres-how-the-internets-tentacles-grabbed-me/ 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, shop – and what we love and fear.... Thu, 25 Jul 2019 11:33:06 -0600 8E5AE326-15F2-1D92-E053-0100007F8A76 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/is-vladimir-putin-right-that-liberalism-is-obsolete/ He yearns, it seems, to be seen as a leading political thinker, respected for his analysis as well as feared for his actions. This is a reasonable reading of Putin’s recent interview with the Financial Times, which included his remarkable... Sat, 13 Jul 2019 11:33:06 -0600 8D6A1456-7FB1-42DB-E053-0100007FA67F https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/dem-candidates-more-like-students-than-leaders/ All seemed articulate and intelligent. All had a good grasp of the classroom material – in this case, the programs they were advocating or opposing. All were palpably ambitious, eager to show that they were better suited than their rivals,... Sat, 06 Jul 2019 05:33:14 -0600 8CCA124C-00D2-5AFA-E053-0100007F06B1 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/trumps-mexico-tariffs-would-be-risky-and-nasty/ For anyone who missed Trump’s announcement, here’s a summary. The president said he would impose a 5% tariff on all imports from Mexico ($372 billion in 2018) unless it halted illegal immigration by June 10. It would add another 5%... Mon, 10 Jun 2019 05:33:28 -0600 8ABFE3AA-35F4-27CF-E053-0100007F7449 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/the-brave-and-scary-new-world-of-trading-blocs/ Since World War II, the international trading system has operated on the premise of “most favored nation (MFN),” meaning concessions granted to one country must be extended to all others in the system. The standoff between the U.S. and China... Thu, 06 Jun 2019 05:30:00 -0600 8A95F2A5-877C-2D97-E053-0100007FE162 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/many-economists-often-dont-know-whats-going-on/ We see this all the time. Just recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy had created 263,000 payroll jobs in April. This was almost 40% more than the 190,000 that economists had previously predicted. Something new and... Wed, 15 May 2019 05:33:14 -0600 88B6257B-5E12-0445-E053-0100007F3943 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/candidates-ignore-cost-of-an-aging-population/ The two programs alone constituted 45 percent of the non-interest federal budget in 2018, a share that the trustees say is being driven up by the continuing retirement of baby boomers and the high cost of health care. The trustees... Wed, 01 May 2019 05:33:15 -0600 87ADA5DE-8FE9-637A-E053-0100007F9B9F https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/what-caused-the-financial-crisis-our-success/ Theories abound. Liberals blame Wall Street greed and lax government oversight. The conservatives’ villain is the government’s aggressive promotion of homeownership, which flooded the economy with bad mortgages. Although these ideological explanations have some merit, the real story is more... Fri, 19 Apr 2019 05:33:06 -0600 86BD12A9-1A56-099D-E053-0100007F2527 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/federal-control-of-education-has-failed-next/ Faith in education is one of the nation’s bedrock values. Better schools would (we think) narrow economic inequalities and help people reach their personal potential. Promises to revitalize schools are inevitable. There’s a magical quality to them. Be skeptical. Already,... Sun, 14 Apr 2019 05:33:07 -0600 862F579E-56E3-5756-E053-0100007F862E https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/democrats-media-to-blame-for-ignoring-dreamers/ As you will recall, the Dreamers are illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as young children. Most have grown up as Americans; sending them back to a country where they barely lived seems a particularly heartless punishment... Tue, 26 Feb 2019 10:19:25 -0700 82CEAB09-E401-614E-E053-0100007F2E7F https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/great-recession-worse-than-great-depression/ 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 the University of California, Berkeley.... Fri, 30 Nov 2018 09:03:07 -0700 7BBD2C9E-56A2-42F3-E053-0100007FDC6E https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/its-no-longer-the-economy-stupid-so-what-is-it/ This is unfamiliar. Economic progress has been a routine part of our election narratives. The presumption is that a strong economy favors the incumbent party; a weak economy doesn’t. We believe prosperity encourages loyalty to the larger promise of America.... Tue, 13 Nov 2018 10:12:07 -0700 7A8FE7C3-54B5-2810-E053-0100007FB3F9 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/ducking-hard-questions-we-all-lost-the-elections/ They were a referendum on President Donald Trump, which suited both Republicans and Democrats just fine. Democrats were betting that the public had increasingly tired of Trump’s lies and his vile style. Trump and his supporters believed that Democrats were... Tue, 06 Nov 2018 11:07:37 -0700 7A03DE51-3F26-7B73-E053-0100007F876B https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/solving-climate-change-may-well-be-impossible/ Unless we make dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane and others), warns the IPCC, we face a future of rapidly rising temperatures that will destroy virtually all the world’s coral reefs, intensify droughts and raise sea levels.... Tue, 16 Oct 2018 09:03:14 -0600 784A264E-4EC1-2BD1-E053-0100007F0B8C https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/will-the-next-financial-crisis-come-as-a-stranger/ A decade after the onset of the 2008-09 global financial crisis – an event usually dated to the bankruptcy of Lehman Bros. – the world economy seems to be repairing itself. To be sure, worries remain. The latest is that... Fri, 07 Sep 2018 16:03:09 -0600 754D18EF-4694-0B5F-E053-0100007F9178 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/samuelson-could-lehman-brothers-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 markets into a full-blown panic.... Mon, 27 Aug 2018 00:44:27 -0600 746606F1-845B-49F4-E053-0100007F131E https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/samuelson-welcome-to-the-age-of-malware/ Samuelson, Washington Postdu1-i-syn 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 our time. Just last week, Apple attained a stock market value... Wed, 08 Aug 2018 23:39:44 -0600 72FB0898-41BF-79FB-E053-0100007FD541 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/samuelson-productivity-boom-think-again/ du1-i-syn To answer that question, the Senate appointed a commission, headed by Stanford economist Michael Boskin, to weigh the evidence. In late 1996, the Boskin Commission, as it was known, released its findings: Inflation – defined as increases in the... Thu, 02 Aug 2018 09:47:04 -0600 7276A1F4-206A-634B-E053-0100007F6081 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/trade-wars-and-the-247-trillion-global-debt-bomb/ du1-i-syn Households, businesses and governments borrow on the assumption that they will service their debts either by paying the principle and interest or by rolling over the debts into new loans. But this works only if incomes grow fast enough... Sat, 14 Jul 2018 04:52:10 -0600 70F44878-9E38-4DE5-E053-0100007F3305 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/samuelson-neo-isolationist-policies-wont-work-in-this-era/ du1-i-syn Keep this in mind on the Fourth. Let us assume – for the sake of argument – that Trump is everything that he isn’t: thoughtful, considerate, open-minded, kind, generous, civil, truthful and respectful of his adversaries. Let us further... Tue, 03 Jul 2018 23:39:25 -0600 702670DF-57B6-5527-E053-0100007F11D1 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/current-crisis-in-italy-threatens-global-economy/ Under the worst-case assumptions, Italy could abandon the euro – the single currency now used by 19 countries – and experience a full-blown financial meltdown that would end in a deep recession. Other countries might well be caught in the... Sat, 02 Jun 2018 05:05:53 -0600 6DA2028A-EFC9-24C8-E053-0100007FD997 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/our-new-capitalism-strikingly-resembles-the-old/ That has been true for most of our history. To be sure, economic change now abounds: The internet; vast U.S. budget deficits; high private and public debt levels in both affluent and developing nations; the rise of China; growing income... Sat, 19 May 2018 05:04:41 -0600 6C7F5169-6484-2BFE-E053-0100007FECA4 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/samuelson-children-versus-grandparents/ The struggle will intensify. We all know – or should – that the United States is an aging society (the 65-and over population was 12 percent of the total in 2000 and is projected to be 20 percent in 2040).... Tue, 10 Apr 2018 05:03:28 -0600 696E3650-B31B-5313-E053-0100007F0848 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/samuelson-why-fossil-fuels-survive/ Robert Samuelsondu1-i-syn It’s true that the Trump administration has withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement, making any transition harder. But the problems transcend President Trump’s disengagement, as a new study from the oil giant BP makes clear (https://tinyurl.com/yc9ytyv4). Reading it,... Mon, 05 Mar 2018 05:03:13 -0700 667C3A26-719F-5C14-E053-0100007F4C63