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<title><![CDATA[washingtonpost.com - Robert Samuelson Archive  ]]></title>
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<title><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson on our health-care nation]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/06/AR2009120602382.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
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<pubDate>Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ President Obama's critics sometimes say that he is engineering a government takeover of health care or even introducing "socialized medicine" into America. These allegations are wildly overblown. Government already dominates health care, one-sixth of the economy. It pays directly or indirectly for roughly half of all health costs. Medicine is pervasively regulated, from drug approvals to nursing-home rules. There is no "free market" in health care. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Robert]]></category><category><![CDATA[J.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Samuelson]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[our]]></category><category><![CDATA[health-care]]></category><category><![CDATA[nation]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Job creation made hard]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/02/AR2009120203400.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
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<pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ You have to be mighty isolated not to know someone who has been laid off, was forced into early retirement or -- just entering the labor market -- can't find a job. Unemployment of 10.2 percent is still below the post-World War II peak of 10.8 percent of late 1982, but by other measures, the job situation is the worst since the Great Depression. More than a third of the unemployed have been without work longer than six months, a postwar record. Counting those who involuntarily have only part-time work and those who would like a job but have stopped looking, the "underemployment" rate is 17.5 percent, another postwar peak. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Job]]></category><category><![CDATA[creation]]></category><category><![CDATA[made]]></category><category><![CDATA[hard]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson: Proposed Fed reforms worse than useless]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/29/AR2009112902012.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/29/AR2009112902012.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Ever since its creation in 1913, the Federal Reserve has grappled with a daunting political contradiction. The Fed is charged with preventing the collapse of the banking and financial system, whose health is essential for the "real economy" of production and jobs. But financial bailouts usually occur when mistakes or misdeeds by bankers and investment professionals make them public pariahs. To do its job, then, the Fed protects -- or seems to protect -- an unpopular, disgraced and undeserving group. We are now witnessing this contradiction in full bloom. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Robert]]></category><category><![CDATA[J.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Samuelson:]]></category><category><![CDATA[Proposed]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fed]]></category><category><![CDATA[reforms]]></category><category><![CDATA[worse]]></category><category><![CDATA[than]]></category><category><![CDATA[useless]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson on the health bill's burdens for the young]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/22/AR2009112201237.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/22/AR2009112201237.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ One of our long-running political stories is the economic assault on the young by the old. We have become a society that invests in its past and disfavors the future. This makes no sense for the nation, but as politics it makes complete sense. The elderly and near elderly are better organized, focus obsessively on their government benefits and seem deserving. Grandmas and Grandpas command sympathy.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115142946" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115142946" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Robert]]></category><category><![CDATA[J.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Samuelson]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[health]]></category><category><![CDATA[bill's]]></category><category><![CDATA[burdens]]></category><category><![CDATA[for]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[young]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson on health cost control]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111502212.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111502212.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ There is an air of absurdity to what is mistakenly called "health-care reform." Everyone knows that the United States faces massive governmental budget deficits as far as calculators can project, driven heavily by an aging population and uncontrolled health costs. As we recover slowly from a devastating recession, it's widely agreed that, though deficits should not be cut abruptly (lest the economy resume its slump), a prudent society would embark on long-term policies to control health costs, reduce government spending and curb massive future deficits. The administration estimates these at $9 trillion from 2010 to 2019. The president and all his top economic advisers proclaim the same cautionary message. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Robert]]></category><category><![CDATA[J.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Samuelson]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[health]]></category><category><![CDATA[cost]]></category><category><![CDATA[control]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson on whether the world is facing its next big bubble]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/08/AR2009110817806.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
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<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ When Nouriel Roubini talks, the world listens. Roubini is, of course, the once-obscure New York University economist whose dire warnings about a financial crisis proved depressingly prophetic. Last week, Roubini was shouting. Writing in the Financial Times, he warned that the Federal Reserve and other government central banks are fueling a massive new asset "bubble" that -- while not in imminent danger of bursting -- will someday do so with calamitous consequences. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Robert]]></category><category><![CDATA[J.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Samuelson]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[whether]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[world]]></category><category><![CDATA[is]]></category><category><![CDATA[facing]]></category><category><![CDATA[its]]></category><category><![CDATA[next]]></category><category><![CDATA[big]]></category><category><![CDATA[bubble]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson on whether America could go broke]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/01/AR2009110101704.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/01/AR2009110101704.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The idea that the government of a major advanced country would default on its debt -- that is, tell lenders that it won't repay them all they're owed -- was, until recently, a preposterous proposition. Argentina and Russia have stiffed their creditors, but surely the likes of the United States, Japan or Britain wouldn't. Well, it's still a very, very long shot, but it's no longer entirely unimaginable. Governments of rich countries are borrowing so much that it's conceivable that one day the twin assumptions underlying their burgeoning debt (that lenders will continue to lend and that governments will continue to pay) might collapse. What happens then? ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Robert]]></category><category><![CDATA[J.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Samuelson]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[whether]]></category><category><![CDATA[America]]></category><category><![CDATA[could]]></category><category><![CDATA[go]]></category><category><![CDATA[broke]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Samuelson on the fake debate on the public health plan]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/25/AR2009102502041.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/25/AR2009102502041.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ In the health-care debate, the "public plan" is all things to all people. For supporters, it would discipline greedy private insurers and make health-care coverage affordable. For detractors, it's a way station on the path to a single-payer insurance system of government-run health care. In reality, the public plan, also known as the public option, is mostly an exercise in political avoidance: It pretends to control costs and improve access to quality care when it doesn't.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115150246" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115150246" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Samuelson]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[fake]]></category><category><![CDATA[debate]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[public]]></category><category><![CDATA[health]]></category><category><![CDATA[plan]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[What to do about job creation]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/18/AR2009101801462.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/18/AR2009101801462.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ What can government do to crank up America's creaky job machine? We'll be arguing ferociously about that in coming months, and the answer, frankly, isn't clear. Die-hard Keynesians insist that only more government spending and tax cuts will accelerate job growth. But many other economists fear that exploding federal debt -- incurred partly to pay for more spending and tax cuts -- could trigger a new crisis that would destroy jobs. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[What]]></category><category><![CDATA[to]]></category><category><![CDATA[do]]></category><category><![CDATA[about]]></category><category><![CDATA[job]]></category><category><![CDATA[creation]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Cutting Health Costs Is Key to Better Future]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/11/AR2009101101590.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/11/AR2009101101590.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Every generation of Americans should live better than its predecessor. That's Americans' core definition of economic "progress." ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Cutting]]></category><category><![CDATA[Health]]></category><category><![CDATA[Costs]]></category><category><![CDATA[Is]]></category><category><![CDATA[Key]]></category><category><![CDATA[to]]></category><category><![CDATA[Better]]></category><category><![CDATA[Future]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Government Action at Least Stemmed Panic]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/04/AR2009100401741.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/04/AR2009100401741.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ How close did we come to the Great Depression 2.0? That question will spawn a cottage industry of books, studies and conferences. But Christina Romer, the head of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, already has an answer: pretty darn close. Her conclusion deserves attention because Romer, in her previous academic career, was a scholar of the Great Depression. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category><category><![CDATA[Action]]></category><category><![CDATA[at]]></category><category><![CDATA[Least]]></category><category><![CDATA[Stemmed]]></category><category><![CDATA[Panic]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[U.S. Tire Tariff On China: Bad Policy, Right Message]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/20/AR2009092001299.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/20/AR2009092001299.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ For years, American presidents have faced a China conundrum: How to deal with a country that practices predatory trade without unleashing global protectionism? President Obama's recent decision to slap high tariffs on Chinese tire imports for three years, starting at 35 percent and dropping to 25 percent in the final year, reflects the dilemma. To do nothing about China's trade policies is to encourage more of the same. But to attack them too aggressively might undermine U.S.-China cooperation on other issues (from North Korea to financial regulation) and risk a wider trade war.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115156083" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115156083" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tire]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tariff]]></category><category><![CDATA[On]]></category><category><![CDATA[China:]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bad]]></category><category><![CDATA[Policy,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Right]]></category><category><![CDATA[Message]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[The Health Care Debate's Missing Candor]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/13/AR2009091302250.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/13/AR2009091302250.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ We cannot, it seems, have a candid national conversation on health care. President Obama's speech the other night was a brilliant performance, and it may improve prospects for congressional passage of his "reform." But no possible plan will fix the "health care problem" for all time. When Obama says that "I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," he is indulging his ambition for a special place in history and illustrating why Americans don't discuss health care honestly. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Health]]></category><category><![CDATA[Care]]></category><category><![CDATA[Debate's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Missing]]></category><category><![CDATA[Candor]]></category>
<media:content url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/09/13/PH2009091302503.jpg" type="image/jpeg" height="80" width="72"/>
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<title><![CDATA[Job Growth is Critical Issue for Recovery]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/06/AR2009090601187.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/06/AR2009090601187.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The first Labor Day, held in New York City in 1882, was less a celebration of the dignity of work than a demonstration in favor of the eight-hour day, down from the prevailing 10 to 12 hours. Compared with then, American workers have come a long way. Congress made Labor Day a national holiday in 1894, and over the years it evolved into a day off rather than a moment to reflect on the state of labor, broadly defined and extending beyond unions. Well, not this year. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Job]]></category><category><![CDATA[Growth]]></category><category><![CDATA[is]]></category><category><![CDATA[Critical]]></category><category><![CDATA[Issue]]></category><category><![CDATA[for]]></category><category><![CDATA[Recovery]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Politicians Duck Hard Choices on Deficit]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/30/AR2009083002255.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/30/AR2009083002255.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The problem of the burgeoning government debt is mainly political, but the adverse consequences may be economic. The trouble is that we don't know what those consequences may be, when they may occur or even whether they will occur. Without some impending calamity, politicians of both parties recoil from doing anything unpopular that might bring the budget into balance over, say, the next six or seven years. The idea of anticipating and preempting future problems is not on their agenda. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Politicians]]></category><category><![CDATA[Duck]]></category><category><![CDATA[Hard]]></category><category><![CDATA[Choices]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[Deficit]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Ben Bernanke: The Man Who Saved the World]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/25/AR2009082501829.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/25/AR2009082501829.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ It would have been insane (not to be too subtle) for President Obama not to nominate Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. The economics dictated it; the politics dictated it.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115203486" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115203486" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Ben]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bernanke:]]></category><category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Man]]></category><category><![CDATA[Who]]></category><category><![CDATA[Saved]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[High-Speed Rail Plans Defy Experience]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/23/AR2009082302037.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/23/AR2009082302037.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The Obama administration's enthusiasm for high-speed rail is a dispiriting example of government's inability to learn from past mistakes. Since 1971, the federal government has poured almost $35 billion in subsidies into Amtrak with few public benefits. At most, we've gotten negligible reductions -- invisible and statistically insignificant -- in congestion, oil use or greenhouse gases. What's mainly being provided is subsidized transportation for a small sliver of the population. In a country where 140 million people go to work every day, Amtrak has 78,000 daily passengers. A typical trip is subsidized by about $50. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[High-Speed]]></category><category><![CDATA[Rail]]></category><category><![CDATA[Plans]]></category><category><![CDATA[Defy]]></category><category><![CDATA[Experience]]></category>
<media:content url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/08/23/PH2009082302360.jpg" type="image/jpeg" height="80" width="72"/>
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<title><![CDATA[Will U.S. Recovery Go Global?]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081601759.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081601759.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Before we get too giddy about any U.S. economic "recovery," we should remember that the preceding economic collapse was global. No recovery can succeed unless it, too, is global. Will that happen? The world can no longer rely for growth on free-spending Americans, who are overburdened by debt and sobered by trillions of dollars of losses on homes and stocks. Without a substitute for American buying, any global revival will be feeble, because the United States needs export-led growth and other countries must somehow offset their lost sales to our market. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Will]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Recovery]]></category><category><![CDATA[Go]]></category><category><![CDATA[Global?]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Obama's Health Care Plan Just Expands Status Quo]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/09/AR2009080902090.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/09/AR2009080902090.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ "The status quo is unsustainable for families, businesses and government." -- President Obama, June 13 ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Obama's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Health]]></category><category><![CDATA[Care]]></category><category><![CDATA[Plan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Just]]></category><category><![CDATA[Expands]]></category><category><![CDATA[Status]]></category><category><![CDATA[Quo]]></category>
<media:content url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/08/09/PH2009080902135.jpg" type="image/jpeg" height="80" width="72"/>
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<title><![CDATA[California's Budget Crisis Reflects National Economic Reckoning]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080201253.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080201253.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ California's budget debacle holds a lesson for America, but one we will probably ignore. It's easy to attribute the state's protracted budget stalemate, now temporarily resolved with about $26 billion of spending cuts and accounting gimmicks, to the deep recession and California's peculiar politics. Up to a point, that's true. Representing an eighth of the U.S. economy, California has been harder hit than most states. Unemployment, now 11.6 percent (national average: 9.5 percent), could top 13 percent in 2010, says economist Eduardo Martinez of Moody's Economy.com. Meanwhile, the requirement that any tax increase muster a two-thirds vote in the legislature promotes paralysis. Democrats prefer tax hikes to spending cuts, and Republicans can block higher taxes.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115214340" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115214340" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[California's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Budget]]></category><category><![CDATA[Crisis]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reflects]]></category><category><![CDATA[National]]></category><category><![CDATA[Economic]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reckoning]]></category>
<media:content url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/08/02/PH2009080201677.jpg" type="image/jpeg" height="80" width="72"/>
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<title><![CDATA[Obama Reform Sidesteps Health Costs]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/26/AR2009072602188.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/26/AR2009072602188.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The most misused word in the health care debate is "reform." Everyone wants "reform," but what constitutes "reform" is another matter. If you listen to President Obama, his "reform" will satisfy almost everyone. It will insure the uninsured, control runaway health spending, subdue future budget deficits, preserve choice for patients and improve quality of care. These claims are self-serving exaggerations and political fantasies. They have destroyed what should be a serious national discussion of health care. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reform]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sidesteps]]></category><category><![CDATA[Health]]></category><category><![CDATA[Costs]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[President Obama, Democratic Congress's Squandered Stimulus]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/19/AR2009071901762.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/19/AR2009071901762.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ It's not surprising that the much-ballyhooed "economic stimulus" hasn't done much stimulating. President Obama and his aides argue that it's too early to expect startling results. They have a point. A $14 trillion economy won't revive in a nanosecond. But the defects of the $787 billion package go deeper and won't be cured by time. The program crafted by Obama and the Democratic Congress wasn't engineered to maximize its economic impact. It was mostly a political exercise, designed to claim credit for any recovery, shower benefits on favored constituencies and signal support for fashionable causes. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[President]]></category><category><![CDATA[Obama,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Democratic]]></category><category><![CDATA[Congress's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Squandered]]></category><category><![CDATA[Stimulus]]></category>
<media:content url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/07/19/PH2009071901767.jpg" type="image/jpeg" height="80" width="72"/>
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<title><![CDATA[The Consequences of Big Government]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/12/AR2009071201533.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/12/AR2009071201533.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The question that President Obama ought to be asking -- that we all should be asking -- is this: How big a government do we want? Without anyone much noticing, our national government is on the verge of a permanent expansion that would endure long after the present economic crisis has (presumably) passed and that would exceed anything ever experienced in peacetime. This expansion may not be good for us, but we are not contemplating the adverse consequences or how we might minimize them. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Consequences]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[Big]]></category><category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Economists Focused on Theory Slighted Reality]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/05/AR2009070501587.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/05/AR2009070501587.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Niall Ferguson is one of those rare characters: a respected scholar who's also a successful popularizer. Ferguson, a Brit, has taught at Oxford and New York University and is now at Harvard. He has written about World War I, the British Empire and the Rothschilds (Europe's most powerful banking family). He has turned four of his projects into TV documentaries, the latest of which -- "The Ascent of Money," also a book -- begins airing on PBS on Wednesday. It is a program that could be usefully viewed by most of America's roughly 13,000 economists.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115223100" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115223100" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Economists]]></category><category><![CDATA[Focused]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[Theory]]></category><category><![CDATA[Slighted]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reality]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Finance Reforms Won't Prevent Crises]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/28/AR2009062802286.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/28/AR2009062802286.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Since its earliest days, the United States has suffered periodic financial crises. The first dates to 1792. In the 19th century, bank panics occurred regularly. Then, of course, came the great stock market crash of 1929 and the failure of two-fifths of the nation's banks in the Great Depression. Now we're in the midst of another crisis. It would be reassuring to think that the Obama administration's financial "reforms" -- or, indeed, any conceivable alternative -- would prevent these collapses for all time. Dream on. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Finance]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reforms]]></category><category><![CDATA[Won't]]></category><category><![CDATA[Prevent]]></category><category><![CDATA[Crises]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Both Corporate, Public Welfare Are Endangered]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/21/AR2009062101792.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/21/AR2009062101792.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Raised in an individualistic culture, Americans dislike the concept of the "welfare state" and do not use the term. But make no mistake, the United States has a welfare state, and its future is precarious. The true significance of General Motors' bankruptcy lies more with this welfare state than with the battered condition of American capitalism. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Both]]></category><category><![CDATA[Corporate,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Public]]></category><category><![CDATA[Welfare]]></category><category><![CDATA[Are]]></category><category><![CDATA[Endangered]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Wrong Way on Health 'Reform']]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061402444.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061402444.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ It's hard to know whether President Obama's health-care "reform" is naive, hypocritical or simply dishonest. Probably all three. The president keeps saying it's imperative to control runaway health spending. He's right. The trouble is that what's being promoted as health-care "reform" almost certainly won't suppress spending and, quite probably, will do the opposite. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Wrong]]></category><category><![CDATA[Way]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[Health]]></category><category><![CDATA['Reform']]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Deflation or Inflation?]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/07/AR2009060702098.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/07/AR2009060702098.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ To make sense of today's most perplexing economic debate -- whether we're flirting with inflation or deflation -- it's worth recalling what happened after World War II. Under intense political pressure, President Harry Truman lifted wage-price controls. All heck broke loose. Suppressed during the war, wages and prices exploded. Autoworkers, steelworkers and others went on strike for higher pay. In 1946 and 1947, consumer prices rose 8.5 and 14.4 percent, respectively.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115230495" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115230495" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Deflation]]></category><category><![CDATA[or]]></category><category><![CDATA[Inflation?]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[The Media's Infatuation With President Obama]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/31/AR2009053102079.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/31/AR2009053102079.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The Obama infatuation is a great unreported story of our time. Has any recent president basked in so much favorable media coverage? Well, maybe John Kennedy for a moment, but no president since. On the whole, this is not healthy for America. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Media's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Infatuation]]></category><category><![CDATA[With]]></category><category><![CDATA[President]]></category><category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[The Medicare, Social Security Bankruptcies We Need]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/24/AR2009052401979.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/24/AR2009052401979.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ When the trustees of Social Security and Medicare recently reported on the economic status of these programs, the news coverage was universally glum. The recession had made everything worse. "Social Security, Medicare Face Insolvency Sooner," headlined the Wall Street Journal. Actually, these reports were good news. Better would have been: "Social Security, Medicare Risk Bankruptcy in 2010." ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Medicare,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Social]]></category><category><![CDATA[Security]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bankruptcies]]></category><category><![CDATA[We]]></category><category><![CDATA[Need]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Obama's Dangerous Debt]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051701728.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051701728.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Just how much government debt does a president have to endorse before he's labeled "irresponsible"? Well, apparently much more than the massive amounts envisioned by President Obama. The final version of his 2010 budget, released last week, is a case study in political expediency and economic gambling. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Obama's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Dangerous]]></category><category><![CDATA[Debt]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[The Great Tax Dodge Demystified]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/10/AR2009051001961.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/10/AR2009051001961.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The U.S. tax code is "full of corporate loopholes that makes it perfectly legal for companies to avoid paying their fair share."<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115241180" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=506115241180" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Great]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tax]]></category><category><![CDATA[Dodge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Demystified]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[The Obama Administration's Bias Against Oil and Natural Gas]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/03/AR2009050301849.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/03/AR2009050301849.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Considering the brutal recession, you'd expect the Obama administration to be obsessed with creating jobs. And so it is, say the president and his supporters. The trouble is that there's one glaring exception to their claims: the oil and natural gas industries. The administration is biased against them -- a bias that makes no sense on either economic or energy grounds. Almost everyone loves to hate the world's Exxons, but promoting domestic drilling is simply common sense. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category><category><![CDATA[Administration's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bias]]></category><category><![CDATA[Against]]></category><category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category><category><![CDATA[and]]></category><category><![CDATA[Natural]]></category><category><![CDATA[Gas]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[Selling the Green Economy]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/26/AR2009042601515.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/26/AR2009042601515.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Few things are more appealing in politics than something for nothing. As Congress begins considering anti-global-warming legislation, environmentalists hold out precisely that tantalizing prospect: We can conquer global warming at virtually no cost. Here's a typical claim, from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[Selling]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Green]]></category><category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
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<title><![CDATA[The Financial Crisis and the Great Depression]]></title>
<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/19/AR2009041901996.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/19/AR2009041901996.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The Great Depression of the 1930s was the most momentous economic event of the 20th century. It was a proximate cause of World War II, having fed the Nazis' rise in Germany. It inspired a new American welfare system as a response to mass misery. Everywhere, it discredited unsupervised capitalism. Given today's economic crisis, our renewed fascination with the Depression is natural. But we ought not stretch the parallels too far. ]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert J. Samuelson]]></dc:creator>
<category domain="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinion/index.html">Opinions</category>
<category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Financial]]></category><category><![CDATA[Crisis]]></category><category><![CDATA[and]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Great]]></category><category><![CDATA[Depression]]></category>
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