The real middle-class squeeze
February 23, 2015
By Robert Samuelson Given the obsession with economic inequality, you might think it’s the main force squeezing the middle class. It isn’t. We have this not from some right-wing…
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Wow, ‘negative’ interest rates!
February 23, 2015
By Robert Samuelson To the long list of economic mysteries can now be added interest rates. They’ve been at rock bottom, as everyone knows. But now we’ve encountered something…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: headlines, op-ed
Wordsmithing war
February 23, 2015By Kathleen Parker Channel-surfing the nightly cable news, one is reminded that certitude is the enemy of sanity. On both Fox News and MSNBC, conversation has centered lately on…
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The riddle of war
February 23, 2015By Kathleen Parker There’s a very 2001 feel to President Obama’s request for authorization to use military force and the nauseating sense that we’ll be at war indefinitely. Although…
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We Need to Show Our Support for the Fort
February 19, 2015By Carl Blackstone There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about a potential 3,100 headcount reduction at Fort Jackson. You may be wondering why this important…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: headlines, op-ed
Wireless Consumers Don’t Deserve Double Dipping Landline Tax
February 16, 2015
By Douglas Kellogg, National Taxpayers Union Policy Manager In the Palmetto State, there’s a battle brewing that could force millions of residents to pay higher taxes. Traditional landline phone…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: government, headlines, op-ed, telecommunications
Light bulbs vs. the Internet
February 16, 2015
By Robert Samuelson We are not getting our money’s worth from “creative destruction.” For history buffs, the phrase will be familiar. Coined by Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) — one of…
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The great debt debate
February 16, 2015
By Robert Samuelson One of the legacies of the 2008-09 financial crisis is a world awash in debt — and this explains much of the confusion and acrimony of…
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Juicing the story
February 16, 2015By Kathleen Parker As soon as the news broke Tuesday evening, anyone near a TV, radio or computer heard that three Muslim students were murdered near the University of…
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Brian Williams’ six-mile stare
February 16, 2015By Kathleen Parker These are tough times for NBC’s Brian Williams — and tougher times for journalism. The NBC newsman was suspended Tuesday night for six months amid charges…
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The twisted priorities of a graying nation
February 9, 2015
By Robert Samuelson We are gutting government. It is an extreme irony of the Obama presidency that a proud liberal — someone who believes in government’s constructive role — is…
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Obama’s community-college gamble
February 9, 2015
By Robert Samuelson A presidential budget is more than an expression of policy. It’s also an exercise in political brand management. It aims to project the president and his administration…
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Seeking a vaccine for ignorance
February 9, 2015By Kathleen Parker Flashback: Galileo is under house arrest pondering the unyielding ignorance of The Church for refusing to consider his heliocentric proposition that the Earth circled the sun. We…
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What caused the housing bubble?
February 2, 2015By Robert Samuelson We are constantly learning new stuff about the housing bubble — and some of the new stuff contradicts the old. This is obviously important, because the…
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Austerity on trial
February 2, 2015By Robert Samuelson Is this the beginning of the end for austerity? The day after the Greek left-wing party Syriza impressively won the country’s latest election, the Financial Times…
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The sacrifice of Sarah Palin
February 2, 2015By Kathleen Parker When Democrats were looking for evidence of a Republican war on women, they overlooked Exhibit A — Sarah Palin. This isn’t to say that Palin was…
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The economy’s Achilles’ heel
January 27, 2015
By Robert Samuelson President Obama has declared the economic crisis over — and for the United States, maybe it seems that way. But most other countries, not so much. Their…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Reagan, Volcker & Krugman (Part 2)
January 27, 2015
By Robert Samuelson A week ago, I wrote a column taking issue with Paul Krugman’s contention that President Reagan had little to do with the decisive crushing of double-digit inflation of the early…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
The economy’s Achilles’ heel
January 26, 2015
By Robert Samuelson President Obama has declared the economic crisis over — and for the United States, maybe it seems that way. But most other countries, not so much. Their…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Reagan, Volcker & Krugman (Part 2)
January 26, 2015
By Robert Samuelson A week ago, I wrote a column taking issue with Paul Krugman’s contention that President Reagan had little to do with the decisive crushing of double-digit inflation of the early…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
The economy’s Achilles’ heel
January 25, 2015By Robert Samuelson President Obama has declared the economic crisis over — and for the United States, maybe it seems that way. But most other countries, not so much.…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: op-ed
Reagan, Volcker & Krugman (Part 2)
January 25, 2015By Robert Samuelson A week ago, I wrote a column taking issue with Paul Krugman’s contention that President Reagan had little to do with the decisive crushing of double-digit…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: headlines, op-ed
When the pope talks …
January 21, 2015By Kathleen Parker Forget E.F. Hutton. It’s P.F. (Pope Francis) these days who, when he talks, people listen. And then they get busy trying to figure out what he…
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Why wages lag
January 18, 2015
By Robert Samuelson The great wage mystery deepens. In economic recoveries, there usually comes a time when strong job gains lead to strong wage gains. Businesses must pay more…
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“Dynamic” deceptions
January 18, 2015
By Robert Samuelson The dustup over “dynamic scoring” is a small indicator of the routine irrelevancy of Washington’s budget debate. Instead of facing the real issues — how much…
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Hyping Obama’s Paris fail
January 18, 2015By Kathleen Parker If we can be serious for a moment: The president made an error in judgment by not sending someone with a higher profile than our ambassador…
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Volcker, Reagan & history
January 12, 2015
By Robert Samuelson It’s important to get history right — and economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has got it maddeningly wrong. Krugman recently wrote a column…
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Europe’s unending crisis
January 12, 2015
By Robert Samuelson The European economic crisis refuses to go gently into the night. As 2015 opens, Europe represents “the biggest economic threat” to the fragile global recovery, as…
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Is the economic slog really over?
January 12, 2015
By Robert Samuelson Hello, 2015. We now are in the sixth year of economic recovery since the end of the Great Recession in mid-2009, says the National Bureau of…
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Our bias, ourselves
January 12, 2015By Kathleen Parker Recent events from Ferguson, Missouri, to Staten Island, New York, might prompt an observer to infer that American cops are racist and that a bigoted white…
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The joke’s on us
January 4, 2015By Kathleen Parker . A writer seeking profound pronouncements for a year-end column is likely instead to find herself awash in punchlines. Life isn’t a comedy. It’s a joke. Hey,…
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2015: Five economic stories to watch
January 4, 2015
By Robert J. Samuelson The start of a new year is a good time to take stock. For those of us in the news business, this suggests stepping back and asking…
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Repairing the middle class in 2015
January 4, 2015
By Robert J. Samuelson What is curious about the present understandable preoccupation with the middle class is the assumption — both explicit and implicit — that the system is “rigged” (to…
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The best stats of 2014
December 29, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson This is the time when we make lists. The best movies of 2014. The best books. The funniest cartoons. The greatest photos. The most amazing sports…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: headlines, op-ed, uncategorized
Inglorious hackers
December 29, 2014By Kathleen Parker If I were a cartoonist, a phrase cartoonists are loath to hear, I’d sketch a chubby imp donned in a diaper, sporting a chia mohawk…
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Innovation in South Carolina. Are we at base camp yet?
December 22, 2014
By Alan Cooper (Based on my radio interview with Mike Switzer, December 22, 2014 ) Productivity and innovation drive prosperity. Five years ago, the Medical University of South Carolina…
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Sony’s ominous lesson
December 22, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson ”In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film ‘The Interview,’ we have decided not to move forward…
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Talk about a wildfire
December 22, 2014By Kathleen Parker First there’s the spark, then the conflagration, followed by the litigation and then, surely, the movie. Call it “Moonlight Fire,” and prepare to suspend disbelief. The…
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Health spending — under control?
December 15, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson Has the monster of exploding health costs finally been slain? After five years of slow spending growth, it’s tempting to think so. This would be…
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A statistical feast!
December 15, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson The Stat Abstract is dead. Long live the Stat Abstract. As regular readers of this column know, I’ve been a fanatical booster of the Statistical…
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The happiness curve
December 15, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson We all want to be happy, don’t we? Well, if you’re dissatisfied, frustrated or downright miserable, cheer up. There’s apparently a cure for you. Even…
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Can conservative women be feminists?
December 15, 2014By Kathleen Parker . It is probably too soon to declare a feminist reformation, but a few signs here and there give one hope. Hold it, sirs, don’t stop reading…
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Key facts about the great oil crash of 2014
December 7, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson The great oil bust of 2014 is something to behold. Since mid-June, crude prices have dropped roughly 40 percent, from $115 a barrel for the…
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Robert Samuelson: The key to stronger economic recoveries?
December 7, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson “The nation of which [Warren G.] Harding became president was not happy, and forces were underway which seemed likely, unless arrested, to bring more…
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The media circus around Ferguson
December 7, 2014By Kathleen Parker As the curtain closes on the latest episode of “Ferguson,” the media series, it is fair to wonder whether events might not have spiraled out of…
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Our giant welfare state
November 30, 2014
By Robert Samuelson We Americans pride ourselves on not having a “welfare state.” We’re not like Europeans. We’re more individualistic and self-reliant, and although we may have a “social…
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Climate realities in light of the U.S.-China agreement
November 30, 2014
By Robert Samuelson The United States-China agreement on climate change is a huge political triumph, possibly “historic,” as its supporters say. Whether it much alters the world’s climate is a more…
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From Bill Cosby to Ferguson, a reminder of our rule of law
November 30, 2014By Kathleen Parker By now, most Americans probably have formed an opinion about what comedian Bill Cosby did or didn’t do sexually to or with at least 16…
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Teresa Coles to Chair CreateAthon National Board of Directors
November 24, 2014
24-Hour Pro Bono Marathon Transitions Into Nonprofit Organization COLUMBIA, SC – CreateAthon, one of the marketing industry’s leading pro bono programs, announces that the organization’s founder, Teresa Coles of Riggs…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: marketing-and-communications, on-the-move, op-ed
The twilight of democratic capitalism?
November 19, 2014
By Robert Samuelson It must be obvious by now that we are experiencing something greater than the routine frustrations of the business cycle and the normal political discontents of…
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