An eye on the Baltic states?
September 8, 2014
By George F. Will The Islamic State is a nasty problem that can be remedied if its neighbors, assisted by the United States, decide to do so. Vladimir Putin’s fascist revival is…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
America’s neglected defense
September 8, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson You might have thought that the lesson would be obvious. In the past year, we’ve had an elementary tutorial in the uses of raw military power:…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
The coming investment boom?
September 8, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson Suppose we could design the next phase of the economic recovery. What would it look like? Here’s one pleasing vision: Business investment in plants and…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Paul Ryan rethinks the ‘makers’ and ‘takers’ idea
September 1, 2014
By George F. Will To take the measure of this uncommonly interesting public man, begin with two related facts about him. Paul Ryan has at least 67 cousins in his Wisconsin…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Navy with a mission in mind
September 1, 2014
By George F. Will Russia’s ongoing dismemberment of Ukraine and the Islamic State’s erasing of Middle Eastern borders have distracted attention from theharassment of U.S. Navy aircraft by Chinese fighter jets over the South…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Workers are at the mercy of markets
September 1, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson The questions hanging over Labor Day 2014 are whether and when the United States gets a pay raise. Ever since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the job…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
George F. Will: Is the Criminal Justice Act of 1964 a failure?
August 25, 2014
By George F. Will What is called “the” 1964 Civil Rights Act is justly celebrated for outlawing racial and other discrimination in employment, “public accommodations” and elsewhere. But that…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
From cupcakes to the police, fed up with government
August 25, 2014
By George F. Will In physics, a unified field theory is an attempt to explain with a single hypothesis the behavior of several fields. Its political corollary is the Cupcake Postulate,…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Do Dems run the economy better? Nope.
August 25, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson It’s a Democratic campaign consultant’s dream: a study from two respected academic economists concluding that, since the late 1940s, the economy has consistently performed better under Democratic…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Global prosperity is no panacea
August 20, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson What we are witnessing in the spreading turmoil around the world — in Iraq, in Ukraine, in Gaza — is the silent rejection of a central…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
In a stew over inversions
August 18, 2014
By George F. Will Barack Obama, presiding over an unusually dismal post-recession economy, might make matters worse with a distracting crusade against the minor and sensible business practice called…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
In a stew over inversions
August 18, 2014
By George F. Will Barack Obama, presiding over an unusually dismal post-recession economy, might make matters worse with a distracting crusade against the minor and sensible business practice called…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Global prosperity is no panacea in the post-euphoric world
August 18, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson What we are witnessing in the spreading turmoil around the world — in Iraq, in Ukraine, in Gaza — is the silent rejection of…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Global prosperity is no panacea in the post-euphoric world
August 18, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson What we are witnessing in the spreading turmoil around the world — in Iraq, in Ukraine, in Gaza — is the silent rejection of a…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Use of force against Islamic State could create a new void Into a new void?
August 14, 2014
By George F. Will Sailors guide an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Valions of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 15 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Use of force against Islamic State could create a new void Into a new void?
August 14, 2014
By George F. Will Sailors guide an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Valions of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 15 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Where have all the entrepreneurs gone (continued)?
August 14, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson U.S. businesses are aging, I wrote last week, and a sharp decline in start-up companies is a big reason. As the share of young firms shrinks,…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Where have all the entrepreneurs gone (continued)?
August 14, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson U.S. businesses are aging, I wrote last week, and a sharp decline in start-up companies is a big reason. As the share of young firms shrinks,…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Interest rates and the Fed’s great ‘slack’ debate
August 14, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson Call it the great “slack” debate. For nearly six years, the Federal Reserve has held short-term interest rates near zero to boost the economy. Is…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Interest rates and the Fed’s great ‘slack’ debate
August 14, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson Call it the great “slack” debate. For nearly six years, the Federal Reserve has held short-term interest rates near zero to boost the economy. Is…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Nature’s terror weapon
August 9, 2014
By George F. Will Although the Ebola virus might remain mostly confined to West Africa, it has infected the Western imagination. This eruption of uncontrolled nature into what developed…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Nature’s terror weapon
August 9, 2014
By George F. Will Although the Ebola virus might remain mostly confined to West Africa, it has infected the Western imagination. This eruption of uncontrolled nature into what developed…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Where have all the entrepreneurs gone?
August 9, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson We may have a “senile economy,” says economist Robert Litan of the Brookings Institution. That’s senile as in old, rigid and undynamic. We are taught…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Where have all the entrepreneurs gone?
August 9, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson We may have a “senile economy,” says economist Robert Litan of the Brookings Institution. That’s senile as in old, rigid and undynamic. We are taught…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
The (millennial) parent trap
August 4, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson You could hear the tension in his voice. His 20-something daughter was living at home. She had a graduate degree from a good university that,…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
The (millennial) parent trap
August 4, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson You could hear the tension in his voice. His 20-something daughter was living at home. She had a graduate degree from a good university that,…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
The future of think tanks
July 30, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson Unless you’re a dedicated policy wonk, the name Stuart Butler probably doesn’t ring a bell. For 35 years, Butler has been a senior researcher at…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
The future of think tanks
July 30, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson Unless you’re a dedicated policy wonk, the name Stuart Butler probably doesn’t ring a bell. For 35 years, Butler has been a senior researcher at…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Dodd-Frank’s Achilles’ heel
July 28, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson Four years after Dodd-Frank became law, the question being asked is whether the country is safe from another financial crisis. It’s the wrong question. It…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Dodd-Frank’s Achilles’ heel
July 28, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson Four years after Dodd-Frank became law, the question being asked is whether the country is safe from another financial crisis. It’s the wrong question. It…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Making corporate tax dodgers patriotic
July 28, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson Corporate America’s latest public relations disaster comes under the banner of “tax inversion.” In an inversion, a U.S. company shifts its legal headquarters to a…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Making corporate tax dodgers patriotic
July 28, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson Corporate America’s latest public relations disaster comes under the banner of “tax inversion.” In an inversion, a U.S. company shifts its legal headquarters to a…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
The downside of giving weapons to rebels in Ukraine or Syria
July 23, 2014
By Eugene Robinson The bodies and debris that rained from the Ukrainian sky offer a cautionary lesson about the danger of giving heavy weapons to non-state actors. I hope the hawks…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: op-ed
Peace may never be at hand
July 21, 2014By Eugene Robinson Israelis and Palestinians may someday make peace. But the assumption should be that it won’t happen soon — perhaps not in our lifetimes. How often have…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Peace may never be at hand
July 21, 2014By Eugene Robinson Israelis and Palestinians may someday make peace. But the assumption should be that it won’t happen soon — perhaps not in our lifetimes. How often have…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Budget policy as prayer
July 21, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson The Congressional Budget Office last week issued one of its periodic long-term budget outlooks. Its themes are distressingly familiar. There is no balanced budget in sight. Under…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Budget policy as prayer
July 21, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson The Congressional Budget Office last week issued one of its periodic long-term budget outlooks. Its themes are distressingly familiar. There is no balanced budget in sight. Under…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
A part-timer boom, or blip?
July 21, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson There may be a dark lining to the sunny June employment report, which recorded an increase of 288,000 payroll jobs for the month. Most — or all…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
A part-timer boom, or blip?
July 21, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson There may be a dark lining to the sunny June employment report, which recorded an increase of 288,000 payroll jobs for the month. Most — or all…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Republicans rant but offer no solutions
July 15, 2014
By Eugene Robinson Apparently there’s a contest among Republicans to see who can be more shameless and irresponsible in criticizing President Obama’s foreign policy. So far, Chris Christie is…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: op-ed
Republicans rant but offer no solutions
July 15, 2014
By Eugene Robinson Apparently there’s a contest among Republicans to see who can be more shameless and irresponsible in criticizing President Obama’s foreign policy. So far, Chris Christie is…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
The real Medicaid problem
July 15, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson The White House recently put out a 40-page report arguing that the 24 states that have not expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”)…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: op-ed
The real Medicaid problem
July 15, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson The White House recently put out a 40-page report arguing that the 24 states that have not expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”)…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
An overriding need for immigration reform now
July 13, 2014
By Eugene Robinson There’s no objective need for President Obama to visit the Texas-Mexico border and see the immigration crisis firsthand, but he shouldn’t have claimed that “I’m not interested in…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
An overriding need for immigration reform now
July 13, 2014
By Eugene Robinson There’s no objective need for President Obama to visit the Texas-Mexico border and see the immigration crisis firsthand, but he shouldn’t have claimed that “I’m not interested in…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Three myths about the Highway Trust Fund
July 13, 2014By Robert J. Samuelson It’s time for a primer on the Highway Trust Fund, which looms as the next battle in Congress’ unending budget wars. Created in 1956 to…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Three myths about the Highway Trust Fund
July 13, 2014
By Robert J. Samuelson It’s time for a primer on the Highway Trust Fund, which looms as the next battle in Congress’ unending budget wars. Created in 1956 to…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Eugene Robinson: NSA’s misguided snooping on innocent people
July 9, 2014
By Eugene Robinson Even those who believe the National Security Agency’s vacuum-cleaner surveillance of electronic communications does not trample privacy rights should be troubled by this practical implication: If you…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Eugene Robinson: NSA’s misguided snooping on innocent people
July 9, 2014
By Eugene Robinson Even those who believe the National Security Agency’s vacuum-cleaner surveillance of electronic communications does not trample privacy rights should be troubled by this practical implication: If you…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: op-ed
Workforce development puts Oconee on top
July 8, 2014By Richard K. Blackwell Whenever a community is in a period of growth, there’s a lot of talk about the economic support system, infrastructure, and sustainability. In reality, none…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, upstatebizsc Category: economic-development, op-ed
