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May 02, 2024
 

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Robert J. Samuelson
For Robert J. Samuelson's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2015
Other nations' troubles could slow U.S. growth
President Barack Obama has declared America's economic crisis over, but will global weakness infect the U.S. expansion?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2015
U.S. wages lagging and no one knows why
The U.S. unemployment rate has dropped from a peak of 10 percent in October 2009 to 5.6 percent at the end of 2014. Yet, hourly wage gains haven't accelerated. Economists are baffled.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2015
'Dynamic' deceptions in U.S. budget debate
Instead of facing the real issues of how to cut spending in the U.S. budget debate, Republicans and Democrats find it easier to argue over technical questions that, in the end, won't much affect the budget.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2015
Reagan played key role in U.S. war on inflation
There is common agreement that the decline of double-digit inflation in the U.S. was the big economic event of the 1980s. But to say that President Ronald Reagan had almost nothing to do with that is wrong.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2015
Europe's unending crisis
The European economic crisis refuses to go gently into the night because of the danger that Greece and its creditors can't agree and because of meager economic growth in the eurozone.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2015
Five top economic stories to watch in 2015
Economics columnist Robert J. Samuelson describes five issues to watch in 2015: oil prices, European debt, U.S. interest rates, wages vs. prices, and China's economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2014
Behind every good number is a good story
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 performances. The 10 best botched athlete celebrations. (No kidding, The Washington Post ran that.) Not to be outdone, here's my contribution: The year's best statistics.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2014
Aging brings gray hair ... and greater happiness
In our mind's eye, old age is to be endured as much as enjoyed, since people fear declining health, growing dependence and increasing social isolation. Then why do public opinion surveys show that, on average, people count themselves happier after age 65?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2014
Sino-U.S. climate deal mainly a political triumph
The U.S.-China emissions deal is a huge political triumph, but whether it alters the world's climate is an open question.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2014
American politics are paralyzed on principle
Americans are avoiding unpopular choices by hiding behind ideological platitudes.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2014
World's rapidly expanding millionaire club
Time was that 'being a millionaire' was a mark of unimaginable success. Not anymore.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2014
Women joining the top '1 percent'
A study by three economists concludes that economic inequality in America is becoming more gender neutral. In the early 1980s, women comprised at least 3 percent of the top 1 percent of wage earners. Now they're approaching 20 percent.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2014
Why the world economy continues to sputter
It's become a dreary ritual. Every six months, the International Monetary Fund forecasts the global economy, and cuts its previous forecast. What are the real causes of sluggishness?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2014
The next nasty economic surprise for the U.S.
Without an expanding economy as a shock absorber, will racial, ethnic, religious, generational and ideological conflicts worsen in the U.S.?
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2014
The slow recovery from a calamitous slump
What does slow recovery from a calamitous slump look like? In the U.S., you see women's pay catching up with men's and steady gains in full-time employment. But middle-class incomes have dropped to levels of the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2014
Americans feeling roughed up as incomes lag
Americans have a peculiar prosperity. Their economy is escaping the confines of the Great Recession, but people don't feel reassured. They've lost confidence in the future.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2014
Raise U.S. defense spending now
The Obama White House and Congress are systematically reducing America's military power as if the Ukraine crisis, the expansion of the Islamic State's footprint and China's harassment of ships in disputed waters have not happened in the past year.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2014
Will consumer confidence spur investment?
Is stronger consumer confidence and spending in the U.S. about to support a cycle of stronger business confidence and investment?
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2014
U.S. think tanks turning into message merchants
Most U.S. think tanks were once idea factories, but now many are message merchants.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2014
Americans: born in an empire of contention
An historian reminds Americans this Fourth of July weekend that dynamic social and economic change, poisonous politics, bad policies and flawed leaders in an 'empire of contention' were all there two centuries ago.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

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