Four years after the onset of the financial crisis -- in March 2008 Bear Stearns was rescued from failure -- we still lack a clear understanding of the underlying causes. Hundreds of studies and books ...

I read a Washington Post column of yours just after Christmas—the one about the fairness dilemma and how Baby Boomers need to take a hit on Social Security and Medicare. You’ve been making these ...

In America, we believe that anyone can grow up to be anything. You want to be president? Go for it. Among recent presidents, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Lyndon Johnson and Dwight Eisenhower all came ...

If you've wondered why it's so hard to subdue budget deficits, you should consult a new study from the Congressional Budget Office called "Reducing the Deficit: Spending and Revenue Options" (free at ...

Robert Samuelson, the Washington Post columnist who has provided so much material for this blog over the years, announced his retirement on Monday. I’ll take this opportunity to agree with a couple of ...

LET'S resume the debate over who should go to college. Some weeks ago, I wrote a column arguing that the "college for all" philosophy is a major blunder. ?The lowering of college entrance requirements ...

I worry about the future -- not mine, but that of my three children, all in their 20s. It is an axiom of American folklore that every generation should live better than its predecessors. But this is ...

The logic of the economic recovery isn't working -- or, at any rate, not well. By that logic, over-borrowed Americans would repay loans and replenish depleted savings, creating a temporary drop in ...

Warren Buffett has become a political prop -- and, perhaps, an object lesson in how business leaders, when they enter the political arena, are easily manipulated. Their efforts to "do good" are often ...

WASHINGTON – No one has worked more aggressively to trigger impeachment than the president. You may remember that, during the campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump suggested that, should he win, he ...

It's a teachable moment, but what's the right lesson? Already, the $2 billion-plus trading debacle at JPMorgan Chase has inspired a powerful storyline. Nothing has changed since the financial crisis, ...