Start Drilling- April 30, 2008 What to do about oil First it went from $60 to $80 a barrel, then from $80 to $100 and now to $120. Perhaps we can persuade OPEC to raise production, as some senators suggest; but this seems unlikely. The truth is that we're almost powerless to influence today's prices. We are because we didn't take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do: Start drilling.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/29/AR2008042902394.html?nav=r... The End of Shopping- April 23, 2008 Transfixed by unruly financial markets, we may be missing the year's biggest economic story: the end of the Great American Shopping Spree. For the past quarter-century, Americans have been on an unprecedented consumption binge -- for cars, TVs, longer vacations. The consequences have been profound, and the passage to something different may not be an improvement.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042202520.html?nav=r... Marching Backward on Trade- April 16, 2008 Almost everyone wishes for a renaissance of American manufacturing, and none say so more loudly than the Democratic presidential candidates and Democratic members of Congress. The trouble is that their deeds don't match their words. They have blamed trade for almost anything that might ail the U.S. economy -- in particular, manufacturing -- when the opposite is now true: Only through expanded trade can the economy thrive and manufacturing stage a comeback.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/15/AR2008041502668.html?nav=r... High Finance Laid Low- April 9, 2008 Except for oil executives, no group of business leaders is now more resented than the titans of finance -- bankers, traders, hedge fund managers. They are blamed for the housing crisis, global financial turmoil and a possible recession. But this broad indictment, though true, is only half the story. The job of modern finance is to allocate Americans' nearly $2 trillion in annual savings to its most productive uses; the paradox of finance is that its virtues and vices come tightly packaged...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/08/AR2008040802903.html?nav=r... How Not To Save Housing- April 2, 2008 In politics, it is imperative to be seen as "doing good." The present housing crisis is a case in point, as Congress now seems increasingly intent on aiding millions of homeowners who can't easily pay their mortgages and may face foreclosure. This sort of rescue looks good, even though it is a bad idea and might perversely delay the housing recovery.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040102196.html?nav=r... |