Robert Samuelson: Goodbye, readers, and good luck -- you'll need it

[brooklynite]

Washington Post

Dear Readers,

It’s time to quit. Since coming to Washington in 1969 as a young reporter, I have written, by my crude calculation, about 2 million words, most of them columns for The Post, Newsweek and the National Journal. Some years ago, I promised myself that I wouldn’t overstay my welcome: I would not continue my column simply because I could. I’m almost 75. If I haven’t yet said what’s on my mind, I never will.

Here are a few parting observations. As regular readers know, I write on the economy and its connection with society and politics. Over the years, I’ve explored dozens of subjects: recessions, inflation, executive pay, budget deficits, climate change, poverty, the welfare state, trade, taxes, aging, cybersecurity, China, the stock market — and many others.

So far as I can tell, nothing that I have written has ever had the slightest effect on what actually happened. I’ve routinely suggested shutting down Amtrak, not because I dislike trains (I don’t) but because Amtrak is an excellent example of how the federal government has acquired so many nonessential functions. Amtrak continues chugging along, costing billions of dollars for small public benefits. But I’m resigned to this. No one elected me to anything. In our system, the people rule, not the pundits; and that’s how it should be.

The truly big economic story of the past half-century has been the rise and fall of “macroeconomics.” This is economists’ fancy term for using interest rates, taxes and government spending to regulate the economy’s growth and stability. This once seemed doable. Now, less so.