There has been plenty to criticize about President Obama’s handling of the economy. Yet the overriding story of the past few years is not Mr. Obama’s mistakes but the scorched-earth opposition of Republicans, who have done everything they can to get in his way - and who now, having blocked the president’s policies, hope to win the White House by claiming that his policies have failed.

Raising the minimum wage and lowering the barriers to union organization would carry a trade-off - higher unemployment. A better idea is to have the government subsidize low-wage employment. The earned-income tax credit for low-income workers - which has been the object of proposed cuts by both President Clinton and congressional Republicans - has been a positive step in this direction.

Unsustainable situations usually go on longer than most economists think possible. But they always end, and when they do, it's often painful.

I don't think I've had any great success in predicting politics or social change, nor have I really tried.

As I've often said, you can shop online and find whatever you're looking for, but bookstores are where you find what you weren't looking for.

I have friends, political scientists, sociologists, who all share an interest at least in certain kinds of science fiction.

We have a lot of evidence on what happens when you raise the minimum wage. And the evidence is overwhelmingly positive: Hiking the minimum wage has little or no adverse effect on employment while significantly increasing workers' earnings.