Paul Craig Roberts (born April 3, 1939) is an American economist, journalist, blogger and former civil servant. His articles on political economy are widely read and distributed across the web.
He reached the height of his government career when he became the United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under President Reagan in 1981. In office he and his staff successfully combated the stagflation (price-inflation and stagnation) then plaguing the American Economy. Tighter monetary policy was used to restrain inflation, in addition lower marginal tax rates were used to increase the rewards to work and investment. In recognition, he was awarded the US Treasury’s Meritorious Service Award for “outstanding contributions to the formulation of United States economic policy."
A strong critic of the Bush (and later Obama) administrations' handling of the War on Terror, he has taken positions strongly at odds with mainstream politicians: harshly criticizing the ineffectiveness, severity and high rates of incarceration associated with the War on Drugs, excessive police violence and use of SWAT teams against civilians. He has criticized the law and order politics and congressional approval of increased government surveillance associated with the War on Terror age, which he views as fundamental threats to the civil liberties and Right to Privacy enshrined in the US constitution, opening the way for an oligarchic police state to be imposed upon the US population.[ A vocal critic of neoliberalism, US oligarchy and the financialization of the economy, his articles have addressed and criticized outsourcing, economic deregulation, privatization of social services, Wall Street finance fraud and lax enforcement of environmental protection laws. He has also been a vocal opponent of taxing social-security payments, holding that this amounts to a "tax on a tax" or privatizing social-security believing this would create and opportunity for speculators to play with and lose the hard-earned savings of retirees.
A supporter of the human rights of the population of the West Bank, he has criticized Israel’s policies and harsh actions against the Palestinians as well as speaking out against what he calls the Israel Lobby's malign influence within US politics and academia.
He reached the height of his government career when he became the United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under President Reagan in 1981. In office he and his staff successfully combated the stagflation (price-inflation and stagnation) then plaguing the American Economy. Tighter monetary policy was used to restrain inflation, in addition lower marginal tax rates were used to increase the rewards to work and investment. In recognition, he was awarded the US Treasury’s Meritorious Service Award for “outstanding contributions to the formulation of United States economic policy."
A strong critic of the Bush (and later Obama) administrations' handling of the War on Terror, he has taken positions strongly at odds with mainstream politicians: harshly criticizing the ineffectiveness, severity and high rates of incarceration associated with the War on Drugs, excessive police violence and use of SWAT teams against civilians. He has criticized the law and order politics and congressional approval of increased government surveillance associated with the War on Terror age, which he views as fundamental threats to the civil liberties and Right to Privacy enshrined in the US constitution, opening the way for an oligarchic police state to be imposed upon the US population.[ A vocal critic of neoliberalism, US oligarchy and the financialization of the economy, his articles have addressed and criticized outsourcing, economic deregulation, privatization of social services, Wall Street finance fraud and lax enforcement of environmental protection laws. He has also been a vocal opponent of taxing social-security payments, holding that this amounts to a "tax on a tax" or privatizing social-security believing this would create and opportunity for speculators to play with and lose the hard-earned savings of retirees.
A supporter of the human rights of the population of the West Bank, he has criticized Israel’s policies and harsh actions against the Palestinians as well as speaking out against what he calls the Israel Lobby's malign influence within US politics and academia.
