In the Arena

In the Arena

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Fixing America’s Quality Crisis Starts With Reforming the Baldrige Award
Tariffs and tax breaks won’t fix America’s quality crisis. But perhaps an overhaul of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award will.
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Robert D. Atkinson
2
The Fantasy of “Uninationals” and the Reality of Why America Needs Multinationals
In reality, we live in a global economy that requires large, integrated firms to advance national success. That means embracing multinationals, not…
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Robert D. Atkinson
1
Federal Lights on for Lights-Out Factories
The United States should pursue a super-automation moonshot by establishing 50 to 100 demonstration factories that deploy state-of-the-art automation…
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Robert D. Atkinson
Why America Must Embrace Job-Killing Technology
Call me heartless, but nothing would make me happier than seeing 50 percent of American jobs automated over the next decade or so.
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Robert D. Atkinson
5
Family First or Country First? Why National Conservatives’ Family Tax Cuts Miss the Mark
The best way to put a chicken in every family pot is by supporting policies that raise median per-capita income.
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Robert D. Atkinson
5

May 2025

Serious About Shrinking Government? Cut the SBA
When it comes to government waste, the Small Business Administration is low-hanging fruit that has been over-ripe for a long time.
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Robert D. Atkinson
4
Climate Utopians’ Crusade Against Climate Realists
Too many environmentalists give short shrift to the critical need for innovation—and even attack those who call for it.
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Robert D. Atkinson
Forget GDP. The Real Reason to Boost Manufacturing Is Power
A deindustrialized nation, which the United States is on the path to becoming, is not a strong nation.
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Robert D. Atkinson
“Khanservative” Antitrust Is Not the Answer to the Failure of Neoliberalism
Instead of throwing out the corporate baby with the bathwater, how about some nuance in the justified critique of neoliberalism?
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Robert D. Atkinson
Trump’s Gilded Age Governing Agenda
President Trump and the MAGA movement want to return to the style of governance that reached its zenith during the McKinley administration.
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Robert D. Atkinson
Never Fight a Multifront Trade War: Why the United States Will Lose
Chinese advanced industries may not have U.S. market access after Trump’s trade war, but they will have access to the rest of the world, unlike U.S…
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Robert D. Atkinson
Squaring the Trump Circle: Free Markets and Tariffs
Trump sees tariffs as an across-the-board global price reset, wherein the market, not the government, selects the firms that succeed behind America’s…
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Robert D. Atkinson
© 2025 Robert D. Atkinson
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