WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 17 (DPI) – Longtime economics columnist Robert Samuelson penned his final column for The Washington Post this week, but not without a shockingly hostile and mean-spirited send-off from readers.

It was a telling and depressing episode that reveals just how much our public discourse has degraded in recent years, thanks to social media and an increasingly lowest-common-denominator political culture.

Samuelson, 75, has long been a middle-of-the-road economist whose columns have educated readers as much as warned them of the excesses of and consequences of government interference and intervention in the economy.

In recent years Washington Post readers have responded viciously on comment boards, many asserting that Samuelson has been a shill for powerful political interests and the status quo.

That’s of course not a fair assessment of Samuelson and his 50 years of writing about Washington’s impact on the economy. But, clearly hurt by recent years of mean-spirited abuse on comment boards, his final column was headlined “Good Bye Readers, and Good Luck – You’ll Need It.” It’s not exactly a warm and friendly message, but in keeping with the rough climate we’re all living in now

His final column reminded readers the recessions still happen, whatever the actions of central banks and legislatures. And he graciously thanks many of the people who supported him in a successful and high-profile writing career.

But many readers – more than 1,800 comments in all – were surprisingly ungracious – not simply impolite but hostile and mean-spirited. And they intoned with a know-it-all righteousness, suggesting we might deserve what we get in the years ahead.

Among the most popular comments, too suggested a large number of Samuelson’s readers were critical to the end:

Don’t be ashamed of the truth. You have plenty of company. Mr Samuelson did the country a poor service with his myopic analyses masquerading as thought pieces. 

It’s one thing to predict economic events, it’s another to report on ongoing ones. Mr Samuelson and other members of the media failed to tell the truth about the “trump economy”, constantly seconding trump’s overblown claims, instead of pointing out the actual lackluster results that were obtained with huge deficits and tax give backs. 

Columnists shouldn’t be blamed for not predicting the future. But they bear the blame for misrepresenting the present. Mr Samuelson is certainly to blame for his part in this. 

Exactly right. Decades of espousing failed economic policies, then slinking off, sounding tired and bored, at the 11th hour as the country burns. What a legacy.

I’m not one for economic data that reaches too far back but I can confirm, from my own 65 years on the planet, that when you elect Republicans, you should expect a recession, a ballooning deficit and more wars we can’t afford. Enjoy your retirement before Trump takes away your Social Security and Medicare.