Capital Matters | National Review

How the U.S. and Taiwan Can Unite on Energy and Foreign Policy

By Jordan McGillis 6:30 AM

As U.S. and Taiwanese representatives reaffirm trade and investment ties this summer, liquefied natural gas should be at the forefront of the conversation.

The Capital Note

COVID-19 and Corporate Zombies

By Daniel Tenreiro

On the menu today: a corporate debt binge, a potential taper tantrum, the growth of collateralized-loan obligations, and the rise of zombie corporations.

Fiscal Policy

How the States Can Fight the Federal Incentives Encouraging Joblessness

By Michael Lucci

How states can undo the economic damage done by Congress.

The Latest

Business

They Want Billionaires Gone

By Sean-Michael Pigeon 11:44 AM

For the Left, abiding by the law is no defense for the crime of being too wealthy.

The Economy

Infrastructure Strategery

By Robert VerBruggen 8:33 AM

Republicans want to keep infrastructure spending down. Democrats want to ‘compromise’ and then pass everything else they want later.

Trade

First, Assume Lots of Boats

By Dominic Pino 9:20 PM

What’s elegant and simple in economic theory is chaotic and complex in the real world.

Economics

Center-Left Think Tank: Biden Budget Would Hike Taxes on More Than Half of Filers

By Robert VerBruggen 2:52 PM

You can’t hike corporate taxes through the roof and pretend no one making less than $400,000 will pay more.

Economy & Business

Unintended Consequences of a Minimum-Wage Hike

By Robert VerBruggen 1:53 PM

A minimum-wage hike is a simple policy with extremely complicated consequences.

International

Iran’s Misery and the Miserable State of the Iranian Rial

By Steve H. Hanke June 14, 2021

As Iran heads to a presidential election on June 18, its economy is a shambles. There’s a partial solution — if its rulers are interested.

PC Culture

Yes, NPR, ‘CaPitAliSm bReEds InNovAtiOn’

By David Harsanyi June 12, 2021

Contra certain tax-subsidized media outlets, consumerism and materialism are still preferable the utilitarianism of collectivist-induced poverty.

The Capital Letter

A Low Road to Higher Taxes

By Andrew Stuttaford June 12, 2021

The week of June 7: blurring income and capital to raise the tax take, inflation, oat milk and much, much more.

International

Biden Urges G7 Allies to Hold China Accountable for Human-Rights Abuses

By Caroline Downey June 12, 2021

Since 2017, the Chinese Communist Party has detained over 1.8 million Uyghur Muslims in reeducation camps.

Regulatory Policy

How Deregulation Could Make Supersonic Air Travel Great Again

By Andrew Follett June 12, 2021

Recent government streamlining could help bring the first major innovations to air travel in decades.

World

Amazon’s Partnership with Chinese Genome-Sequencing Firm Raises Eyebrows

By Jimmy Quinn June 11, 2021

BGI Genomics’ COVID-test kits raise the specter of data-mining from American citizens.

World

The Biden Administration Is Letting a Dangerous Chinese Company Off the U.S. Government’s Investment Blacklist

By Jimmy Quinn June 11, 2021

The Treasury Department is defending Biden’s move, but it may end up helping a Chinese company in Beijing’s efforts at Uyghur suppression.

NR PLUS U.S.

The Sad Farce of Our ‘Infrastructure Debate’

By Charles C. W. Cooke June 11, 2021

It would be a mistake for Congress to spend trillions of dollars more even if there were some compelling reason to do so — and there isn’t.

Energy & Environment

Oat Milk and Environmentalism

By Andrew Stuttaford June 11, 2021

It is hard to deny that certain forms of environmentalism, often when climate change is involved, take on strong religious characteristics.

Science & Tech

What Jeff Bezos’s Planned Trip into Space Could Mean for Mankind’s Future

By Ingrid Chung June 11, 2021

The aspiration to explore space shares the same roots as the human desire for progress that has allowed mankind to prosper from modernization, advancement, and development.