In the first chapter of this book, its co-authors offer the economic history of New Jersey as “a colorful example of opportunity wasted.” During the 1950s and 1960s, New Jersey’s population growth exceeded the national average. “Then, in 1966, New Jersey adopted the sales tax,” they write, “and in 1976 the income tax. Fast-forward.” At this point, the authors — supply-side guru Arthur Laffer, Heritage Foundation chief economist Stephen Moore, investor Rex Sinquefield, and consultant Travis Brown — describe New Jersey’s fiscal meltdown in 2009 under Governor Jon Corzine, which they attribute to “years of tax increases, welfare expansion, and …
State Capitols vs. Capitalism
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of States: How Taxes, Energy, and Worker Freedom Change Everything, by Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, Rex A. Sinquefield, and Travis H. Brown (Wiley, 368 pp., $29.95)
In This Issue
Articles
The Unrealist
Even before his presidency began, Barack Obama articulated a foreign-policy course markedly different from that of his immediate predecessors. Not only did he present himself as the anti-Bush, but he ...
Islam’s Nightclub Brawl
Youth, as everyone knows who has passed through it some time ago, is the age not of idealism but of self-importance, uncertainty masked by certitude and moral grandiosity untouched by ...
Put China on Notice
On August 19, an American P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft, on routine patrol in international airspace off the east coast of China, was intercepted and harassed by a Chinese J-11 jet ...
The Price of a Gaffe
George F. Will says she owns “a musical name,” and that’s not all Terri Lynn Land has going for her. As she runs for the Senate in Michigan this fall, ...
Consigned to ‘Assistance’
It’s sometimes easy to forget that the Republican party’s proudest moment was the emancipation of the American slave. Indeed, for decades after Lincoln gave his life for the Union, black ...
A Job Like No Other
The problem with some issues is that everything is true. Both sides of the question have merit. Which truths do you emphasize? Which truths seem most important in a given ...
Features
How Iran Will Get the Bomb
The Iran nuclear talks that began last November were supposed to have ended in a comprehensive agreement by July 20 of this year. At the last moment, to nobody’s great ...
Apocalypse Soonish
By their headlines shall ye know them. Daily Mail: “Will there be a global famine in 2050? Crops will be overwhelmed by pests in the next 30 years, scientists warn.” ...
Books, Arts & Manners
Whose Declaration? Which Equality?
It has always been the fate of the Declaration of Independence to bounce back and forth between the political equivalents of foster homes and orphanages. This owes to its ambiguous ...
Good Men, Bad Strategy
There are great men in America.
As I read Bing West’s third — and best — book about the Afghan War, I met some of those men. Bing West is many ...
State Capitols vs. Capitalism
In the first chapter of this book, its co-authors offer the economic history of New Jersey as “a colorful example of opportunity wasted.” During the 1950s and 1960s, New Jersey’s ...
Looking for Tom
I do not know much about gods; but
I think that the river
Is a strong brown god — sullen,
untamed and intractable.
— T. S. Eliot, “The Dry Salvages”
London was ...
Look in the Mirror
All these columns are about some place! But this column is about the Twitterverse!
Twitterverse is no place! Its strings of words and spaces <140 characters! You see your margin shrink ...
Sections
Letters
Immigrant Entrepreneurs
I read with interest the article by Jay Nordlinger, “The State of Maine,” in the August 11 issue. He discusses, among other things, the recent influx of Somali immigrants. ...
The Week
‐ President Obama says the United States will not tolerate Russia’s “brazen assault” on Ukraine. A discrete, tactful assault, on the other hand . . .
‐ That was quick. In ...
How to Handle Your Gifted President™
A user’s guide for the media
Congratulations! You are now a Supporter of Your Very Own Gifted President! Your Gifted President™ is a finely crafted, unique lifestyle product that reflects your ...
Golden Oligarchy
The world is a curious place where coincidences abound, but there’s something suspicious about the timing here: As relations between the West and Russia curdle and rot, McDonald’s restaurants are ...
Poetry
BLUE MOUNTAINS
Modest as mountains go, they have a charm
in that close-to-home majesty, surmounted
by a spine of falling away bald rock,
dangerous as any siren song of
explorer’s imagining, with plenty
of room for ...
And Now You May Laugh
I presume there is a healthy overlap between Emmy viewers and NR readers, so apologies for covering well-worn territory. However, those of you who missed last month’s awards show failed ...
Recommended
Chauvin Defense Expert Destroyed on the Stand
The prosecution blew the witness’s testimony to bits.
Powerful Evidence That George Floyd Resisted Arrest
The Derek Chauvin case is more complicated than prosecutors would have it.
Biden Set to Push Critical Race Theory on U.S. Schools
The woke revolution in the classroom is about to go federal.
Why Not Fewer Voters?
The fact is that voters got us into this mess. Maybe the answer isn’t more voters.
Never Ask a Question You Don’t Need to Ask: Chauvin Lawyer Gets Clobbered by Witness’s Gripping Testimony
There’s rarely an upside in asking pointed questions to a young, nervous, highly sympathetic witness.
The Great California Exodus
A look at why droves are leaving the state.
The Latest
Increasing the Capital-Gains Tax — Penalizing Initiative, Enterprise, and Not Just 'the Rich'
On the menu today: the coming (maybe) capital-gains-tax disaster, a GameStop winner, Boris Johnson’s green dream, Biden’s green dream, and ‘sleepminting.’
Caitlyn Jenner Files Paperwork to Run for Governor of California
Jenner's campaign is expected to be announced Friday afternoon.
GOP Baseball Shooting Survivors Appeal to FBI to Change 'Suicide by Cop' Designation
Republican survivors have said that the current classification undermines the heroism of the people on the field that day.
Democrat Manchin Endorses Republican Murkowski's Reelection Bid
Trump vowed to fight Murkowski’s reelection and has already endorsed a challenger.
Michelle Pfeiffer’s Lives Matter
Why this year’s Oscars deserve to be boycotted.
Value(s) without Value
A review of Value(s) by Mark Carney