The Week

■ Is it too late for Ross Perot to buy off the Electoral College?

■ Three weeks after losing the election, George Bush finally got the economic numbers he needed: Real GDP grew 3.9 per cent in the third quarter. This was significantly above the pre-election estimate of 2.7 per cent, which many dismissed as “unsustainable.” In fact the U.S. has been in an economic recovery for a year and a half. The recession—one of the mildest and shortest on record—was also the most geographically concentrated. New York and California, with only 19 per cent of the population, accounted for 60 per cent of the nation’s job losses. Were Reagan-Bush policies the culprit? Well, the erosions of Reaganomics in the Deficit Reduction Act of 1986 and the budget deal of 1990 did play a role (see “Bush’s Rasputin,” p. 28). So, ironically, did ending the cold war: defense cutbacks account for much of California’s travail. But Governor Pete Wilson certainly didn’t help matters when he pushed through the largest state income-tax increase in U.S. history. Governor Mario Cuomo, of course, has been driving entrepreneurs out of New York for years. Clearly, the economic insanity has not all emanated from Washington.

■ Is it too late for Ross Perot to buy off the Electoral College?

■ Three weeks after losing the election, George Bush finally got the economic numbers he needed: Real GDP grew 3.9 per cent in the third quarter. This was significantly above the pre-election estimate of 2.7 per cent, which many dismissed as “unsustainable.” In fact the U.S. has been in an economic recovery for a year and a half. The recession—one of the mildest and shortest on record—was also the most geographically concentrated. New York and California, with only 19 per cent of the population, accounted for 60 per cent of the nation’s job losses. Were Reagan-Bush policies the culprit? Well, the erosions of Reaganomics in the Deficit Reduction Act of 1986 and the budget deal of 1990 did play a role (see “Bush’s Rasputin,” p. 28). So, ironically, did ending the cold war: defense cutbacks account for much of California’s travail. But Governor Pete Wilson certainly didn’t help matters when he pushed through the largest state income-tax increase in U.S. history. Governor Mario Cuomo, of course, has been driving entrepreneurs out of New York for years. Clearly, the economic insanity has not all emanated from Washington.