The Week

■ What do you plan to do in retirement? “Sit on my behind,” replied Justice Marshall, laying to rest any suspicion that he was slowing down.

■ New Jersey’s Egg Harbor Yacht Co. normally sold about 120 boats per year, until Congress and Richard Darman entered the scene. Since Washington’s imposition of the 10 per cent tax on luxury items, Egg Harbor has sold one boat, closed up shop, and put 250 workers on the unemployment line—which brings to mind the phrase coined by the Wall Street Journal’s Paul Gigot, “Social Darmanism.” When Congress enacted the tax in November, it expected to net $25 million in 1991. But that figure was based on sales prior to the institution of the tax January 1. According to Charles Kauth of Hatteras Yachts in North Carolina, retail sales in the entire industry were down 89 per cent in the first quarter this year, compared to the same period in 1990; the National Marine Manufacturers Association reports that 19,000 jobs in the industry have been lost since the tax kicked in. Imposing a tax that results in fewer people working and fewer people buying is no way to jump-start a sluggish economy.

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Clarence Thomas

Supreme Court

■ What do you plan to do in retirement? “Sit on my behind,” replied Justice Marshall, laying to rest any suspicion that he was slowing down.

■ New Jersey’s Egg Harbor Yacht Co. normally sold about 120 boats per year, until Congress and Richard Darman entered the scene. Since Washington’s imposition of the 10 per cent tax on luxury items, Egg Harbor has sold one boat, closed up shop, and put 250 workers on the unemployment line—which brings to mind the phrase coined by the Wall Street Journal’s Paul Gigot, “Social Darmanism.” When Congress enacted the tax in November, it expected to net $25 million in 1991. But that figure was based on sales prior to the institution of the tax January 1. According to Charles Kauth of Hatteras Yachts in North Carolina, retail sales in the entire industry were down 89 per cent in the first quarter this year, compared to the same period in 1990; the National Marine Manufacturers Association reports that 19,000 jobs in the industry have been lost since the tax kicked in. Imposing a tax that results in fewer people working and fewer people buying is no way to jump-start a sluggish economy.