In 1979, China launched what would become the world’s toughest population control measure, the “one-child policy.” Families with just one child got rewarded with a “one-child glory certificate” and five yuan per month (about as exciting as a stack of Wendy’s coupons). There were always exceptions: in most areas, you could apply for a second […]

Taxes were in the news this Memorial Day weekend: the new administration leaked word that the higher capital gains taxes included in their American Families Plan would be retroactive to April when they first rolled out the bill. That’s drawn predictable fire from the usual suspects on Team Red and the editorial staff at the Wall […]

People have loved advice columns, in print and elsewhere, since Daniel Defoe launched the “Scandalous Club” back in 1704. Since then, we’ve lobbed questions to Abby, Ann, Polly, Prudence, Miss Manners, Dr. Phil, Dr. Ruth Dr. Drew, Dr. Laura, and even Frasier Crane. (“I’m listening.”) But few letters stand out like the one “Future Jailbird” […]

The Biden administration has rolled out an ambitious set of tax hikes to support new spending on infrastructure, families, and other priorities. While the plan includes raising rates, much of the action focuses on closing loopholes, especially for corporations. But if you’ve ever had front-row seats to that particular horror show, you know that closing […]

This is a story about a boy, a dream, a voice, and a legend. It has no beginning or end but opens under the boundless California sky on a June afternoon in 2009. There’s an ambulance speeding down the mansion-lined streets of LA’s “Platinum Triangle.” In the ambulance, about to be pronounced dead, is Michael […]

Prussian Minister Otto von Bismarck once said that laws are like sausages: it’s better not to see them being made. Frankly, that comparison is unfair to sausage makers. When was the last time a kitchen full of lawmakers cooked up something as tasty as a delicate Bavarian weisswürst, or as satisfying as a classic Wisconsin brat, […]