Summaries of various, interesting Wall Street Journal articles you may have missed, provided by Zach Robinson.
1. High taxes scare people away.
Citizenry decamping from high tax, high spending states continues, with Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut in that order seeing tens of thousands of people leave in recent years. Illinois over the past five years has witnessed close to 0.5 million residents depart over this time span. Meanwhile, low tax Florida has experienced a large number of new arrivals. Illinois’ credit rating is close to junk status.
2. China, N. Korea trade booms
A Journal editorial revealed that North Korea’s trade with China is booming even as it continues to threaten the U.S. with intercontinental ballistic missiles. With no easy solution in sight, the situation seems headed for a showdown in the near future. With trade up 37% in the first quarter between the two neighboring countries, Chinese companies are taking advantage of slave labor available in the secretive, smaller Korean nation.
3. ISIS faltering (thank goodness)
Though mentioned just in passing by the media, it should be noted that Iraqi allies have now retaken essentially all of Mosul from Islamic State forces in what appears to be one of the first successes of the Trump administration. Despite this significant victory, which began with an offensive started during the Obama presidency, ISIS continues to hold some territory in Syria which has yet to be liberated.
4. More high taxes chasing people away
The Journal’s editorial page noted that the company that owns Burger King has relocated to Canada to pay a more reasonable income tax rate and that Americans spent $409 billion on tax compliance last year. It concluded it’s past time to enact a reform of the system, whose recent modern history traces back to 1986. That’s when Ronald Reagan and one time House Speaker Tip O’Neill last passed a major overhaul.
