Over the weekend I got a chance to catch up with Jamie Dimon's shareholder letter for 2020. There's a lot there, and I don't agree with all of it, but there was a significant amount of good sense, especially the emphasis on economic growth. My favorite nuggets:

Democrats should acknowledge Republicans' legitimate concerns that money sent to Washington often ends up in large wasteful programs, ultimately offering little value to local communities. They could acknowledge that while we need good government, it is not the answer to everything. Democrats could also acknowledge that a healthy fear of a large central government is not irrational (like a Leviathan)....

Capitalism has lifted billions of people out of poverty. Capitalism, and the continuous and free movement of capital and, more important, of human talent, in the pursuit of happiness (the invisible hand of Adam Smith), creates a continuous exchange of information and ideas – and constant innovation. ...

"The Red Sox Speak Up for Racial Engineering in Boston Schools" is the headline over my column in today's Wall Street Journal. I have been following the situation for Education Next, where I wrote about it in an article headlined, "Red Sox, Celtics Back 'Zip Code Quota' Plan for Boston Exam Schools."

Reparations for slavery delivered via a credit on the IRS Form 1040 are the topic of my column this week. Please check out the column at Newsmax ("After Race-Based Vaccine Access, Expect Race-Based Tax Bills") and at the New York Sun ("Could Tax Code Be Used to Make U.S. Reparations?"). The Sun version was also picked up at RealClearMarkets: ("Are Race-Based Tax Rates the Next Step in Taxation?")

Even the New York Times is now describing President Biden's plan as "the largest federal tax increase since 1942." It's the topic of my column this week. Please check out the full column at Reason ("Here's How Biden's Proposed Tax Increases Will Affect You"), Newsmax ("Joe Biden Is Demanding Higher Taxes...Will the Cycle Ever End?"), and the New York Sun ("Now They Tell Us: Biden Readies Radical Tax Hikes.")

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the topic of my column this week. Please check out the full column at the New York Sun ("DeSantis Using Socialist Lingo To Attack Press") and at Newsmax ("As DeSantis Eyes 2024 He Should Drop Socialist Lingo.")

Before spending a trillion dollars over ten years to make permanent the expanded, refundable child tax credit, how about seeing how it works in year one, or in smaller scale experiments? Please check out my full column on this topic at the New York Sun ("What Fate Awaits Biden's One-Year Child Tax Credit?"), at Newsmax ("Will the Child Tax Credit Really Help America's Children?") and at Reason ("Bipartisan Support of Child Tax Credits Is Too Hasty.")

And by the way—might the influx of families at the Southern border have something to do with the news that the U.S. Government will be showering sums of money on those with children?

The increase in the child tax credit, and its expected effects, are the topic of my latest column. Please check out the full column at Newsmax ("Get Ready for the Biden Baby Boom") and at the New York Sun ("Ready, Get Set for Biden Baby Boom, Begat by Congress.")

From a New York Times profile of Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri with degrees from Stanford and Yale:

Mr. Hawley sharpened his thinking in conversations with his adviser, Dr. Kennedy. Americans, Mr. Hawley argued, were suffering a crisis of "loneliness," prisoners of a culture of individualism unmoored from any shared sense of purpose. Hastening this plight, in his view, was the American right's devotion to the free market.

Dr. Kennedy was somewhat surprised to learn years later that his advisee was evangelical; for him, Mr. Hawley's ideological instincts had called to mind "Rerum Novarum," the encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 condemning unfettered capitalism and endorsing measures like trade unionism as means of reinforcing the dignity of the working class.

...His rejection of Republican economic orthodoxy was well documented, but he convinced libertarian-minded conservatives like Mr. Humphreys and David McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth, of his devotion to the free market.

A good column by former Obama administration official Steve Rattner. He concludes "Wasting precious dollars that could be better spent can't possibly be worth the risk of igniting high inflation again." Rattner writes:

the measure's spending far exceeds the extent of the shortfall in economic output caused by the pandemic....

The $510 billion in aid to states and localities (including for education) should also be dramatically reduced; the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget recently explained how Moody's Analytics estimates only "an additional $86 billion of aid is needed to cover revenue losses."...

Interesting reporting in a front-page New York Times news article that interviews dozens of Latino men about why they vote Republican:

Like any voter, these men are also driven by their opinions on a variety of issues: Many mention their anti-abortion views, support for gun rights and strict immigration policies. They have watched their friends and relatives go to western Texas to work the oil fields, and worry that new environmental regulations will wipe out the industry there. Still, most say their favorable view of Republicans stems from economic concerns, a desire for low taxes and few regulations. They say they want to support the party they believe will allow them to work and become wealthy....

Sergio Arellano of Phoenix, Ariz., said he had a story he liked to tell about the moment he registered as a Republican. When he was an 18-year-old Army infantryman on home leave, he went to a July 4 event and spotted the voter registration table. He asked the woman sitting there: What's the difference between Republicans and Democrats?

Britain's outperforming the European Union in vaccinating its population is the topic of my column this week. Please check out the full column at the New York Sun ("Brexit Britain Besting Europe on Covid Vaxxes") and Newsmax ("Vaccination Statistics Make Case for Nationalism, Brexit.")

From the New York Times obituary of California clothier Fred Segal:

Mr. Segal credited his early success to his ability to be honest with customers.

"I learned at a very young age that the area of no competition is in integrity," Mr. Segal told Haute Living. "When I was selling in my store to my customers and they came in wanting to buy this or that, if they put an outfit on and they asked me for my advice, part of the time I'd say, 'Take that off, don't even buy that, that would be ridiculous, you don't even look good in that.' That's really deep honesty. You don't find that in business, you know?"

"Is New York Finally Ready To Tax the Rich?" is the headline over a Ginia Bellafante column in Sunday's New York Times. The "Finally" aspect of it will doubtless elicit bitter laughs from those New Yorkers who have for years already been paying some of the highest combined state and local tax rates in the nation. The column reports:

Of all the various laws put forth, the one that seems to have the greatest support would raise income tax rates in increments beginning with individuals making more than $300,000 (or couples making more than $450,000). Currently, the top marginal tax rate in the state is 8.82 percent. Under the Invest in New York Act, the figure would climb to just over 10 percent for those making $2 million a year, for instance. At the maximum end, those bringing in $100 million or more, the rate would extend to 15 percent.

Last month, Governor Cuomo himself floated the notion of graduated hikes to income tax that would require those in the top bracket to pay 10.82 percent.

Subtle but clear pushback from Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, in his latest annual letter, against the trendy idea that "stakeholders" should somehow replace shareholders as the people a company should exist primarily to serve:

Berkshire is a Delaware corporation, and our directors must follow the state's laws. Among them is a requirement that board members must act in the best interest of the corporation and its stockholders. Our directors embrace that doctrine.

In addition, of course, Berkshire directors want the company to delight its customers, to develop and reward the talents of its 360,000 associates, to behave honorably with lenders and to be regarded as a good citizen of the manycities and states in which we operate. We value these four important constituencies.

The Wall Street Journal reports on polling about vaccine hesitance or willingness:

Civis Analytics...asked an online panel of adults weighted to resemble the full U.S. population this question: "Suppose that an FDA-authorized coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine was available today. Would you get this vaccine?"....

To see how different phrasing might influence responses, Civis Analytics tried two versions of its question, including one that referenced the FDA and one that didn't. When the FDA was mentioned, 7% fewer people said they would get vaccinated, perhaps because of distrust in the government, according to Crystal Son, the company's director of healthcare analytics.