Illusions of Security

CITY JOURNAL ………. As awful events unfold in Israel and Gaza, it’s likely that historians will view Hamas’s surprise attack as analogous to the epic failure of France’s Maginot Line in World War II. Immediately following the surge of terrorists across the border on October 7 came the question: How did it happen, especially given…

A New Tax to Fix U.S. Autos? What Chutzpah

WALL STREET JOURNAL …… Clifford Winston’s op-ed “UAW Strike May Hasten Detroit’s Decline” (op-ed, Sept. 22) is further evidence that energy-transition advocates want to change your behavior. He proffers “an efficient vehicle-miles-traveled tax,” wherein the government could “reduce driving, especially during peak periods,” as a more efficient means to cut emissions

The EV Jobs Myth

CITY JOURNAL ……..Many claim that the United Auto Workers strike is, at core, a reaction to an “inevitable” transition to an all-electric-car future. They say that this future involves fewer jobs because electric vehicles (EVs) are supposedly simpler machines that therefore require far less labor to build. None of this is true.

‘From Black Gold to Frozen Gas’ Review: A Natural Gas Powerhouse

WALL STREET JOURNAL ………….The authors of “From Black Gold to Frozen Gas” probably didn’t intend it, but they’ve provided grist for an epic miniseries. The new show would be a mash-up of “Succession” and the wildly popular 1983 series “The Thorn Birds.” But instead of the latter’s multigenerational saga about a farming family’s struggles in…

‘Recoding America’ Review: A Tale of the Tape

WALL STREET JOURNAL ……….. Apparently the swamp in Washington, D.C., is not a political but a bureaucratic mire. As Jennifer Pahlka writes in “Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better,” bureaucracy “bogs down our systems,” creating a chasm “between policy intentions and actual outcomes.” She believes…

‘They’re Coming for Your Cars’

WALL STREET JOURNAL ………. “The Impossible Dream” is the title of a new report on electric vehicles from the Manhattan Institute’s Mark Mills. After reading the particulars one wonders whether that title is too optimistic.