


Harris’s and Trump’s economic plans both promise utopia
High spending, low taxes—and don’t worry about the deficit
GO TO ANY American high school holding an election for class president and inevitably one candidate will craft an agenda of alluring promises—free pizza at lunch, limitless recess after—well beyond their capacity to actually turn them into reality. The same impulse animates the latest economic-policy speeches delivered by Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in battleground states. Their competing visions offer utopia without trade-offs—economics without the economising—in which spending is higher, taxes are lower, deficits are unimportant, inflation is licked, jobs are protected and growth is high.
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The US Army’s chief of staff has ideas on the force of the future
But can he scale up his clever experiments?

Checks and Balance newsletter: J.D. Vance and the politics of storytelling
Donald Trump’s running mate is disciplined in telling stories that serve his interests

The death penalty is disappearing in America
Juries are less willing to impose capital punishment
America’s growing row over policies for transgender prisoners
Some women’s groups argue that transferring them puts female inmates at risk
What J.D. Vance is learning from Donald Trump
The vice-presidential candidate is devising his own tactics for bending the truth
Kamalamania and the drive for abortion rights are a potent mix
Referendums in ten states will determine the future of abortion access—and may tilt the presidential election