Although Democrats have dominated in state elections for some time, and it is only a Republican remnant that has been blocking tax increases, California voters at an earlier stage empowered this minority to hold off levy hikes when they approved Proposition 13, a constitutional amendment.

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If governments on either side were to levy countervailing import duties (as the WTO allows when an illegal subsidy persists), it could spark a disastrous trade war.

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None of this is as irrational as the run-up in technology stocks in the late 1990s, when shrewd investors like Leon Levy dared go short and ride the turmoil to profits.

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