Opinion

RALEIGH — On April 30, a mob of pro-Hamas protestors defaced public property at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and yanked down, for a brief time, the American flag fluttering over a prominent part of the campus called Polk Place.

RALEIGH — One of the most predictable crises of modern times is the implosion of America’s federal finances.

RALEIGH — As recently as 2015, nearly 60 percent of Americans told Gallup that they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in U.S. colleges and universities as a whole. Today, just 36 percent of respondents agree — not much different from the shares who say they…

RALEIGH — Brace yourself. The arrival of Labor Day traditionally begins the homestretch of electoral campaigns. You may well join millions of fellow voters in utter exhaustion with the politics of 2024. But I promise you the candidates and their surrogates are raring to run this final leg of the…

RALEIGH — Over the past dozen years, North Carolina lawmakers have made our state freer, more innovative, and more prosperous. But in one critical area of policy — the freedom to change careers and enter new occupations — state leaders have made far too little progress.

RALEIGH — Four years ago, communities in North Carolina and beyond were reeling from the COVID-induced Great Suppression. After spiking into double digits in April 2020, the state’s headline jobless rate was still a painful 7.3% by August, with some 376,000 fewer North Carolinians employed than on the eve of…

RALEIGH — Before the United States had a Congress, North Carolina had a Congress — and this week marks its 250th birthday.

RALEIGH — In 2021, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted a budget that funded core state responsibilities, instigated critical repairs and renovations of government facilities, built up savings reserves, and slashed tax rates on personal and corporate income.

RALEIGH — If you look at North Carolina’s state flag, you’ll see two dates: May 20, 1775 and April 12, 1776. Each signifies a moment when North Carolinians played a key role in the emerging American Revolution. Each strengthens the claim that our state was, in this context, “First in…