FROM THE ARCHIVES.

20 YEARS AGO June 2001

That's a glib dismissal of a complex issue. In one couple I know, the father had to drop out of a graduate program in music when he learned that a baby was on the way; he finds his current corporate job boring and exhausting and hates the long hours away from his son. The mother, who quit an office job she never much liked, seems to be enjoying her time at home. Who's making the sacrifice?

CATHY YOUNG

The Mommy Tax

But in the interest of brevity (and sanity), let's pause over only one reason to be dismayed by this 21st-century Beatlemania. The return of the Beatles serves a darker purpose than simply filling the sable-lined pockets of George, Paul, Ringo, and Yoko with a few more shekels (though it certainly does that): It allows leading-edge baby boomers to once again assert their supposed generational exceptionalism.

NICK GILLESPIE

Long and Whining Road

25 YEARS AGO June 1996

Children, like hard cases, can make bad law. The child at risk is a stark, powerful image that strikes deep, even if we have no children ourselves. Government endeavors in pursuit of security and prosperity for children have a decided P.R. advantage.

BRIAN DOHERTY

Big Daddy

The aggressive protectionism advocated by some candidates resonates with a worrisome number of voters. Trade measures would be met by retaliation, and full-scale trade wars with Japan and the European Union, thus far mercifully avoided, might erupt. The economic damage to future generations would be enormous.

JOEL MOKYR

Future Enemies

Despite the chipper tone of its ads, the Postal Service is facing a hostile world. That's not just due to the Postal Service's uneven delivery performance, legendarily bad customer relations, or reputation for breeding trigger-happy employees--though those don't help, either.

NICK GILLESPIE

Mail Fraud

35 YEARS AGO June 1986

The Republicans are on the side of the angels on economic issues, and the Democrats know it. Laments Christopher Matthews, an aide to House Speaker Tip O'Neill, 'We Democrats will never win the baby-boomers if we are seen as the party of tax increases.'

BILL KAUFFMAN

Making Republicanism Cool

Some may find good sport in the prospect of hoisting the left with its own petard. Yet this would only compound the damage the judicial process has already suffered from rulings giving precedence to political ideology (and political prejudice) over the law. The cure for this damage is not a succession of new...