Who Let this Funny Lady Write for the New York Times?

Catherine Rampell does something almost frighteningly transgressive: she has written a funny article for the New York Times.

Catherine Rampell does something almost frighteningly transgressive: she has written a funny article for the New York Times ... about the VAT of all things.

The value-added tax is also the darling of many economists for its bounce-a-quarter-off-its-abs efficiency.

But unfortunately

What is good for economic purposes, however, can be bad politics, especially since Mr. Obama pledged not to raise taxes on the bottom 95 percent of Americans. (And many Republicans have pledged not to raise taxes on the bottom 100 percent of Americans.)

If it takes near death experiences to persuade newspapers to allow a witticism past the editors, then yay for near-death experiences.