Then there are the boats based in Northern Ireland, often staffed with diligent, sober Filipinos taking advantage of a loophole in the visa system, who cope with the privations of life at sea better than the average Scot.
The administration is right to call for closing this loophole and if we went to a system of territorial taxation, the correct course would be to go farther and disallow deduction of foreign interest expense, rather than just deferring it.
But building the system would violate the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty, and Moscow has not only refused to negotiate a loophole for Washington, but has warned that violating the treaty will void all subsequent arms control agreements and precipitate a new arms race.