Here in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the contrast between the state of public education, public health, infrastructure, and living standards before and after the local economic boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s is astounding. The two are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

The tariff hullabaloo presented a rare, serendipitous occasion when we found consolation in the isolated perks of Guam’s status as an unincorporated territory—an arrangement that is generally far from ideal.