Shoppers throughout North Carolina can avoid paying sales tax this weekend on items deemed to have at least a tenuous link to the back-to-school shopping season. John Locke Foundation Vice President for Research and Resident Scholar Roy Cordato described the sales tax holiday as a “gimmick” during an interview with the Associated Press. Print and broadcast media outlets across North Carolina picked up the story. Meanwhile, Policy Analyst and Research Editor Jon Sanders used his latest column for TownHall.com to remind readers that low taxes and limited regulation encourage economic growth. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s VOLPAC highlighted Sanders’ work, and the Public Interest Institute at Iowa Wesleyan College sought permission to reprint the piece in the quarterly publication LIMITS.