The recent sale of an invisible statue for £13,000 is symptomatic of the thoroughgoing financialization of our economy. Investors have become ever more obsessed with the symbols of economic reality and less concerned with underlying economic facts.

The automation doomers assume that when jobs are eliminated by automation in one place, that the number of jobs are permanently gone. For this to be true, there would have to be no growth in the need for labor elsewhere.

The United States has long supported the idea of secession and "self-determination" for some faraway colonies. But the US regime is careful to define self-determination so as to deny any chance of secession closer to home. 

Faced with a "join us or be destroyed" ultimatum from federal regulators or lawmakers, most private firms choose the "join us" option. 

With such a messed-up economy, why is it still hard to spot a bust on the horizon?

It is time to get back to normal life, and that starts with visible human faces.

Regulatory powers have enabled government agencies to push vaccine mandates in new ways. But the welfare state also offers many ways to "encourage" compliance from nearly everyone. 

The US and NATO must do as little as possible to contribute to the conflict in Ukraine. This especially includes continuing to arm Ukraine and insisting that it has a future in NATO.