I know Aurora, Colorado and I find Trump’s focus on it bizarre. Aurora is a typical American suburb. People’s lives are not dominated by fear of Venezuelan gangs. Their joys and sorrows are families growing and changing, making ends meet, play and work, being in nature and being in traffic.

I’ll confess I also think of the Culture as a utopian model juxtaposed against dystopian alternatives. Though you made me think about how badly some of the wonderful, flawed people in Iain Banks’ non-sci fi novels would fit into the society of the Culture.

Thanks for sharing. Interesting indeed. Thinking about the economic effects of AI through the lens of which constraints to growth it eases and which it doesn’t seems useful.

I can do one in six words: Cricket bat for sale, barely used.

From the Nazgûl’s perspective, they keep making the mistake people make in horror films: “Let’s split up”.

The IMF really doesn’t do that. I’m happy to engage more offline if you like.

That van de Ven run was electrifying.

I think it’s analogous to people’s support for hometown football teams in the UK. The weekly fate of the University of Montana Grizzlies moves my in-laws just as the weekly fate of Doncaster Rovers still moves me.

I also think the advice looks less plausible following recent years’ inflation. When she wrote the book, central banks had undertaken extensive QE without producing higher inflation. Central banks’ credibility is more fragile now.

It’s a while since I read “The Deficit Myth” but I recall Kelton’s main advice being that governments should be more relaxed about large deficits because central banks can safely finance them. I don’t think she takes seriously enough the balance of payments constraint for most countries.