by Karl Denninger
Market-Ticker.org
How many times have your heard “The world has changed.”
No it hasn’t. Not really. Nor have people.
Just like physics hasn’t changed; Star Wars and Star Trek are fiction, a virus is a tiny fraction of the size of the holes in a cloth mask and goes right through it in both directions, there is no such thing as a 100mpg carburetor for an old Chevy V8 that the oil companies suppressed and if you try to live on Mars I hope you intend to stay underground 99% of the time because the cosmic radiation will cook you dead within a year or so otherwise.
The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 mandates “stable prices.” Stable has not changed in definition; it does not say “2% inflation counts” or any such claptrap. Not one Congress has enforced that mandate since 1913 and in fact Congress loves to print credit when it finds it inconvenient to tax. The inevitable result is first inflation and then productivity collapses, producing stagflation. If you don’t stop it then you get a collapse of your society and people hunt politicians and their families, which usually ends with a dictator or worse. It has happened dozens of times through history and in fact has happened every time. How are lumber prices doing, may I ask? Saunter your way on down to Home Depot or Lowes and have a look.