Recently, Ryan McMaken posed a provocative question: if the French are willing to number their republics, why not Americans?

Alan Greenspan, the powerful chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006, has died at age 100. Before the 2008 financial crisis, Greenspan had been regarded as almost superhuman in his leadership on the Fed board, and he was credited as playing a key role in the strong economic growth of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Later, however, it became apparent that much of this economic growth was actually just an enormous bubble created through monetary stimulus.

For most economists, the velocity of money circulation is an important factor in determining the prices of goods and services. If, for example, it was found that the quantity of money had increased by 10 percent in a given year, while the price level—as measured by the consumer price index—has remained unchanged, it would mean that there must have been a slowing down of 10 percent in the velocity of money circulation.

Trust: allow someone to have, use, or look after (someone or something of importance or value) with confidence: I’d trust you with my life.

Most people don’t trust politicians, yet they dominate our lives. How did this arrangement come about?

Trust is a critical consideration in every relationship. Do people mean what they say? Do they deliver on their promises? If enough people didn’t trust Amazon it would have folded long ago. Friends would cease being friends if they proved untrustworthy.