The only real crimes are those that constitute violence against actual, specific persons and property. These are crimes such as theft, assault, rape, homicide, and fraud. States and civil governments of all types have long justified their existence on the grounds that they punish perpetrators of these crimes and thus provide “public safety.” (The fact that states themselves often commit these crimes—i.e., through torture, police brutality, taxation, and conscription—is carefully ignored.) 

Paul Krugman, in an article titled “None Dare Call It Victory,” calls on the Fed to change its inflation target from two to three percent, which would mean that the Fed could go ahead and reverse course on tightening, since at least one official price inflation measure has reached 2.9 percent.

The Federal Reserve System as of the end of July 2023 has accumulated operating losses of $83 billion and, with proper, generally accepted accounting principles applied, its consolidated retained earnings are negative $76 billion, and its total capital negative $40 billion.