A government’s central bank is fundamentally a debt owner with a monopoly on government money creation and, more specifically, base money creation. A central bank’s balance sheet is basically an accounts receivable balance showing the status of the central bank’s lent or allocated funds or assets at a given date. If these assets represent probable economic benefits to the central bank, the benefits derive from the continued ownership of assets and the generation of interest while the principal is outstanding.

And thus I clothe my naked villainy 
With odd old ends stolen forth of holy writ; 
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil. 
—Richard III, Act 1, Scene 3

The historian Ludwell H. Johnson III argued that “the job of the historian is not to pass judgment, but to try to understand.” By trying to understand the past, historians enrich our cultural heritage and help us to build on the achievements of our predecessors while, hopefully, avoiding their mistakes. History is, of course, a vital component of understanding the world in which we live today and the goals to which we should strive.

Folks who believe the current political atmosphere is uniquely hateful have forgotten the boundless vitriol prevailing a few decades ago. During the George W. Bush administration, Republicans relied on push-button rage to suppress all criticism of the war on terror.

It seems that, for President Donald Trump, the key for economic growth is demand for goods and services. In this view, the greater the demand, the greater the supply is via production and consumer spending, and thus the greater the economic growth. Now, part of the demand for domestically-produced goods and services originates from overseas. The meeting of this demand is called exports. Additionally, local residents exercise demand for goods and services produced overseas, which are imports.

Craig Duddy, in his essay “Cracked Shells: Why Egg Prices Are High” (May 2, 2025), explains how prices rise when supply is constrained. This has occurred recently in the case of eggs as flocks of laying hens have been culled in order to curtail the spread of a deadly bird virus.