I’ve watched with horror all the riots that have taken place since Charlie Kirk was shot in cold blood by a professional sniper. It pains me to see good, conservative citizens who have clearly gone mad burning down cities in America. It’s so unlike them. Our team is supposed to set an example, not follow the idiocy of Minneapolis in 2020. And yet, here we are. The People have taken the matter into their own hands.

Oh, wait. None of that happened. The riots are conspicuous by their absence.

The lack of scandalous destruction reminds me of one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes stories, Silver Blaze. This story is famous for “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” Here’s the excerpt:

I could see that Holmes was extremely pleased, for he chuckled and rubbed his hands together.

“A long shot, Watson; a very long shot,” said he, pinching my arm. “Gregory, let me recommend to your attention this singular epidemic among the sheep. Drive on, coachman!”

Colonel Ross still wore an expression which showed the poor opinion which he had formed of my companion’s ability, but I saw by the Inspector’s face that his attention had been keenly aroused.

“You consider that to be important?” he asked.

“Exceedingly so.”

“Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”

“To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”

“The dog did nothing in the night-time.”

“That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.

If you have a free hour this weekend, you can read the story for free here. If you’d rather watch the best Sherlock Holmes ever, Jeremy Brett, play this out on television, you can watch the episode on YouTube here. Brett’s Holmes episodes are like Lay’s potato chips: betcha can’t watch just one.

And now, onto the mailbag.

Donald of Scotland

To Sean Ring,

Your repeated use of “The Donald” in referring to the President is inappropriate. The Queen called him “Donald of Scotland” after she met with him in his first term. He showed her his royal lineage gave him more claim to the throne than hers or now King Charles. This was demonstrated again recently when the Prime Minister visited Trump’s estate in Scotland, rather than Trump visiting the PM. You may also call him “God’s Trumpet,” as Prophet Kim Clement declared, “Trump is God’s Trumpet” in 2005. The hand of the Lord is upon him and should be respected as such. He is not a savior or a king but the one chosen by God for this time. He will help lead this nation back to God and start the conversion of over a billion souls.

Kevin M.

Hi Kevin! While I chuckle at the thought of the UK being the 51st State, I’m sure Mary Anne MacLeod Trump wasn’t of royal blood. Nevertheless, as I grew up in New Jersey, reading about the President almost every day, he’ll always be The Donald to me.

The BS of the BLS

Aha, Seanie has found his snark! The lefties are trying to shift the blame for a Crash onto Trump quickly. Why not? They have no candidate or platform to sell. Sean is correct, like David Stockman's well-conceived OMB, the BLS and anything purporting to be "non-partisan" has always been subject to Goodhart's Law ("targets corrupt measures") The Obama Administrations (3?) were particularly penetrating, in part due to invidious targeting and in part due to lax oversight. Robert R.

Trump Decapitates the BLS. You got this one right, Sean. Good for you! Doug T. 

Sean, the first objective would be to rename it the Band of Lying Statisticians. The second choice would be Bureau of Lying Sh1theads, but the government might not appreciate the truth. Sincerely, Kevin B. 

Thanks for writing in, gentlemen. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this once the new head goes through the Senate confirmation process.

Inflation… again

Sean,

It appears you feel asset price inflation and consumer price inflation are mutually exclusive. How academic of you. There is, however, evidence that asset price inflation causes consumer price inflation. That's why the price of everything went up after COVID, not just groceries. Large-ticket items, such as homes and vehicles, saw massive price increases. Do you think Tommy Hilfiger was able to flip a house in Aspen in 2022, profiting $19M in four months, because of thousand-dollar stimulus checks?

Ben M.

Ben, vehicles are included in the CPI; houses are not. Asset price inflation can lead to consumer price inflation through wealth effects and rising rents. However, this is far from an automatic relationship, and the impact tends to vary depending on the specifics of the economic cycle and institutional context.

A Disgruntled PhD, But I Repeat Myself…

Dear Sean, et. al,

I confess that I have a PhD which was conferred on me in 1977 in that remote, out-of-touch discipline of Physical Chemistry, from that lowly Massachusetts Institute of Technology (or, as some people ask "What's MIT?")...anyway, after nearly half-a-century existing in my PhD ignorance, I offer the following to show that I am capable of absolutely anything - as those who think anyone with a PhD should know "everything" - to wit the following:

• I know that the large end of a screwdriver is used to bang nails; thank god for the long metal handle!

• When I rewired an entire house, there were three wires in the cable...I ignored the black one.

• The claw hammer was a great invention; the claw part is the greatest invention ever for pulling crabgrass our of lawns in New England! The other part is OK, too - great for killing bugs, though the damage to my flooring is a necessary side-effect.

• Let me no if yoo need mor evidense on my brillianz!

So, I dunno about yoo, but I need to acksept that my dozens of pattens and sucksessfull commercialisashuns are due to luk and so r my wodworquing projex. I am availabul for dickscussions if yoo nede mor insite…

Regrding much, Dr. Mike

Dr. Mike, never take an insult personally that wasn’t meant for you. Words to live by.

Russian Vodka

RE: One of John McCain’s innumerable blabs… “John McCain, among his many errors, once called Russia a 'gas station dressed up as a country.’ It’s an embarrassing understatement about a country that’s given the world Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Pushkin, Tchaikovsky, the Bolshoi, and caviar.” …you forgot to include vodka.

Bill W.

You got me there, Bill. I’m still upset I can’t buy my favorite Russian vodka here. But my favorite martini recipe with it is right here.

Have a wonderful weekend!