Chet Collins

Globalization Was Supposed to Prevent War; Russia May Be Showing the Opposite - WSJ

The Wall Street Journal has reported that, while the U.S. is loudly threatening harsh economic reprisals against Moscow for any move on Ukraine, it also is reluctant to take steps to curb Russian energy exports, or to expel Russia from the dollar-denominated international finance system. Why? Because, in today’s global energy market, such moves would risk raising energy prices for U.S. consumers in a time of already-high inflation, while also hurting the economies of European allies with much more extensive trade and financial ties to Russia.

This is one of the aspects of the “strategic pause” Joe Manchin was talking about. We need to confront a belligerent Russia, but the wasteful policies of the last year used up all of our dry powder. Now the Administration can’t afford the political cost of higher inflation and prices and Putin is further enabled to do as he pleases.

It can hardly be a coincidence that Mr. Putin has threatened Ukraine now, in the depths of winter, when Europe’s need for Russian gas is highest, and public fears of lost access to that gas, and of the resulting global effects, are greatest.

Elizabeth Holmes Can’t Be the American Dream - WSJ

Peloton Interactive sold investors on a fantasy that financing and the internet could render its multithousand-dollar hardware both accessible and affordable, thus revolutionizing fitness through “democratization”—no matter that running and walking outdoors has always been available and free to all.

Okay, that’s pretty funny.

Banks Are Making It Easier to Get Credit Cards - WSJ

The average annual percentage rate, or APR, on interest-charging credit cards climbed to a near-record high of 17.13% in the third quarter from 15.91% in the first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve, before slipping to 16.44% in November.

How’s the weather up there?

AOC Accuses COVID Virus Of Just Wanting To Date Her - The Babylon Bee

Typical COVID, just completely obsessed and trying to get with a brave woman of color.

The Vaccine Mandate ‘Work-Around’ May Run Aground - WSJ Opinion

The Chief brought up a re-tweet last year by White House chief of staff Ronald Klain hailing the mandate as the “ultimate work-around.” “I mean, this has been referred to the approach as a work-around. And I’m wondering what it is you’re trying to work around?” the Chief asked

Carving Up Biden’s Inflation Beef - WSJ Opinion

Thanks for the lecture, but back to Econ 101, Mr. President. Meat prices fell in the five years before the pandemic, and markets didn’t suddenly become less competitive. Like so much else in the Biden era, meat prices have soared amid surging demand, rising production costs and constrained supply.

A year of bad policies gets runaway inflation and mismatched supply and demand.

That or all of the sudden, as the Administration suggests, major players in every sector all decided at the same time to engage in separate but identical criminal price-fixing schemes.

The hilarious part about the disconnect of Team Biden is how apparent their incompetence is to the public. They keep telling us that the Emperor is wearing the finest of clothes, but our eyes tell us the real truth.

It’s 12 months of executive orders, misguided policies, and reckless spending that’s culminated in this particular brew of economic hardship.

Capitol Riot: The Musical! - WSJ Opinion

Readers probably don’t recall a 2002 congressional effort to mark the first anniversary of 9/11 with a catchy musical number from a Broadway smash hit. And perhaps that says it all about the Democrats’ Thursday production to mark one year since the Capitol riot of 2021. Two decades ago, no one had to sell the idea that America had suffered a devastating attack. Today the political appetites of incumbent Democrats require pretending that last year’s riot was an insurrection. On Thursday the show had to go on.

Why the Jan. 6 ‘Big Lie’ Narrative Will Fail - WSJ Opinion

The American experiment remains sturdier than we may realize, but a challenge is our media’s painful adjustment to internet economics. In the 1980s, ad-stuffed news outlets were flush and able to fill their staffs with non-idiots.

I agree, journalism economics are causing most of the media self-immolation. The hotter the flame, the more clicks they get.

Saturday evening fire.