Missive #160

Videssos was beset by enemies abroad and had fallen into decadence at home. But on his first night in the imperial capital, The Empire’s health mattered less to Krispos than finding a dry place to sleep.

This is the first book in the Tale Of Krispos trilogy and book five in the The Videssos Cycle. I have read them out of chronological, as well as publication order, so have only a couple more books to read in this series. However, there are more Turtledove books to be read which is a good thing. Driven by crushing taxes from the farm where his family had lived—and died—Krispos had come to the city seeking what fortune a good mind and a strong back could earn. He had a single gold piece to his name—the gift, years past, of a nomad chieftain to a ragged peasant boy. Now, though the night was raw and the inn was warm, he was loath to spend that coin, for the barbarian had claimed it carried magic.

Keep his lucky gold piece or trade it for a warm, dry bed? Krispos tucked the coin away and stepped back into the wet streets—all unaware that so simple a choice would lead to a world of peril and possibility… —Book promo @ goodreads.com

What is happening with the American auto industry is exactly what happens in a socialist economy: Elite government planners trample all over consumer sovereignty and decide what kinds of products are to be produced. What the people want doesn’t matter. “We know what is best for you” is the government’s conceit. And so, through the power of government, socialism destroys economic value by mandating the production of things that people value less while failing to produce what people value more.

“The Biden administration has demonstrated its commitment to fiscal sustainability, including through the more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction included in the June debt limit deal as well as President Biden’s budget proposals that would reduce the deficit by nearly $2.5 trillion over the next decade,” the deputy Treasury chief added.
Is Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo an idiot or does he thing everyone else is? The projected Total Deficits for the next decade are to be $10 trillion, or more, and he thinks that the reduction of $2.5 trillion is a mark of fiscal sustainability.