And a footnote to consider

Speaking of matters governmental that seem laughable from a distance but are hellish portents: here’s the latest from that bastion of central planning, Venezuela.

Yes, it’s a joke to think about soldiers being sent to force retailers to sell only at what some pol or ‘crat thinks is the “fair price.” But not so funny a joke, eh?

And how familiar is this?

The problems that Maduro says he is trying to combat – price speculation, hoarding of goods by manufacturers and distributors, abuse of Venezuela’s currency system, contraband flowing into neighboring Colombia – all exist, Venezuelan political analyst Luis Vicente Leon says. But he argues they are to be expected in a system in which access to dollars is strictly controlled, causing a dire effect on manufacture and imports, while the government sells certain goods at subsidized rates and prints money to try to combat inflation.

“The president says these things happen because a group of enemies is trying to destabilize the government, when in reality they are classic distortions caused by the government’s economic policy,” Mr. Leon says. “Not even Chavismo can control prices using laws, it has been shown throughout the history of economics to be impossible.”

Yes, the only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history. And I expect the U.S. isn’t too far away from failing to learn that lesson one more time …