No Free Lunch

Why you can't afford anything

Rent. Eggs. A used Civic. The tuition tab. A first job that barely covers the parking lot. You're not crazy that it hurts.

The easy story is "capitalism failed, so make the government do more of the last ten years." This path asks a ruder question: what did those interventions do to the prices?

Anger is fair. Don't aim it at the kid who can't make rent. Aim it at the jammed signal — then notice that another program is often how you get less of the thing you want. Accountability here is restraint: stop printing, capping, and bidding. Not a sequel.

When you finish, you should be able to explain — in your own words, not a chant — why "make it free," "cap the price," and "print it" make next year worse.

Who's in the room?

Same lessons. Different emphasis. Invented people, not guest teachers.

Cal

The old-school. Is this even the government’s job?

Money. The Constitution. Is this even their job? I will ask that until the spending bill answers it. I am not here to be entertaining. Restraint is the program: stop doing the thing that jammed the signal.

These voices are invented, inspired by public communicators. Those people did not write this, they did not endorse it, and nothing here is a quote.

Your path

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Lesson 1 is the cart, then the cracked case.

  1. 1Worth is in your headResumeThe cart costs more. That isn't a new soul inside the eggs.Groceries · 5 min
  2. What you give upA $1.9 trillion 'rescue' still has a next-best use.The rescue bill · 5 min
  3. One moreCanceling the next $10k of loans doesn't hire cheaper professors.College · 5 min
  4. Prices talkIf rent is a message, taping over it doesn't pour concrete.Rent · 5 min
  5. Now vs laterCheap mortgages felt like a gift. The hangover is the payment.A first place · 5 min
  6. When money gets easierYour dollar is a ticket. They printed a lot of tickets.Your paycheck's reach · 5 min
  7. Spotting the gapA factory subsidy is a guess. A line at the store is a clue.Cars and first jobs · 5 min
  8. Nobody knows everythingA rule written in D.C. doesn't know your kitchen after a shutdown.Emergency rules · 5 min
  9. The fake boomWhen the clock was fake, the housing plans got huge.The hangover · 5 min

Menger, Mises, Hayek — aimed at the prices you actually pay. Not a rally, not a conspiracy tract, not a dunk contest.