“Oh, look,” said Elizabeth on yesterday’s walk about. “This Piazza Navona
is built around what used to be Emperor Diocletian’s stadium. I don’t know
anything about Diocletian…”

“The only thing I know,” we replied, “was that Diocletian prefigured
Richard Nixon by about 19 centuries.”

“What do you mean?”

“Diocletian was faced with high rates of inflation. He imposed price
controls as a way of trying to control prices. Of course, they didn’t
work. They never do. But Richard Nixon probably never read the history of
Diocletian’s price controls. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done such a
stupid thing.”

George W. Bush and Alan Greenspan, too, may have long arms…but they are
short on history. Still, the pair seems to have worked a turnaround that
history will record as one of the greatest ever.

After being on top of the world so recently, now…the United States slips
and slides. The banks are in trouble…homeowners are in trouble…and the
economy is in such trouble that the feds are now considering new emergency
measures to rescue it.

From California comes word that foreclosures are running 327% ahead of
last year. Drivers are cutting back on gasoline use – for the first time
in U.S. history they have to compete with the Chinese for every gallon.
They’re “feeling squeezed,” says an AP report.

Americans now earn less than the French. How long will it be before they
earn less than the Chinese? How long before Washington melts into the
Potomac?

*** “I love coming to Rome,” said Elizabeth. “Everywhere you go, there’s
something to see. Right around the corner is the church of St. Agnes. You
know, they martyred her because she refused to marry one of the Roman
aristocracy…who was pagan. The church is built on the site, it is said,
where she was exposed. They stripped her naked and chained her on the
spot. It was supposed to be a humiliating way to kill her, I guess. But
her hair hung down and preserved her modesty. At least, that is what it
says in the Christian legends. And so they tried to burn her…but the
fire wouldn’t touch her. In any event, she died…and the street here, St.
Agnes ‘Agone,’ records the place and the pain of it.

“I’ve booked a tour of the Vatican…and then a tour of the Vatican’s art
collection. There’s a group of Americans who organize these things…it
looks like a very good service.”

“How long are these tours?” we wanted to know.

“Well, each one is about 4 hours. But don’t worry. I know what a
Philistine you are…I only booked it for myself.”

Until tomorrow,

Bill Bonner
The Daily Reckoning

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