Vice Metals

Inflationary Vice

Theodore Dalrymple | Law And Liberty | 8th August 2022

Persuasive if not conclusive argument for the corrosive social and psychological effects of inflation. "Inflation destroys the very idea of enough, because no one can have any confidence that a monetary income that at present is adequate will not be whittled down to very little in a matter of a few years. Not everyone desires to be rich, but most people desire not to be poor, especially in old age" (1,170 words)

The Lifespan Of Metals

John Timmer | Ars Technica | 20th May 2022

Good news for recyclers. Most metals are obsolete after a relatively brief working life. The average fragment of gold is discarded after 200 years; the average fragment of gallium or selenium is discarded after less than a year. Iron has a useful life of some 150 years. "If you exclude iron, only about 4 percent of the rest of the ferrous metals would still be in circulation in a century" (1,310 words)