As I May Think

The Government Can’t Print Money — Or Can It?

How a Legal Choice Became a Law of Nature, and Who Benefits from the Confusion

May 23 • Bob Wyman

1

The Debt Ceiling Was Built to Help Treasury Borrow — Then Someone Found the Gun

How a Tool of Congressional Deference Became a Weapon of Extortion

May 15 • Bob Wyman

1

The Social Security Trust Fund Is a Comfortable Lie — and We’re Paying for It in Confused Citizens

How Congress Taught Americans to Misunderstand Their Own Government

May 13 • Bob Wyman

2

March 2026

Surplus Capacity Taxation: A Minimal Statement

Grounding Tax Policy in Principle Rather than Compromise

Mar 28 • Bob Wyman

2

1

The Spiral Widens: Why Every Profession Now Has the Vibe-Coding Problem

And What to Do About It (Essay 2 in Spiral Series)

Mar 18 • Bob Wyman

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1

The Next Turn of the Spiral: Fixing Vibe Coding Without Reinventing Software Engineering

We've been here before. We know what to do.

Mar 15 • Bob Wyman

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2

Neither Watchman nor Revolution: Government, Capability, and the Logic of Collective Learning

Don't overthrow government. Evolve it.

Mar 5 • Bob Wyman

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1

February 2026

Capitalism’s Empirical Test: The US Fails, Czech Republic Passes?

Evidence from Household Saving Data Across Ten Countries

Feb 26 • Bob Wyman

4

1

The Benefit IS the Ability-to-Pay

Why the Two Great Principles of Tax Justice Were Always the Same Idea

Feb 20 • Bob Wyman

Why Are Capitalists Anti-Capitalist?

What capitalism actually requires, and why almost no one is defending it

Feb 13 • Bob Wyman

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2

2

Taxation Is a Public Service (And Why You Should Welcome It)

Why economists have long understood the true purpose of taxes—but rarely say it out loud. We’re used to thinking of taxes as confiscation. But in a…

Feb 8 • Bob Wyman

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August 2025