Thank you for that.
I think Asimov was right.
The size of an empire is dependent on it's speed of communication.The reason that this money printing exercise has been successful for so long is that the feedback loops are very tight. (Thanks Donella) In the case of the Bots they are in nanoseconds. This level of control is a direct result of global communications. I think this is the reason that we see a global phenomenon too. (Technology, Yay!)
One of the ways of hiding your wealth is by buying education. Hence apprenticeships are not supported and neither is higher education. I don't know how the rationalizing policy makers think that we are going to "grow the GDP" by crippling levels of education. To work smarter it is best to be armed with the facts. Perhaps they are planning to milk the top end of the bell curve. (Artificial intelligence etc.) That is very risky because the smartest are prone to listen only to the voices in their own heads.
We are led by the least among usT. McKenna.
Just for the record, I am not an arch-duke.