The great investor and writer Andy Kessler frequently points out that the failure rate among Silicon Valley start-ups is 90 percent. Every member of the economics profession would be wise to memorize the previous figure, and repeat it daily. If so, economists might come closer to understanding why they’re mystified by what they deem slow economic growth. And mystified they are. So much so that they’ve apparently given up.

When Donald Trump was elected last November, the dollar rallied. Although the New Yorker had given mixed signals about currency policy throughout his presidential campaign, the price of an ounce of gold (historically the best proxy for the dollar’s value) closed the month down more than $100.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren recently announced “DeVos Watch,” aimed at Department of Education (DOE) Secretary Betsy DeVos to “ensure that the Education Department acts in the public interest.” Essentially Warren is on a higher ed-focused crusade against DeVos’s deregulatory policies under the banner of people shouldn’t make money off of students. The brutal irony of Elizabeth Warren, who made $430,000 to teach a single class at Harvard, “championing” education affordability and accountability is but a tragic indicator of how much her agenda lacks economic reasoning and sincerity.

This week, an economics professor from a small liberal arts college in Virginia did something no one else has ever done: He handily defeated the sitting House Majority Leader in a primary election.