What are we to make of Hugo Chavez’s decree that the clocks of Venezeula shall all be set forward by half an hour—in order to increase the “metabolism and productivity” of workers? My question is: why only half an hour? If the government can regulate metabolism and productivity in this manner, when why not accelerate time by an hour or two, quite possibly three? At this rate, we’ll all be hurtling headlong into—what? Insanity, perhaps. Or just plain old economic ignorance.