I am finishing reading a small economic history book on the Wiemar Republic. The lead up to their hyper inflation is ominously like the economic policy of the Fed now with the exception that Western economies after WW1 were not levered much and they had a gold standard. The business and economic press in the US is looking backward. Same holds for the big government types.
The California legislature passed a law outlawing outdoor smoking. That should solve all their problems. Read the replies to the article about this in pajamasmedia.com.
With respect to the run up to WW1 there was a lot of enthusiasm for what many thought would be a fine short war.