My favorite story of the week so far? The Australian government has been sending out stimulus checks — (US) $12.5 million’s worth — to dead citizens.

“Grateful dead get a raise from Kev,” said one headline, referring to Kevin Rudd, the prime minister, who signed off on the scheme.

There’s been much talk of how stimulus schemes will burden future generations with an intolerable debt or a grossly inflated currency. But who could have guessed that the beneficiaries would be those who lived in the past?