The Angry Bear

Like many others, we use Costco to buy bulk things or special items such as this new screen I have plugged my laptop into. This morning, I am looking at the myriad of emails (many of the junk) and clicked on the latest Costco addy to see what they are hawking. Voila . . . a solar powered generator. This one is made by Anker (of phone battery charging fame), sold at Costco, and at a discounted price of ~$3700. There are some issues with...

Interest Rate increases to fight perceived inflation or not fight perceived inflation? Big believer in the cause of much of the inflation being deliberate supply chain planning to increase prices. Have not seen a deliberate price increase yet which will fix a supply chain. Poor or deliberate planning creating issues, a lack of knowledge on supply chains, and invalid sourcing. Pick one. Similar occurred in 2008-10 and it raised its ugly...

Chances are everyone pays for Preventative Care in the overall cost of a policy. There is no obvious cost sharing. This is ridiculous argument on the part of the anti this and that healthcare insurance companies and those who believe the government goes too far in healthcare and then denies the care. Another Bad Moon Arising with SCOTUS “traditionalism” interpretation of the Constitution. What would they do in 1776? ~~~~~~~~ The rightwing...

Bonddad Blog  – by New Deal democrat No economic news today, so let me take a look at the supposed killer recent GOP meme that they claim is completely unanswerable: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” This is based primarily on consumer sentiment reading as well as polling that has consistently shown that most people think that the economy is poor, even though they rate their own situation as doing well. Dan...

AB: I was searching for a clear, brief, and understandable explanation of how the pharma industry works in delivering pharmaceuticals to patients. This article is one of the better ones out there and has a good and reasonable explanation on how the system works with prices, rebates, etc. A quick email to Antonio and I was given permission to use their commentaries. First in a series. It is not terribly long and the words give meaning to the charts....

Let’s just start with the acknowlegement that most of the internet is porn. Make of that what you will. I ignore it. For the residual, well, there’s Facebook. I haven’t been sent to FB jail recently, so I am favorably disposed towards it. I get all my news online these days, so I like it for that. And thanks to my university, I have access to all the published scientific literature (and other journals) online, just a couple of clicks away. Don’t have...

The DHHS report (Michigan) found age, gender and other factors contributed to differing PFAS blood levels Kyle Davidson @ Michigan Advance Angry Bear: Shortly before we left Michigan for other digs. the pollution of water ways due to PFAS was coming more to light where we lived in Livingston County as well as other parts of Michigan. There was an advisory not to eat the fish out of some lakes. PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a...

The wealth of people and the wealth of nations Originally Published at Wealth Economics If you read this blog much, you’ll find many careful definitions of terms — something that the economics profession is terrible at. A blog called Wealth Economics really has to start at the top, with wealth. So here it is. “The only real, true wealth is…” You hear that sentence a lot — from economists, pundits, and all sorts of everyday people. It has...

 – by New Deal democrat The Bonddad Blog Yesterday I wrote of how Fed rate hikes had not translated into a decline in the amount of housing under construction, and without that I did not see how a recession could occur. And in reaction to January’s housing construction report I concluded, “To signify a likely recession, units under construction would have to decline at least -10%, and needless to say, we’re not there. With permits having...

A repost of a Bruce Webb take on Social Security and what happens if the Trust Funds go to zero. This is from 2015 and as you know, not much has been done. In one respect, maybe nothing should be done as long as it does not become a major crisis. By that I mean, we should be sure our actions are not over-zealous in solution. Do enough to stabilize it for the future as Dale Coberly and Bruce Webb proposed with the Northwest Plan. The timely is now...