The Angry Bear

Existing home sales and prices decline further, BUT . . .  – by New Deal democrat Even though existing home sales make up about 90% of the total market, they have much less economic impact than new home construction. They are best used to confirm trends. In January they continued to confirm that sales have continued to decline, and prices, which follow sales with a lag, have joined in. January sales declined another -0.7% to 4.2 million...

F.D.R.’s statement on signing the Social Security Act reminds us to pay attention to ‘reform’ or schemes to ‘privatize’ PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT SIGNING THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT. AUGUST 14,1935 Today a hope of many years’ standing is in large part fulfilled. The civilization of the past hundred years, with its startling industrial changes, has tended more and more to make life insecure. Young people have come to wonder what would be their lot...

by David Zetland (originally published at The one-handed economist) Climate loss, grief and migration The climate we grew up with is leaving. International action to slow climate chaos is not really working. National action and market innovations are having some useful impacts, but they are far too few on the mitigation side and far too weak on the adaptation side. We are going to face consequences with weak defenses. When I moved to...

Open thread February 18, 2023, Angry Bear, (angrybearblog.com) Tags: open thread

At Infidel753 blog, author Infidel has a great commentary from February 14th. He discusses an “exhausted majority” making up America which has found the ongoing politics to be unacceptable, having checked out of either side of the battle. Granted, the politics of elections and the thereafter has turned into a mudslinging contest. The news media reporting has helped to bring it to a new low. People do not even want to listen to the 20 of the 30...

“I just want to read one of Uncle Jimmy’s quotes,” Kim Fuller said during the Sunday school morning service, adding: “Oh, this is going to be really hard.” She referenced this quote from Jimmy Carter: “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something. I’m free to choose that something. … My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can.” Kim Fuller adds . . .“Maybe if we think...

The USPS Eagle spins S&DCs to postal employees, Save the Post Office, Steve Hutkins The cover story of the new issue of the Postal Service’s Eagle Magazine is “Re-Thinking Local Delivery.”  It’s all about the big, new, modern Sorting and Delivery Centers that will replace carrier operations at your local post office. The article has a graphic showing a delivery vehicle out on a route making stops at the ten benefits of the new network:...

AB: Think about it. How does SCOTUS decide on some far-flung theory rejected by the founding fathers. Repubs claim NC high court decision canceling “extreme gerrymander by the state legislature violating the state’s constitution” violated the “independent state legislature theory” (ISLT). AB: This was a preposterous contention that state legislatures, acting alone, without executive approval or judicial oversight, have the power to establish...

Weekly Indicators for February 13 – 17 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. There are two trends percolating under the surface. One trend is the continued slow decaying of growth in the coincident indicators. The other is the slow move towards turning neutral or positive among some of the long and even short leading indicators. No forecast at this point, but I am beginning to suspect...

Calculated Risk: MBA: “Mortgage Delinquencies Increase in the Fourth Quarter of 2022” calculatedriskblog.com, Bill McBride by Calculated Risk on 2/16/2023 01:42:00 PM From the MBA: Mortgage Delinquencies Increase in the Fourth Quarter of 2022 The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.96 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter of...