The Angry Bear

Infidel753: Cultural vandalism As soon as all the corrections which happened to be necessary in any particular number of ‘The Times’ had been assembled and collated, that number would be reprinted, the original copy destroyed, and the corrected copy placed on the files in its stead.  This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks,...

February jobs report: the decelerating trend resumes   – by New Deal democrat As I’ve written several times this week, my focus on this report was on whether manufacturing and residential construction jobs turned negative or not, whether temporary jobs continued on their downward trajectory, and whether the deceleration apparent in job growth would reappear after the blockbuster January report. Deceleration absolutely reasserted itself:...

This is Part One covering Medicare Advantage, Direct Contracting, and the MA Money Machine of which the Risk Scores drive the payout. If the Risk Scoring methodology was eliminated, ~$355 billion over the next eight years if just the risk-score related overpayments were eliminated. This is a pretty good read if you have the patience to cover all of it. I have added acronym and other definitions at the bottom. I have also added some additional...

Hey, if you have not noticed, I have been doing most of the posting at Angry Bear, for myself, others, and for NDd on Angry Bear on various topics. NDd’s commentary I consider to be important and timely reporting on housing, jobs, Covid, the economy, etc. He is on the money each time. It is amazing to me, how the FED keeps trying to blow the economy up and it keeps on ticking. There are a lot of reasons for such a great economy, none of which...

This NYT story just dredges up the stories we would read and hear in the fifties and sixties. Popular song when I was hanging around the coffee houses then. No Starbucks then or laptops. If the song was of your ilk. Arriving in record numbers, the children escaping other countries are ending up in jobs violating child labor laws. Their presence can be found in the factories making the products your own and safe children might be eating or wearing....

Parts of this Covid Vaccine Story came via the Daily Beast; Just hours after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) swore to question Moderna’s chief executive in a Senate hearing next month about plans to quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine, the company abruptly reversed course, announcing in a statement that the vaccine would remain free to all consumers “regardless of their ability to pay.” The pharmaceutical giant was widely denounced last...

January JOLTS report consistent with a softening, but still very strong, labor market  – by New Deal democrat This morning’s JOLTS report for January, unlike the recent payrolls report, generally showed further softening in the labor market. While hires (red in the graph below, normed to a value of 100 as of February 2020) increased 121,000, quits (gold) declined 207,000, and openings (blue) declined 410,000: The downward trend in quits...

“Michigan Supreme Court hearing on automobile no-fault reform: What to know,” Bridge Michigan, In reading this, I can almost guarantee, the citizens of the state of Michigan had not given any thought to the screwing over of those who suffered catastrophic injury due to automobile accidents. Indeed, it was business interests who set the pace for the repeal of No-Fault Auto Insurance. Michigan residents lived with the higher insurance...

Thoughts on this commentary? Marseille: full canal and empty streams, The one-handed economist, Margot . . . Margot writes* Despite being located in a dry and warm region, Marseille is described as the “world capital of water” by the World Water Forum. Indeed, Marseille is known for its efficient water management and water infrastructures like the canal of Marseille, the Roquefavour aqueduct, or the Palais Longchamp. The Marseille Canal...

Coronavirus dashboard: the first year of COVID endemicity  – by New Deal democrat As I indicated back in January, I don’t plan on any regular COVID dashboard updates unless something noteworthy has occurred. Since we are now 1 year into endemicity, this is a good time to look back and see what that means. The huge initial Omicron spike started in late November 2021 and ended early in March 2022. Since March 1 of 2022, here is the range of...