The Angry Bear

Anne Lowrey at The Atlantic recognizes a shortage of housing overall and mostly in the cities. “The U.S. Needs More Housing Than Almost Anyone Can Imagine.” Just how many houses, what is the number? How many homes must the expensive coastal cities in the US build to become affordable for middle-class and the working-poor families? Over the past few weeks, Anne asks a number of housing experts that question. Anne expected a straightforward...

No one wants to pay more for energy at any time. No one wants the means for greater independence from foreign control, big business, wasteful practices which will involve them. The reality being, it is all about us. The thems of the world. ~~~~~~~~ “As taken from Michigan Radio/NPR; “Auchter’s Art: Not in my backyard,” michiganradio.org, John Auchter. On the way to Thanksgiving festivities last week near Flushing, my wife and I drove past...

This is funny (to me at least): Somewhat reworded article from Slate. “Supreme Court blocking the Biden administration: Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar challenges judicial power,” slate.com, Mark Stern “If she made one, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar’s mistake was assuming this SCOTUS would be receptive to a textualist argument curbing the power of conservative judges under a Democratic president. When the White House falls back into...

Weekly Indicators for November 28 – December 2 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. First the long leading indicators turned. Then the short leading indicators turned. Now the coincident indicators are weakening to new expansion lows almost every week. The silver lining is: the first long leading indicator may already have hit its worst levels. As usual, clicking over and reading...

November jobs report: decidedly mixed signals, most consistent with a still-growing but decidedly weakening economy  – by New Deal democrat  Since early this year I have expected employment to follow the halt in consumption growth, decelerating over time to a stall. This has only intensified given the major decline in growth in payroll withholding tax payments, which are near recessionary.  This expectation was partially met today in...

A Tale of Two Recoveries podcast from the Roosevelt Institute compares the recoveries between now and the Great Recession. What’s Changed since the Great Recession? The shifts in economic policy thinking over the last decade helped produce today’s record-breaking recovery. Heidi Shierholz: “The economy is not like the freaking weather, right? Like it really is a policy choice. The difference in the speed of the recovery really, really...

As I read Dean Baker’s perspective on Low Income families, I find it hard to believe. The market in the Southwest has dried up due to high prices and interest rates. One or the other has to be lower to attract buyers. Builders have not lower prices and bank rates have remained high. One builder was complaining of a lack of interest in a rate at 6%. Coupling to a higher price this is very true. It is also taking anywhere from 6 to 12 months to...

Economic Policy After The Midterm Elections  Will economic policy change much aa a result of the midterm elections? After all, the GOP has taken the House of Representatives, if only narrowly, with inflation and the economy supposedly the top issue, especially for those supporting the GOP. Will this reappearance of “divided government” have an impact on economic policy? My bottom line is probably not too much, although there is the serious...

November manufacturing and October construction both decline, the former almost at recessionary levels  – by New Deal democrat As usual, we begin the new month’s data with the ISM manufacturing index. This index has a very long and reliable history. Going back almost 75 years, the new orders index has always fallen below 50 within 6 months before a recession. Recessions have typically started once the overall index falls below 50, and usually...

Strong personal income and spending contrast with near record low in saving  – by New Deal democrat Like retail sales earlier in November, personal income and spending both rose smartly, as shown in the below graph of real retail sales compared with real personal spending: Real personal income was up 0.4%, and real personal spending increased 0.5%: Nominally each increased 0.3% more; i.e., the PCE deflator was 0.3%. Each metric only had...