The Angry Bear

July consumer inflation: a tale of two disparate trends  – by New Deal democrat Consumer prices were unchanged in July, as two very disparate trends canceled out one another. YoY prices increased 8.5%, below June’s multi-decade record of 9.0%: The two disparate trends are shown in the below bar graph of monthly changes since the end of last year. On the one hand, energy prices (red) declined -4.6% in July; but owner’s equivalent rent (gold)...

Basques In America  This is a bit of travelogue, as I mentioned previously I am on the road now at south end of Lake Tahoe on the Nevada side for the annual conference of the Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE). Earlier today I traveled east from the Tahoe area to Gardnerville, NV just east of the Sierra Nevada in the narrow area of the state where the first European settlers came in, a narrow strip that is not desert...

Both Dan and I put this assortment of articles from various sites showing up in our In-Box. Rearranged the articles according to subject. Hopefully, you find something of interest. Democracy “How to confront the growing threat to American democracy,” Tom Nichols – Niskanen Center, In September 1787, an onlooker is said to have asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of government he and the other delegates to the Constitutional Convention in...

Coronavirus dashboard for August 9: BA.5 dominant, with a slow waning; a model for endemicity  – by New Deal democrat  BIobot’s most recent update, through last week, shows a decline of 15% of COVID in wastewater, consistent with about 460,000 “real” new infections per day: All 4 Census regions (not shown) are participating in the decline. Confirmed cases (dotted line below) have declined by a roughly similar percent, to 105,500....

Inflation Reduction Act The Inflation Reduction Act drug price negotiation is small in returns, low in the number of drugs initially impacted, and slow to start. Ten drugs will be selected and the impact of the act begins in 2026. It rises to 20 drugs to be negotiated in 2029. The new act ignores European reference pricing and instead caps prices at a set discount of average U.S. prices. The act establishes an initial standard in which the scope...

I read this over at Hullabaloo, “Blue dystopia” by Digby “The fantasy liberal hellholes red America loves to hate” “The Dystopian Myths of Red America,” New York Times, Paul Krugman Desensitization is an amazing thing. At this point most political observers simply accept it as a fact of life that an overwhelming majority of Republicans accept the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen — a claim with nothing to support it, not even plausible...

Previewing July CPI: good news and bad news about gas, housing, and vehicle prices  – by New Deal democrat While July’s consumer inflation is likely to be less intense than in recent months, I don’t see it coming back down to more “normal” levels. The good news is gas; the bad news is vehicles and housing. To begin with, gas prices have fallen about 25% from their peak at the end of June to this past weekend. To get to their “real” price, I...

“Veterans Returning to Homelessness” – Public Health Post, Ann Elizabeth Montgomery | Dorota Szymkowiak | Jack Tsai | Thomas O’Toole Homelessness still occurring is depressing for me as a Vietnam era veteran. It is also not just veterans. I had my own issues taking a couple of years to resolve and I am still not one to be crossed. After fifty years, one might believe it should be gone by now. But then, I had enlisted in another service to a wife...

Conversation pulled from the comments section relating to Infidel’s Ding dong . . . . post. This is an opinion piece, an opinion piece in which I agree. Commenter dd explains what it is like to have your life and rights compromised by the courts, state legislatures, and the people around you who are denying you essential healthcare. dd: “Democrats have a major opportunity, and they should ignore the religious nonsense. Do you know how many...