The Angry Bear

“Ending Roe is a pure exercise of Republican power, wielded to reduce women’s freedom and equality” – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com), Erwin Chemerinsky Freedom and equality have expanded enormously over the course of American history, which makes the ending of a constitutional right virtually unprecedented. In Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the court overruled a half-century of decisions protecting a constitutional right of...

A Break On The JCPOA Iran Nuclear Deal?  Maybe. It is now reported that “talks are to resume,” although most observers are not optimistic. But then today there is a report of a shakeup in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards hierarchy who seem to control the most serious of these things. Head of their intel, Taeb, has been removed, although it is unclear what this will lead to, despite noises he was too hardline and maybe a deal can be cut with...

For the sake of the nation, the current Supreme Court majority needs to acknowledge that they were wrong and rescind their decisions on Roe, EPA, Guns, Church and State, Vaccinations, and School Prayer; then, resign en masse. They need to do so in order to save the nation the agony of the traditional fifty – one-hundred years wait for overturning such odoriferously bad decisions: in order to reduce the strain on our already strained democracy. As...

RJS: Focus on Fracking ________ Summary: US oil supplies at an 18 year low, SPR at a 36 year low, total oil + oil products supply at a 13½ year low. _________ Detail: The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA  Sidenote: The US oil data reported this week by the US Energy Information Administration includes updated data for the week ending June 17th, which should have been published last week but wasn’t due to a...

Real personal income and spending decline in May, while the saving rate increases (not good!) In May nominal personal income rose 0.5%, and spending rose 0.2%. But since the personal consumption deflator, i.e., the relevant measure of inflation, rose 0.6%, real income fell -0.1%, and real personal spending fell -0.4%. While both real income and spending are well above their pre-pandemic levels, I have stopped comparing them with that, but...

What does this make you think? .@JakeMGrumbach and I looked at public opinion on abortion in today's @monkeycageblog. We find that a majority of the public in about 40 states support legal abortion rights. (1/2)https://t.co/aTB76HGayc pic.twitter.com/IT4Sd2y0aa— Chris Warshaw (@cwarshaw) June 25, 2022Option 1:  This is a moral outrage! Option 2:  We need to figure out how to win elections! Politics is not a morality play, folks!  If you...

(Dan here…follow the link to the comment section on Kevin Quinn’s somewhat cryptic post to learn more on economics) Muth and Lucas: Call your offices!  On his Marginal Revolution blog, Tyler Cowen describes the recent “purge” in the trucking industry. The pandemic shift in demand towards goods, as opposed to services, produced a big increase in the demand for trucking, which in turn produced a huge response, including a  big increase in the...

Initial claims continue weakening trend, but are not signaling recession this year Initial jobless claims declined -2,000 (from an upwardly revised 233,000), to 231,000 last week, vs. the 50+ year low of 166,000 set in March. The 4 week average rose further, by 7,250 to 231,750, compared with the all-time low of 170,500 twelve weeks ago.  Continuing claims declined 3,000 (from an upwardly revised 1,331,00) to 1,328,000, which is 22,000 above...

June 29, 2022, Letters from an American, Prof. Heather Cox Richardson ~~~~~~~ What is up in this Letter?: The House Select Committee is considering to call “Pat” Cipollone to testify. Republican pundits are calling Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony devastating. Ginni is having second thoughts on discussing her “boilerplate and unremarkable” comments. A Ukrainian-born businessman is sentenced in Federal Court. ~~~~~~~ Today, the House Select...