The Angry Bear

January JOLTS report: shows more (relative) weakening, downward revisions to 2023  – by New Deal democrat The JOLTS report for January showed only minor changes compared with December, all to the downside, but was somewhat overshadowed by mainly downward revisions to all of 2023. Starting with the monthly changes, job openings (blue in the graph below), a soft statistic that is polluted by imaginary, permanent, and trolling listings,...

My beef has been with the Supply Chain. Yep, you can be forced into manufacturing less product due to part shortages. Unless you are air freighting that stuff or running OT, costs do not necessarily increase due to producing less. Another situation? In 2008, the calls would come in about raising prices in a take it or leave it manner. This was in regard to semiconductors mostly. It was not due to increased costs as much as increased demand. A...

Wikipedia: The Big Mac Index is a price index published since 1986 by The Economist. It is an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and providing a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries. It “seeks to make exchange-rate theory a bit more digestible. The index compares the relative price worldwide to purchase a Big Mac,...

A bit of a rewrite on this article. Still a little too long. Talking about railroads, the East Palestine derailment February 2023 crash and how little has been done since then. Outside interests including Koch Industries have been blocking much needed reform through their lobbying of friendly resources in Congress. A good read. Last year’s toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, prompted new legislation with the aim of making railways...

Real incomes and Presidential approval: most measures did not surpass pre-pandemic levels until 2023, or this year!  – by New Deal democrat This post is somewhat of a follow-up to one I wrote two weeks ago, about perceptions of income vs. inflation, as well as following up on yesterday’s post considering the electoral implications of the current economy. It’s a truism – if certainly an oversimplification – that people vote their pocketbook....

A bit behind here as other things have distracted me in AZ. Health being one of them. A double dose of excellent reviews of the economy today. If there is one commentary (if you are rushed) on Angry Bear you should read concerning the economy, it is NDd’s reporting. Spending and Unemployment are in the early commentary today. Not sure what NDd has in store for later. The economy and employment are in far better shape after the pandemic than what...

The USPS Network Consolidation Plan: What’s at Stake for Southern Oregon, Save the Post Office, Steve Hutkins In 2023, two years into the 10-year plan, USPS reported that the agency had committed $7.6 billion out of a total $40 billion restructuring budget and plans were on track to open 60 new Regional Processing and Distribution Centers across the country in the coming years. Through this consolidation plan, many postal processing and...

Tuberville is a politician who campaigned to overturned Joe Biden’s electoral win over Donald Trump in 2020. He further displays his ignorance by advocating the Big Lie since the election of Joe Biden. He has some taken some controversial stances such as climate change denialism and repealing the ACA. The news media calls stances by Tuberville to be controversial. Well, it is controversial and silly too. He does not represent Alabama in a positive...

Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to democracy, the rule of law, and to basic rights and human decency.  It is hard to see how anyone could deny this.  Trump encouraged violence and fraud to remain in power after he lost the 2020 election.  He continues to insist that he won the election, despite losing in court over and over, even in front of judges that he appointed.  In his campaign for re-election, he has emphasized revenge against his...

Another site has a long article on Toyota of it not going whole hog into electric vehicles in the beginning. Meanwhile domestic US automotive companies are proving out the technology with their models. Beyond mentioning the article, I will not delve into its content. That is other than saying it exists and may be a good read. To me, staying with Hybrids is a sound decision by Toyota. Wait till the technology is proven with EVs before jumping into...