The Angry Bear

A soft landing (disinflation without a recession) looks possible.  Also the remaining threat is the FED’s sticking with high interest rates, even though inflation is at a very reasonable level. I personally publicly and will almost certainly decline even if unemployment remains low. The change can be predicted, because the US index includes owner equivalent rent, a price which no one pays which is a calculation of how much homeowners would pay if...

 – by New Deal democrat The weekly news from jobless claims continues to be good. The hypotheses that the summer increase was unresolved post-pandemic seasonality, plus the several week spike post-Beryl was all about Texas, both have held up very well. And that has continued to be the case against more challenging YoY comparisons as the data heads into September. Initial claims declined -5,000 last week to 227,000. The four week moving average...

I just finished reading “America for Americans: A history of xenophobia in the United States” by Erika Lee. It is an unsparing analysis of the way xenophobia is woven into the fabric of American law and culture.When you read “America for Americans,” does it conjure an image of native Americans asserting their rights to the lands that were over-run by western Europeans? Of course not. The people who use that expression are overwhelmingly whites of...

New Medicaid Rule Adds Fuel to The Fire of Commercial Hospital Price Inflation, Health Affairs Opinion Piece Hospital services prices grew faster than any other sector of the US economy. To address the underpayment of hospitals by Medicaid, the federal government issued a regulation correcting the underpayment of hospitals. However, the issue of higher prices and Medicaid paying more to correct the underpayment does not fit in the opinion of The...

– by Infidel753 Infidel753 Blog By traditional assessment, in a US election year, early September is when the broad American public starts turning its attention to the choice looming in early November.  To those readers blessed to live in normal countries, where campaigning is limited by law to just three or four weeks before an election, a two-month political season probably seems absurdly long — but I can assure you, the media and parties...

Devastating Impact of Proposed Kroger/Albertsons Merger on Good Union Jobs Scrutinized in Day 3 of Merger Hearing, Economic Liberties Portland, OR — After the third day of the Federal Trade Commission v. Kroger-Albertsons hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following summary. As posted by Research Manager Laurel Kilgour, reporting from Portland of the key arguments...

Since the beginning of the Covid epidemic, the US economy has performed better than European economies and the Eurozone average. This comparison is useful, and not just for boasting rights. Fiscal policy in the USA and in the Eurozone has been dramatically different – The US Federal Government implemented Six very large fiscal stimuli: The CARES act signed into law by Donald The bipartisan (Manchin) stimulus enacted In December 2024 signed...

 – by New Deal democrat The JOLTS survey parses the jobs market on a monthly basis more thoroughly than the headline employment numbers in the jobs report. In July, it painted a picture of what looks like pretty relentless deterioration. The theme for three of the four data series I track was the same: job openings, hires, and quits, all had their lowest or second lowest readings since the start of 2021. In the case of the “second worst” hires...

If not, you should be . . . The concentration is on Catlin and how to stop her. Opposing players are using tactics as simple as running into her and knocking her down. Tangling arms and wrestling the ball away are in vogue to disrupt her play. Since it is pro-basketball, more is allowed. Still, the fouls are called . . . Catlin Clark is an economic asset to women’s basketball. The crowds turn out to games when their teams play the Indiana...

Trump is promising mass deportations if he’s elected. He claims this will create jobs and economic growth. We’ve been here before.“In the 1930s, state and local governments deported 400,000 to 500,000 people of Mexican descent, promising to create jobs for Americans during the Great Depression. What actually happened? The employment of native-born Americans dropped — and their unemployment went up. American workers ended up with worse jobs and, if...