The Angry Bear

by Joyce Vance Civil Discourse Tonight, the reporting is that Vice President Harris’ choice of running mate is down to Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania or Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota. Although Shapiro has a somewhat higher public profile because of his work taking on Trump and election deniers in court when he was the state’s attorney general, Walz has closed that gap in recent days. The more liberal of the two, he recently offered...

by Robert Reich What really happened today on Wall Street First, a bit of personal history. Two weeks before October 19, 1987, I warned publicly that “in two weeks, the stock market will lose 20 percent of its value.” Then, on October 19, 1987, the S&P 500 had the biggest one-day fall in its history — dropping 20 percent. I was immediately deluged with letters and phone calls (no emails then) from people who wanted to sign up for my...

Two good commentaries coming up on Angry Bear as written by Joyce Vance and Robert Reich. Both are addressing what is going on with the economy or Black Monday (Reich) and the other by Joyce Vance and the Vice President choice and SCOTUS issues. Both are good commentaries. Got another on Covid which I am waiting on more Info from the authors. Prof. Heather is talking about the collapsing reality TV and politics. Been busy trying to take better...

Economically weighted ISM indexes show (and forecast) an economy still – barely – in expansion  – by New Deal democrat As I was traveling last week, I did not write about several data series that I normally update. I plan on taking care of that this week. There’s also a little excitement in the markets today. Typically and when there has not been drastic *hard* news, the action is all about leveraged positions being unwound in disorderly...

Abstract: Paul Davidson was a critical figure in the preservation of John Maynard Keynes’s ideas, sticking with them when they were out of fashion. He was also key to the survival of the Post Keynesian school. Davidson endorsed Keynes’s liquidity preference theory of interest, and he emphasized fundamental uncertainty as a central feature of economic reality, essential to making sense of a monetary economy. His greatest legacy is the Journal of...

Everybody knows that California is a “high-tax” state, right? Well, yes and no. Depends on where you are on the food chain. If your household is the top 1%, then California tax rates are 2nd highest, while Texas and Florida are 43rd and 50th, respectively.OTOH, if your household income is in the second quintile as a % of family income, things change: “California is about average, with a tax rate lower than either Texas or Florida. Texas has the ninth...

Adding where Joel paused . . . Can you reduce your risk of dementia? – Angry Bear, Joel Eissenberg Replacing red meat cuts dementia risk by 20%, CNN, by Sandee LaMotte Dementia risk rose by 14% when people ate about 1 ounce of processed red meat a day — the equivalent of slightly less than two 3-ounce servings a week — compared with people who only ate about three servings a month, a preliminary new study found. The risk for dementia dropped...

Angry Bears New Deal democrat; July jobs report: Establishment survey weak (but still positive), Household survey (even more) recessionary. Last week: “In the past few months, my focus has been on whether jobs gains are most consistent with a “soft landing,” i.e., no further deterioration, or whether deceleration is ongoing. In the last several months I have also pointed out that the Household Survey is probably understating growth because of its...

by Lloyd Alter Carbon Upfront! Over on Linkedin, UK Passivhaus developer Paul Richards complains, “There must be a clear step by step guide for Homeowners and occupiers, people are desperate to improve the efficiency and environment, but are lacking a guide as to what to do first, what are the small steps people can undertake without breaking an already stretched bank? Is there a common sense approach to retrofit?” This is something I...

On 1 July, I retired from my 37-year faculty gig. Among other things, this meant shifting from private insurance to Medicare. I haven’t yet used my Medicare coverage, but my wife, who retired two years ago as a faculty at a different university, has had no difficulties with her transition to Medicare. So far.The Medicare Conversion Factor (the multiplier used to calculate payment rates for each service or procedure) for 2025 will be the lowest since...