The Angry Bear

George Early and I have exchanged emails for a while. I am having some issues and he directed me to Veterans Outreach. Where, Paul Sullivan has been a big help in directing me on how to work with the VA for these issues. The only thing I can not beat is the purposeful understaffing at one VA center where I could go. There are only two assigned doctors handling these medical issues in a population of thousands. They are out to October for...

I was a graduate student in a STEM program when Reagan was elected and the Laffer curve was used to justify tax cuts. The problem that immediately stood out to me at the time was that neither the ordinate nor the abscissa in the Laffer graph had scales, so it was impossible to assess where, exactly, the inflection point occurred. Based on the symmetrical drawing, we’re meant to infer that a 50% tax rate is the point after which government revenue...

 – by New Deal democrat This morning, I pointed out that manufacturing production is -1.8% below its 2022 high and may be in a slightly declining trend. Which means that added attention has to be paid to whether the other leading production sector, construction, is holding up.  Instead, this morning brought the first sustained evidence that housing units under construction, the “real” economic measure of the residential building sector, which...

Steve Hutkins again addressing the implementation of the DeJoy system in Georgia. Supervisory competency came up in a message to the PRC. There has always been a give and take between management and labor. In this instance, managements probably have the same labor experience as what present labor has. If that is not the issue, then what is? New system implemented by DeJoy and a lack of training of Supervisors and Labor. They are learning as...

I will probably add a topic of my own choice. you do bot have to follow it.

Keep in mind, the chart we presented a while back, a comparison of how healthcare expenses compare to GDP or take of GDP to pay for it. Still less than 18%. What you are looking at is a finer breakdown of the healthcare costs. What do we want to improve? Healthcare spending in the U.S. increased by 4.1% in 2022 to $4.4 trillion or $13,493 per capita. This growth rate is comparable to pre-pandemic rates (4.1% in 2019). Although government spending...

 – by New Deal democrat The Bonddad Blog Here is today’s update on one of my favorite indicators: retail sales. In April they were unchanged on a nominal basis. Adjusted for inflation they declined -0.3% for the month. They are also down -6.2% from their 2021 peak and -2.9% since January 2023: On a YoY basis, they have also returned to the negative side, down -0.3% (note two graphs below adds 0.3% to show at the zero line): Here is...

The good news is electricity productivity is up. Natural gas is fueling the productivity increase in the Americas while its usage decreased globally. Coal usage is down. Too bad Manchin did not move West Virginia to better economics. Fossil fuels are still a large part of the production of electricity. In February 2024, the total net electricity production in total OECD reached 869.1 TWh, marking a 2.3% increase compared to the same period last...

AB: For years, Clarence sat in silence and did not say much. It was only when Roberts took over, did he begin to make his mark as a justice. He will probably be remembered as one of the worst appointments to SCOTUS. Before his appointment, he told a story about dependency on welfare. Thomas opposed public assistance because it caused (he claimed) his sister and her children to become dependent on welfare payments. In 1981, he said: “She gets...

My wife drives a 21 year-old Pontiac Vibe (= Toyota Matrix). It could fail at any time, and the question of what she’ll replace it with is on our minds. EV or hybrid? I personally know some Tesla owners who are happy with their choice, but I remain concerned about range and charging stations. Thanks, Elon, for warning me off EVs!“The day before Elon Musk fired virtually all of Tesla’s electric-vehicle charging division last month, they had high hopes...