Tag Archives: Hot Topics

RJS, MarketWatch 666, Summary: US Trade Deficit Virtually Unchanged in February, Near Record High US trade deficit ticked lower February, as both our exports and imports increased, but the value of our exports rose slightly more than the value of our imports did . . . the Commerce Department report on our international trade in goods and services for February indicated that our seasonally adjusted goods and services trade deficit fell by...

The current situation is that Russia has abandoned the effort to capture Kiev. Russian forces have been withdrawn from North Central Ukraine and are now operating on an arc from Kharkiv (North East) to Kherson (South Central). So far, Ukraine has won amazing victories and Russia has suffered astonishing defeats. The extreme surprise suggests that we can learn a lot from the war so far. What have we learned ? I will include things that we...

Commenter and blogger Ten Bears at Homeless on the High Desert had a post-up a couple of days ago depicting issues in Oregon with regard to a high risk for violence. Crooks and Liars picked up Ten Bears post a few days ago the same as Angry Bear is doing today. As Ten Bears comments, it looks like the far right is exercising greater influence over the direction the Republican Party is taking in Oregon. Similar is occurring in Michigan with the...

I am interested in inflation expectations (acting like a macroeconomist for a change). In particular I am thinking about something Brad DeLong just tweeted. He says his subjective probability of sustained inflation due to expected inflation causing current inflation is still just 40% Why “.only a 40% chance …? Because bond markets expect the Fed to get inflation down to 2% not in the short run of next year but in the medium run of three...

April 2019, I wrote on the topic of A Woman’s Right to Safe Healthcare Outcomes as asked by one organization a woman at ConsumerSafety.Org. It took me forever as I had to acquire greater understanding of the issues. In the end it was well received even though I did not feel it did the topic justice. At the time I noted, commercial healthcare insurance, the ACA covers Postpartum care up to one year. Medicaid covered Postpartum cover after...

If readers are wondering what is the US doing to alleviate the rising prices of oil during the pandemic and the Russian invasion, RJS has written a good summation of what is going on in the US and where we might be during the drawdown of the SPR. It is dense reading due to the detail. RJS’s Summary; US oil supplies at a 14-year low; SPR at a 19½ year low; distillates exports at a 21 month high; total oil + products exports at a 2 year high The...

This week at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Justice Amy Barrett acknowledged expected court decisions on reproductive rights and gun control would be seen through a political lens and may lead to division. The Justice urged people to read the decisions and understand their decisions are based on law and their interpretation of the Constitution. Justice Amy Barrett; ” judges, or Justices in this instance, are not deciding cases to...

The ‘House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th 2021 Attack on the United States Capitol’ plans to open its hearings to the public sometime in May. Then, we are sure to learn a lot more about then President Trump’s role in the lead-up to the insurrection. Until then, given that he didn’t seem to relish performing the job itself and wasn’t very good at it, we are left to ponder just what it was that made him and his cadre so desperate to...

DETROIT – Actually this is Grand Rapids, MI home of the Western District Michigan Federal Court. The historic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot trial ended with no convictions Friday,  delivering a blow to the government as it failed to convince a jury that four men were domestic terrorists determined to harm the governor because of her COVID-19 restrictions. AB: Not sure if I would call this historic. Several times and under their...

The avian influenza does not seem to be letting up with multiple states reporting cases, including Texas. Here is the current map of reported cases. The USDA and USGS have been doing a good job of tracking and confirming cases through APHIS, and the surprising news that has all of us in the poultry business worried is that this is a highly pathogenic virus that is transmitted through wild birds and domestic alike. Sparrows, crows, cardinals and...