Tag Archives: Hot Topics

“the economist who thinks he has caught what all the virologists have missed” is right here Paul. OK now I have to put my mouth where my mouth is. I do honestly think I have answers which are of interest to actual virologists. Start with the antibody, then find the antigen. This is really a thought about vaccine development. Now, notably, they seem to be doing that rather well back in my home town (to put it mildly). “SILVER...

Farmer and Agriculture Economist Michael Smith “[Land profits] are a species of revenue which the owner, in many cases, enjoys without the care and attention of his own” -Adam Smith In other words, land appreciates not by the owners doing, but his neighbors.  Sure, there are certain things that can be done to improve land, build a house, clear the brush and trees, install utilities. Or choose none of the above and wait.  The post pandemic...

The italian idiom for a low blow (also for an unexpected blow) is “un tiro mancino” literally a left handed blow. Manchin hit all the other Democrats with a tiro mancino yesterday. Notably “mancino” means left handed so, hard as it is to believe, he had ancestors who were lefties as in left handed. Aside from the irresistable pun, I feel the need to write about senator Manchin, because I can’t stop thinking about him. I suspect that reading this...

Cringeworthy, are the numbers of people who still are unvaccinated and believe they will not be stricken by Covid. Hospitals, doctors, nurses and the staff are at critical mass again. Meanwhile courts continue to block mandatory vaccinations on the premise it is their right to become infected and endanger others. And Republicans are cheering on their supporters to resist anything which may prevent Covid. Cringworthy; VP Kamala Harris In an...

A brief introduction, not to New Deal democrat, but to the subject matter. An extremely contagious new Covid virus is emerging globally and in the US. Those who have resisted inoculations and other preventative measures may find themselves particularly vulnerable. Reviewing the graphs presented, this virus will rapidly infect the US. This Covid Virus will test the ability of people’s resistance. Coronavirus dashboard: An Urgent Warning about...

Threw a wrench in it . . . , Homeless On The High Desert, Ten Bears December 13, 2021 in g’da said  If this is new to you, you haven’t been paying attention ~ Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent an email saying the National Guard would be present to ‘protect pro Trump people’ in the lead up to the US Capitol insurrection, according to a new contempt report released by the January 6 committee Sunday night. Anyone that was...

Oil rebounds on Omicron optimism; SPR at another 18 1/2 year low as sales to Asian refiners begin, Focus of Fracking, RJS Not really much news this week; gasoline & distillate inventories continue to rebound from the lows, no big moves on prices or much else; the headline is almost contrived . . . the “sales to Asian refiners” came from an oil blogger who said we sold SPR oil to China and India. That information hasn’t been released...

There is an interesting discussion about a topic where I know especially little: K-12 education. Within it, there is a narrow discussion about whether it makes sense to try to teach statistics to people who don’t know calculus. This is a clear question. However, it seems that the people who discuss it skip a much more basic question which is why mathematical statistics should be taught to high school students, and an even more basic question which...

Blogger and Commenter RJS, MarketWatch 666, November’s consumer prices, October’s trade deficit, wholesale sales, and JOLTS The consumer price index rose 0.8% in November, as higher prices for food, energy, new and used vehicles, airline fares, and toys were only slightly offset by lower prices for information technology devices, hospital services and for vehicle insurance….the Consumer Price Index Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics...

This post comes by way of Joel Eissenberg’s Facebook blog and is an edited recital of Juan Cole’s presentation at Informed Comment. “Stop Wall Street from Grabbing Traditional Medicare,” F. Douglas Stephenson __________ I am going to add to Joel’s depiction of the future as I too had heard of the coming attempt to force seniors into the commercial healthcare program – Medicare Advantage. This is the only time I will tie the words Medicare and...