Tag Archives: Hot Topics

What’s Medicare’s secret sauce for controlling costs? The agency sets provider prices. It’s still the prices, stupid, GoozNews, Merrill Goozner, Sept. 7, 2023 AB: What is fun is my being able to talk to these guys and exchange thoughts. Then I bring them to Angry Bear. Kind of under the weather yesterday and today. Got the chills and a headache. The Times’ Upshot columnists weighed in on Labor Day on a subject I’ve written about extensively...

In January, the governor of Utah signed the “Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act.” The law sets up a process for the state to overrule or otherwise ignore federal rules and decisions.For now, the law is just performative right-wing Republican bafflegab. While it appears to set up a challenge to the US Constitution’s “Supremacy Clause,” Governor Sandall denies this:“Our attorneys have indicated to me that the process that’s in place is...

One of the corollaries to the “life begins at conception” view is that all zygotes created by in vitro fertilization are fully human, so their deliberate destruction is ipso facto murder. This would effectively end IVF, since most zygotes will never be implanted. So sayeth the Alabama Supreme Court:“An embryo created through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) is a child protected by Alabama’s wrongful death act and the Alabama Constitution, the Alabama...

Retail sales faceplant; industrial production continues 16-month streak of weakness – by New Deal democrat Let’s take a look at two the big short leading and coincident indicators that were reported yesterday, respectively real retail sales and inducatrial production. Retail sales can be volatile monthly, and about once in a typical year they either faceplant or unexpectedly soar. Yesterday we got the facelpalnt. Retail sales declined...

Housing construction essentially stable in January  – by New Deal democrat I’m on the road, so I need to keep this brief, but fortunately I can give you the essence of this most important housing report with little difficulty. Mortgage rates have declined about 1% from their peak during the autumn, and are about equal to where they were one year ago: As a result, we should expect some improvement in the housing market from its worst...

Paranoia, passivity, and keeping reality at bay, INFIDEL753 Blog, Infidel753 This post is about psychology, not politics.  It may not look that way at first, but bear with me.] Many on the left feel a persistent anxiety about the danger of large-scale right-wing political violence.  Much of the right-wing population is heavily armed (though lately many urban liberals have been buying guns too, due to the ongoing menace of violent crime in...

Taken from MSN’s reprint of a Washington Post article. How can you not get excited about this? As a basketball small forward and guard, a thunker when trying to dunk the ball. I think this is exciting. How can you not like this? Iowa’s senior guard entered the night with 3,520 points, seven shy of Plum’s record. Caitlin Clark wasted no time, making a right-handed layup on the Hawkeyes’ first possession and a three-pointer on their second position...

Initial claims remain positive  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims declined this week -8,000 to 212,000. The four week average rose 5,750 to 218,250. With the typical one-week lag, continuing claims rose 30,000 to 1.865 million: On the more important (for forecasting purposes) YoY basis, initial claims are down -1.9%. The four week average is up 5.4%. Continuing claims are up 10.3%: Initial claims indicate continued...

The long leading forecast for 2024 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat A couple of times a year I update my long leading forecast. With the latest GDP and Senior Loan Officer Survey data, there is enough to take a look at what the next 12 months probably have in store. This article is up at Seeking Alpha.  Below, a brief Introduction of what New Deal democrat is featuring. As usual, a very well detailed article by NDd. The Long...

January 2024 consumer inflation: still a tug of war between gas and housing  – by New Deal democrat As it has been for going on two years, consumer inflation has boiled down to a contest of strength between energy (mainly gasoline), which peaked in June 2022 and roughed in June 2023, and housing, which peaked in early 2023 and has been gradually disinflating since. The headlines, as you presumably already know, are that total inflation rose...