Tag Archives: Hot Topics

I’ve only voted for a Republican once (John Anderson, in a presidential primary in North Carolina), but if I lived in Vermont, I might vote for Republican governor Phil Scott:“Many point to his steady hand during crises, including last summer’s historic flooding and the pandemic, when he appeared in daily, low-key televised briefings to reassure Vermonters and encourage them to take social distancing and mask wearing seriously. Vermont, a sparsely...

Been looking around for a few, new, and good writers to add to Angry Bear. I know we have Robert, New Deal democrat, and Joel amongst us now. I ran into Steve Roth since he posted to Tom Walker’s post. He is allowing me to poach from his new substack Wealth Economics and an older blog site Asymptosis. Happy about this as it allows me to write more freely too. Anyway, this commentary of Steves’ I like. Do We Wildly Underestimate GDP? Wealth...

Introduction: “new analysis finds that that MSSP, the oldest and largest Medicare accountable care organization (ACO) program, has lost money for individuals it covers and overall for Medicare it saves just 75¢ per $1000.” AB: Not much of gain there. What does it do for other programs? “Largest ACO Program Saves Piddling Amounts for Medicare,” PNHP. As taken from “Estimated Savings From the Medicare Shared Savings Program,” JAMA Network,...

Jobless claims end the year on a solidly positive note  – by New Deal democrat For our last data of 2023, initial jobless claims remained at a very low level, up 12,000 from one week ago to 218,000. The four week average declined 250 to 212,000. With the usual one week delay, continuing claims rose 14,000 to 1.875 million: On a YoY% basis, initial claims are up only 2.3%, while the more important four week average is up a mere 0.1%....

Remember the wildly successful Trump University? Me neither.But elect Donald, and he promises to build on that success by stealing the endowments of major universities to create a national diploma mill.Click the link.Trump University 2.0

Repeat home sale prices may be easing back into their pre-pandemic YoY range  – by New Deal democrat As I forewarned last week, this holiday week is very light on data, so don’t be surprised by me taking some time off. We did get November home prices for repeat sales this morning from both Case Shiller and the FHFA, so let me just pass on a brief note. Seasonally adjusted prices per the FHFA rose 0.2% in November. For the last half year,...

President Joe Biden “has been clear that we welcome manufacturers across the world building their futures in America with American jobs and American workers. However, he also believes the purchase of this iconic American-owned U.S Steel company by a foreign entity — even one from a close ally — appears to deserve serious scrutiny in terms of its potential impact on national security and supply chain reliability.” Labor in the form of United...

More economic news an d this time new single family housing. Completing the housing market picture for November, sales decline bigly, and prices remain down YoY   – by New Deal democrat Our final important pre-year end release was also the final item of housing data for the month, new home sales. To reiterate, the value of this metric is that it is the most leading of all housing metrics. Its big drawback is that it is very noisy and...

Fixing a Critical Safety Net Program: 340B, Third Way, Darbin Wofford and David Kendall – Part 2 The Solution: A Patient-Centered 340B Program The 340B program is an essential tool for uninsured and vulnerable patients to access lifesaving medicines. But program discounts should improve patient access and lower costs—not pad hospital profits and incentivize further consolidation in the health care system. To address these issues,...

It appears there will be no layoffs pre-Christmas and Christmas. After Christmas, the delays in implementing EVs at GM will result in layoffs in Michigan. A holly jolly holiday season for initial jobless claims  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose 2,000 last week to 205,000, while the four-week average declined -1,500 to 212,000. With the usual one week delay, continuing claims declined -1,000 to 1.865 million: No...