Tag Archives: Hot Topics

From a comment thread over at jabberwocking.com:“For a party that’s always on suicide watch according to the pollsters, Democrats sure have been winning a lot of elections these past six years.”

Scenes from the October jobs report: soft landing vs. continued slow deceleration  – by New Deal democrat  First, an editorial note: economic news is light this week, so don’t be surprised if I play hooky for a day or two. That being said, let’s take a look at the most important trends, as I see them, from Friday’s employment report. The Big Question is, are we having a proverbial “soft landing?” Or is that just an illusory phase on...

Count me among those who hope for the dawning of the driverless car age to happen soon. If I live long enough, the day will come when someone—my wife, my daughter—will extend their hand to demand the car keys. The prospect of being able to summon a driverless car to take me to the grocery store, hardware store, doctor’s office, theater, etc. is alluring. If I lived in Manhattan, I could take the bus or subway to any place I’d likely want, but public...

Weekly Indicators for October 30 – November 3 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. One way I keep track of the producer side of the economy is via the long leading indicator of corporate profits and the short leading indicator of the stock market. As is implied, the former has a long history of leading the latter. Except that the stock market turned down in 2022 before profits did and...

To detail why this is so important, I turn to Doctor Barry J. Jacobs: “Caregivers, like marathon runners, must learn the lay of the land, find a sustainable pace and accept replenishment along their journey if they have any hope of gamely persevering from start to finish line. With this metaphor in mind, we can say that the family member who accepts this role blindly is akin to the misguided runner in Crocs and jeans with no clue about how far...

“Direct observational evidence supporting this estimate has been lacking. In this study, we show that the model estimate of water redistribution from aquifers to the oceans would result in a drift of Earth’s rotational pole, about 78.48 cm toward 64.16°E.” Drift of Earth’s Pole Confirms Groundwater Depletion as a Significant Contributor to Global Sea Level Rise 1993–2010 – Seo – 2023 – Geophysical Research Letters – Wiley Online Library Open...

New Deal democrat’s October Jobs report is again featured at Angry Bear. You can also pick-up the September 2023 Jobs Report from the link at the end of this report. This is the most complete monthly review on Unemployment Rate, average hourly earnings (minus management), which way job growth or decline is going, and a summary. NDd also writes at Seeking Alpha and does a Weekly Indicator Report there also. He has been writing at Angry Bear for a few...

In a previous post, I mentioned an effective way to curtail illegal immigration—require all employees to be screened through E-Verify—and some reasons why it won’t be adopted. Another disincentive to deterring illegal immigration is that it subsidizes Social Security and Medicare:“ . . . illegal immigrants as a group are net contributors who partially pay into the trust funds while receiving little in return, but amnesty would transform them into net...

Initial claims: were the recent lows just unresolved seasonality after all?  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose 5,000 to a 7 week high of 217,000 this week. The 4 week moving average rose 2,000 to 210,000 from its 9 month low of 208,000 last week. With the usual one week delay, continuing claims continued their recent sharp ascent, up 35,000 to 1.818 million. Aside from 2 weeks in April, this is the highest level of continuing...

I see where the latest gambit by House Republicans is to tie Ukraine aid to immigration “reform.” Setting aside the fact that aid to Ukraine is, like most foreign aid, a subsidy for US business, the linkage to immigration is a red herring. All the current approaches are failing, are doomed, and are a waste of taxpayer money, something the GOP pretends to care about.I’ve long held that the solution to most undocumented immigration is to reduce...