Tag Archives: politics

December manufacturing, new orders both decline further, to readings even more on the cusp of recession  – by New Deal democrat I described last month’s ISM manufacturing reading as being one “on the cusp of recession.” Well, this month’s reading was even cusp-ier. To recapitulate, this index has a very long and reliable history. Going back almost 75 years, the new orders index has always fallen below 50 within 6 months before a recession....

New jobless claims end 2022 on a positive note; preview of tomorrow’s jobs report  – by New Deal democrat Initial claims started off the year – or ended last year if you are technical about it – on a positive note, declining 19,000 to a 3-month low of 204,000. The more important 4 week moving average declined 6,750 to 213,750, a two-month low. Continuing claims for the prior week also declined by 24,000 to 1,694,000 (due to either a software or...

The Republicans have no good options as they cast around for a solution to their speakership problem.  McCarthy can try to make concessions to secure the support of the Freedom Caucus.  These concessions will empower the obstructionists in the FC and will make the House ungovernable.  The result will be interminable gridlock and recriminations at best and a catastrophic debt default at worse.  We’ve been down this road before.  If Boehner couldn’t...

“This Pioneering Economist Says Our Obsession With Growth Must End,” NYT. Portions are (or much) taken from David Marchese’s interview with Herman Daly in 2022. Economist Herman Daly passed on, October 28 in Richmond, Virginia. at the age of 84. What made Herman Daly unique was his embracing of “the counterintuitive possibility our current pursuit of growth, rabid as it is causing such great ecological harm. In turn, the pursuit might be incurring...

November JOLTS report consistent with a continued “hot” labor market  – by New Deal democrat  The JOLTS report for November showed both continuing decelerating trends in some series, but overall a picture of a labor market that continued “hot.” Here’s the graph I ran one month ago of job openings, hires, quits, and total separations: Now here is an update for the past 2 years of all four series: Three of the four series – openings,...

An brief introduction this time to Prof. Heather’s commentary. I am taking the opportunity to embolden the beginning of the three points Prof. Heather makes. Within those points, I also chose to emphasize a part of those points by italicizing them. The cost of healthcare and in this particular instance, insulin is one of those items. The use of Insulin is approximately 100 years old. There is no secret formula or advanced technology to it. One...

Archimedes is said to have to have said, “Give me a place to stand and a lever and I shall move the earth.” They say, “Give us a seat and we will screw up The House of Representatives, the Nation.” They proved it. NRA said, “Here’s some cash.” There is no distance between the Freedom Caucus and the NRA. Forty-two current, give or take, with six of seven from southern states, nine of ten from red states, with noted alumni that include...

“Inequality in annual earnings worsens in 2021.” This report is a couple of weeks old. Still relevant and supports what NDd has been saying as well as others here at Angry Bear. This is taken from EPI. Partial read of a larger report. Details from year twenty-one finds annual wages rising the fastest for the top 1% of earners (up 9.4%) and top 0.1% (up 18.5%) Those in the bottom 90% saw their real earnings fall 0.2% between 2020 and 2021. Workers...

 – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is also up at Seeking Alpha. The volatile coincident consumer numbers bounced higher this week, while another recession indicating system flashed red, suggesting a recession is most likely to start during the 2nd Quarter of 2023. As usual, clicking over and reading my commentary at Seeking Alpha will not only bring you up to the virtual moment as to the economy, but it will bring me a little...

Indeed we are. Tout les mond sommes dans le changement. Change comes sometimes fast, sometimes slow; but always, inexorably. Still and yet, some would deny, attempt to slow down or even stop change. Too few recognize it when they see it. Throughout history, blood has flowed like rivers resultant efforts to slow down or stop change. Our own Civil War, ‘The Great War’, … . Then, they couldn’t, didn’t want to see the changes that were taking place....