Tag Archives: US EConomics

“Jawboning, the moral suasion in the context of economics and politics. In action such is the use of authority to persuade various entities to act in certain ways. It can sometimes be underpinned by the implicit threat of future government regulation.” President Joe Biden uses the bully pulpit during the State of the Union address to call for a universal price cap on insulin for all diabetes patients. The proposal is very unlikely to pass the...

This is another inciteful commentary by “annie asks you.” Just like Josh in the movie “Big,” I am raising my hand, stating “I don’t get it.” I don’t get it as to why people would prefer trump over Biden especially after two years of a recovering economy. Maybe many of them were not around for 2007/8 when the nation did not return to normalcy for years after the crash. A politician finally read the tea leaves, the nature of the economy (which is...

February manufacturing and January construction continue negative, while auto sales improve  – by New Deal democrat We started out yet another month of data with bad news in two leading sectors. The ISM manufacturing index has been showing contraction since November, and its more leading new orders subindex since September. And did so again in February, with the total index increasing slightly to 47.7, and the new orders index rebounding...

I am in Arizona these days and watching the state and local area scramble to get developments approved before the Federal Agency in charge of the Colorado River water decides who gets what. I suspect if you have an approved Build, a state will be allowed to build it. The Feds have applied the new restricts and the counties have to show they have a 100-year water supply. Interesting maneuvering in this story. Outside of Phoenix sits a farm. The...

Housing prices continue to come down – like a feather  – by New Deal democrat As I’ve repeated many times in the past 10 years, in housing prices follow sales with a lag. Housing permits and starts both peaked early in 2022, and house prices followed during the summer. This morning the FHFA and Case Shiller house price indexes for December showed continued declines both on a monthly and YoY basis, continuing to presage a similar decline in...

The biggest driver of healthcare cost is simply “pricing” increases reflected in hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare insurance. It was Dr. Donald Berwick while head of Medicare and Medicaid during the 1st half of the Obama administration has said, repeatedly, that at least 1/3 of Medicare dollars ware wasted on unnecessary tests, procedures and drugs that provide no benefit for the patient. Here is Dr. Berwick again discussing healthcare...

Durable goods orders: more deceleration, still no recession  – by New Deal democrat I normally don’t pay too much attention to durable goods orders. That’s because they are very noisy. They don’t always turn down in advance of a recession (see 2007-08), although they may at least stall, and there are a number of false positives as well (see 2016) as shown in the graph below showing up until the pandemic: But in 2022 they were one of the last...

Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) made significant changes to the federal tax code. The major changes were the lowering corporate and individual income tax rates, increasing the standard deduction, reforming child tax benefits, and reforming the corporate international tax system. In an effort to mask its true cost and fit it within cost limits, almost all of the individual and estate tax provisions were set to expire after 2025. Several...

UE is the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America issuing a statement by its Executive Board. In case you are wondering, UE is responsible for transporting train crews. The membership is approximately 2,000. It is interesting to note, their claiming of pricing issues with the transportation of goods across the US. Typically, we see these costs passed along in the form of shortages and/or higher prices. UE is also calling...

Besides fishing for various in district Federal Judges to sponsor Paxton’s lawsuits against the Federal Government, there is Che Ted Cruz – a want-to-be. Student Loan Justice member Jacque Abron calling Ted Cruz out. ‘On student loans’, Letters To Editor, waxahachiesun.com, Jacque Abron at Student Loan Justice The fact that Texas legislators like Ted Cruz are opposing student loan cancellation makes no sense. The state is crushed under $141...