Tag Archives: US EConomics

The President, Joe Biden, talking about the economy. In many ways, he made the right moves in protecting us from a reoccurrence of a similar 2008 event. This came after WallStreet blew up the economy by gambling, could not ante up, and government did not put enough on the table to rescue the economy. Main Street paid . . . February 15, 2023, Letters from an American, Prof. Heather Cox Richardson President Joe Biden hit the road today to...

Slight decline in housing construction: the negative actual economic impact has not yet begun  – by New Deal democrat Housing permits (gold) increased slightly in January from their December lows, while the more volatile housing starts (blue) declined again. The much less volatile single family permits (red, right scale) also declined again to a new post-pandemic low: This is a very important long leading indicator, and shows that coming...

Initial claims: nobody is getting laid off, but slight weakness in continuing claims compared with 2022  – by New Deal democrat Initial claims remained below 200,000 at 195,000, while the 4 week average increased very slightly to 189,500. Continuing claims increased to 1,696,000, the third highest number in over a year: Holiday seasonality has ended. It continues to be the case that almost nobody is getting laid off. Very slightly on the...

I was catching up with what is going on in the courts. Went to my favorite reference point which involves the ABA and what Lawyer Erwin Chemerinsky thinks. Some commentary on Student Loan forgiveness. SCOTUS will decide if states are suffering from forgiveness of loans. If they collect nothing, which will be the issue, then what is the problem? ~~~~~~~~ The State of Texas filed suit in their favorite pick-of-the-day federal court. Filing in...

My Thoughts I am not sure what Prof. Dean means by elites. Was looking for an explanation. It may have zoomed by me if it is not obviously called out. In the beginning of his commentary, we read of declining population in China. The makeup of the population is older. Been there numerous times going from plant to plant and working with my counterparts there. Marvelous country to explore with the assistance of my associates there. Making the leap...

Despite sharp rebounds in retail sales and manufacturing production, both metrics are on the cusp of being recessionary  – by New Deal democrat Retail sales for January rose strongly in January,up 30% in nominal terms and up 2.4% after accounting for inflation. While that looks great, it only reverses the two downward readings of November and December, and is similar to the reversal last January. This makes me think that there is unresolved...

I believe Ford reported $2.2 billion in losses in 2022 writing down the value of two big investments, struggling with high costs, and also supply chain problems. In 2023, there is still going to be volatility on chips, On the older chips used in the auto industry, there is still capacity constraint.” I also can’t image funding two different teams, one for EVs and the other for gasoline vehicles is helping either. Ford’s Troubles Deepen Fast,...

Measured by actual rather than fictitious prices, inflation is decelerating substantially towards the Fed target ADDENDUM: the huge impact of shelter  – by New Deal democrat For the last year, consumer prices have mainly been about two things: (1) the huge rise, and then fall, in gas prices; and (2) the phantom menace of owner’s equivalent rent (OER) dragging shelter prices higher, even as actual house prices peaked, and new rental...

I saw the announcement up at Infidel753 Blog in his Link Roundup for February 12th. I am using Railway Age for the news of the settlement between CSX and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) and the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) on February 7. On February 10, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (NCFO) also reached agreement with...

The #1 likely reason I suspect the economy has not gone into recession yet  – by New Deal democrat I’ve been reading increasing talk about the fabled “soft landing,” or alternatively, “rolling recession.”  For example, over the weekend Liz Ann Sonders of Schwab told “Wall Street Week” that housing is already in a recession, but the larger services side of the economy was still in good shape. Let me start out by noting that the goods side of...