Tag Archives: US EConomics

Why has residential building construction remained so strong, despite the recessionary-level decline in permits and starts?  – by New Deal democrat As an initial note, there is no economic news today. For obvious reasons there won’t be on Thursday or Friday either. So, don’t be surprised if I take a couple of days off as well. In the meantime, I’ve been continuing to ponder why housing under construction remains close to its all-time, 50+...

It is hard to overstate the transformational public health benefits of anti-hypertensives and statins for blood pressure and serum cholesterol control. For a modest cost, these drugs not only mitigate human suffering but save billions, if not trillions, of dollars by avoiding costly surgical interventions.The repurposing of anti-diabetic drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide for weight loss in obese populations promises to be similarly...

Weekly Indicators for November 13 – 17 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. After a brief pause, the coincident indicators have continued to improve. There are now very few that are not positive. The spotlight therefore remains on the short leading indicators, as to which manufacturing has not declined enough to tip the economy into recession, and construction has not declined...

Housing construction continues to support subdued expansion  – by New Deal democrat Yesterday I wrote of how manufacturing has faded somewhat as a leading indicator, at least in the sense that it takes a steeper downturn than it used to in order to forecast a wider downturn in the economy. Which makes the other big goods-producing sector, construction, even more important. And residential housing is the single most component of that.  And...

October industrial and manufacturing production tank – but it’s all about the UAW strike  – by New Deal democrat Industrial production historically has been the King of Coincident Indicators, turning up and down coincident with the onset and end of recessions in the past. But there are signs that has changed in the past 20+ years since China was admitted to normal trade relationships with the US. Because manufacturing is a much smaller share of...

A rewrite by me combining several articles . . . “Go woke, go broke,” cited by one billionaire.” The implication? The ongoing culture war and economic policies of northeastern states had facilitated the migration of wealth and economic power to the South. California has the highest marginal tax rate in the nation. California also has had the second lowest out-migration rate among households earning $200,000 or more during roughly the past...

Bidenomics, a campaign slogan and a new approach. “Policy-making with the North Star rebalancing power in the economy fostering the industries we need, supporting workers’ demands for higher wages, and more economic security.”  Open Thread November 13 2023 – What happens to employment when the minimum wage is increased? Angry Bear Tags: Bidenomics...

Cleaning out my In-Box of articles. Tried this a while back. There are a lot of daily topics I receive in my in-box. I do not get a chance to post about the topics after I quickly read them. Rather than just delete them, I thought I would post some of them at Angry Bear which may interest readers. ~~~~~~~~ Where and how do ACA marketplace enrollments happen? xpostfactoid, Andrew Sprung. Most enrollments on HealthCare.gov…aren’t on...

Initial claims rise, but remain below the caution threshold  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose 13,000 to 231,000 in the past week. The 4 week moving average increased 7,750 to 220,250. With a one week lag, continued claims rose 32,000 to 1.865 million: I had speculated that the big decline in claims through September may have been affected by some unresolved post-pandemic seasonality, and the last several weeks have...

When I start to get comments and questions from some of the more expert authorities on healthcare such as Merrill Gooz, Andrew Sprung, Steve Early (Suzanne Gordon), and Kip Sullivan; I start to feel pretty good about some of my commentaries or comments. This last go around on Gooz News in the comments section, we were talking about “Fee For Service” Medicare and “Medicare Advantage” plans. The one issue I am experiencing is a 67% increase in the...