Tag Archives: US EConomics

In the last post “Trump, Biden Policies Shifted Trade from China, Study Shows,” voanews.com, (read again if needed) we were talking about China sneaking its parts into the US through Mexico and Vietnam. The VOA article is the same as shown on Bloomberg. As you read that post, I think you will see I had real issues with being able to sneak the same Chinese parts out of those countries and into the US. Furthermore, for either country to manufacture...

July JOLTS report: is the game of reverse musical chairs in employment ending?  – by New Deal democrat For the past 18 months, I’ve likened the job market to a game of reverse musical chairs, where there are more chairs put out by potential employers than there are job applicants willing to fill them. Also for many months, I have noted the gradual deceleration in that game. July’s JOLTS report not only continued that trend we’ve seen for the...

Frozen homeowners mean record low inventory, meaning existing home prices have stopped declining  – by New Deal democrat Before discussing this morning’s reports on existing home prices, let’s start with a look at new listings and total active listings of housing inventory, which are very instructive: This information is not seasonally adjusted, and obviously follows a seasonal pattern. The important thing to notice is that since late last...

More detail on California’s Single Payer Bill AB1690. 0223 CA Legal Fact Sheet AB1690 CalCare.pdf, nationalnursesunited.org. Summary Today’s U.S. health care system is a complex, fragmented multi-payer system that still leaves wide gaps of coverage and poses significant issues of affordability. Despite health care spending in the United States far exceeding other high-income, industrialized countries that offer a publicly financed...

Fed rate hikes in the face of declining commodity prices: an analysis of 4 precedents  – by New Deal democrat We live in interesting commodity times. Over the weekend, my latest piece at Seeking Alpha highlighted the strong contrary pulls of higher interest rates and lower commodity prices. While not unique, as we’ll see below, the disconnect is the most severe in 100 years. So let’s start with a comparison of the YoY change in interest...

I was asked by commenter Fred if I would give an update on the US Postal Service. It had been a month so it makes sense to do so. With the centralization of mail pickup by carriers it was said post offices would close as the sorting and bundling would be elsewhere. The Topeka Post Office is the first post office to close as its mail carriers will be picking up mail at the new Sorting & Delivery Center. It will be interesting to see how this...

August 26, 2023, Letters from an American, Professor Heather Cox-Richardson On this date in 1920, the U.S. Secretary of State received the official notification from the governor of Tennessee that his state had ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the amendment, and the last one necessary to make the amendment the law of the land once the secretary of state certified it. He did that as soon...

This is brief commentary is pulled from several sources. It is meant to be an observation. In “Union Booms and Busts,” a new book by the authors Judith Stepan-Norris, Jasmine Kerrissey, a review is taken of the shifting fortunes of U.S. labor, their unions, and of employers and their organizations. This is not meant to be a review of the book; but, I am giving credit to where I am taking the information besides other sites mentioned. It is...

Weekly Indicators for August 21 – 25 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat While I was away on vacation, the high frequency data continued to pour in. And so my Weekly Indicators post for the week is up at Seeking Alpha. There continue to be some very negative signs associated with interest rates, including important things like both purchase and refinancing mortgage applications, both of which are at or near 30 year lows. Not a good sign...

Passing along information on Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, one year out, and the impact on the US. Update on CMS implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act on its 1st anniversary, ACA Signups, Charles Gaba via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (note: this press release actually came out on August 16th): The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was signed into law on August 16, 2022. The new law provides meaningful...