r.j. sigmund‘s notes on Covid Metrics It appears all US Covid metrics are now heading down except for deaths, but we can expect deaths to head lower in a week or two as well, as the reduced numbers of those who are newly infected work through the health care system…among the CDC’s “early indicators” “test positivity”, or the percentage of tests for Covid that were positive, fell to 16.3% during the week ending August 31st, after test positivity ...

by Steve Roth Originally Posted at Wealth Economics (June 2023) Recent headline inflation prints are below the Fed’s target, and falling. That news is a powerful tool for controlling expectations, but the Fed’s not using it. 1.5%. That’s the latest headline inflation rate in the U.S. per the May CPI release, and also according to a three-month average of three different inflation indexes that use somewhat different data, baskets, and...

The demise of the ‘Swedish model’ Source The Gini Index quantifies the wealth disparity between the richest and the poorest members of a society. A score of 100 represents perfect inequality. In the 1960s and 1970s Sweden was world-famous for its welfare state and equality. Since then income and wealth disparities have steadily increased. The development in Sweden over four decades has taken us away from what was once a celebrated ‘Swedish model’. ...

I think the imp is my most noticed contribution to the economic discussion. Brad DeLong mentioned the fact that I mentioned him, but called him the inflation expectations imp . Then Paul Krugman mentioned him shortening the name to “the expectations imp”. Alot of time has passed since then during the slow recovery from the great recession. The Federal Reserve OPen Market Committe (FOMC) cut the Federal Funds Rate to the lower limit of 0 – 0.25% but...

23 years ago today. 9/11.

– by New Deal democrat August CPI, with the conspicuous exception of shelter, continued to come in tame. And the list of other “problem children” decreased by 1, as only food away from home (restaurants) and transportation services (motor vehicle insurance and repairs) remain. Let’s get the headlines out of the way:  – Headline CPI continued increased 0.2% for the month, and decelerated to 2.6% YoY, its best showing since February of...

 MMT without naming it.Xu Gao, the Chief Economist and Assistant President of Bank of China International Co. Ltd., and an adjunct professor of the National School of Development (NSD) at Peking University, has been featured on The East is Read several times.On August 19, 2024, Xu published a new essay on his personal WeChat blog 徐高经济观察 Xu Gao Economic Observation. This long essay, essentially making a case for Beijing to adopt stimulus measures, will be rolled out in three parts.Amid...

I was hoping Prof. Heather Cox-Richardson would comment on the Harris-Trump meeting. In her first sentence Prof. Heather states it all about Trump’s approach in meetings. She discusses Clintons and Biden’s foibles in the next two sentences. The following paragraph states it all . . . “how to counter Trump’s dominance displays while also appealing to the American people. “ Candidate Kamala Harris accomplished her mission last night with her...

Robert Reich discusses the Trump – Harris debate or meeting last night (September 10, 2024). As expected, Kamala Harris was the adult in the room schooling Mr. Trump on how to be an adult. It still did not stop his outbursts and wandering off pursuing other avenues of attack. It was good to see the moderators take control when Mr. Trump did wander off. Something that was missing with the Trump – Biden meeting. The results of the meeting?...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]In this discussion, Michael Hudson argues that the real financial threat to the U.S. isn't government debt but rather private debt, especially the student debt crisis, which is exacerbated by policies that prevent bankruptcy relief. He explains that government debt, particularly U.S. Treasury securities, is actually a highly sought-after asset globally, held by foreign central banks and wealthy investors, and is unlikely ever to be fully repaid. Hudson...