Apparently, JD Vance thinks so.*Not to go all anecdotal here, but in 1981, I bought my first car, a brand-new Mazda GLC hatchback, for $5770. In 2024 dollars, that’s $20,000. It had no radio, no air conditioning and no passenger-side sun visor. My most recent car purchase was a 2013 Honda Fit four-door, which I bought for $15,000. It has a radio and CD player, cruise control, air conditioning, front and side-door air bags and both driver- and...

.[embedded content] Einer der grundlegenden Denkfehler in der heutigen Diskussion über Staatsverschuldung und Haushaltsdefizite ist, dass man nicht zwischen verschiedenen Arten von Schulden unterscheidet. Auch wenn es auf makroökonomischer Ebene zwangsläufig so ist, dass Schulden und Vermögen einander ausgleichen, ist es keineswegs unerheblich, wer die Vermögen besitzt und wer die Schulden trägt. Lange Zeit war man zurückhaltend, die öffentlichen Schulden zu...

by Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American AB: More dialogue on the less than 3% increase in inflation. The July report for consumer prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which came out today, showed that prices rose less than 3% in the previous twelve months. Core inflation has fallen to its lowest rate since April 2021. For well over a year, wages have grown faster than inflation. President Joe Biden cheered the news but...

AB: Run down on the Trump – Musk Get Together by Bill Kristol I’m grateful to Andrew for listening to Donald Trump and Elon Musk last night and sparing me that unpleasantness. But I did listen to some of the clips this morning. Here’s my take: Trump’s awful. This is, I acknowledge, not breaking news. Trump’s awfulness has been so obvious for so long, and we now take it so much for granted, that it seems silly or gauche to point it...

Workers are getting $3/hour. Usually, we tip well beyond 20% of the bill. Maybe it is just because we struggled at times. Some of AZ’s legislators should be working for $3/hour and getting tips if they do a good job in the legislature. It does not appear they are representing people. The last go around I sat through was a House Committee meeting on HOAs which in Arizona are big business. One Rep did not like it when I said during the meeting his...

Consumer Price Index – July 2024 (bls.gov) The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, after declining 0.1 percent in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the All items index increased 2.9 percent before seasonal adjustment. The index for shelter rose 0.4 percent in July, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the monthly increase in...

It’s not coming back. This is a fake out. 

– by New Deal democrat The CPI for July continued all of the trends I have been writing about for the past year or more:  – Headline and core CPI continue to slowly decelerate.   – energy inflation is non-existent  – shelter inflation remains very elevated but continues to declerate, following house prices.  – all prices except for shelter coming in near or below the Fed’s 2% target  – there are a few other problem children that...

Economics Textbooks Are Stuck in Time!

"It's bleedingly obvious in the data, and they ignore it because credit's not part of their model." --- Join ~10,000 Other Truth-Seekers by Downloading my new 'Funny Money' Bundle for Free at https://new.stevekeenfree.com Are you an engineer, finance, or IT professional? If you are, the 7-Week Rebel Economist Challenge is for you. If you qualify, I will work closely with you every week to install 50+ years of real economics into you, in only 7 weeks. Working closely with the 5...