Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Households are getting much more overextended

Real income and – especially – spending increase in April, but households are getting much more overextended by NewDealdemocrat In April nominal personal income rose 0.4%, and spending rose 0.9%. March’s spending was revised up from 1.1% to 1.4%. In more good news, the personal consumption deflator, i.e., the relevant measure of inflation, rose only 0.2%, […]

And Babies?

And Babies? Uvalde = My Lai. This is not hyperbole. War crimes are an inevitable byproduct of war. Mass shootings are an inevitable byproduct of militarism and a militarized culture.  The same political process that led to and perpetuated the war in Vietnam continues to perpetuate the slaughter of innocents in American schools, supermarkets, nightclubs, subways, […]

Real money supply declines sharply; another leading indicator for recession next year

Real money supply declines sharply; another leading indicator for recession next year  Real M1 declined -0.8% in April, and real M2 declined by -0.7%, following March declines of -1.0% for each: These have been the sharpest monthly declines since 2005: Real money supply is a long leading indicator, as shown in the below graph of […]

Punctuation And The Second Amendment

Punctuation And The Second Amendment  For most of American history since the Second Amendment was adopted the courts interpreted it as tying the second portion of the amendment to the first part of it. Thus the “right to bear arms” was tied to the need to establish a “well-regulated militia.” The “state” was seen as […]

Initial and continuing jobless claims continue moderating trend

Initial and continuing jobless claims continue moderating trend Initial jobless claims declined 8,000 to 210,000 last week, continuing above the recent 50+ year low of 166,000 set in March. Meanwhile, the 4-week average rose by another 7,250 to 206,750, compared with the all-time low of 170,500 set seven weeks ago.  Continuing claims also rose from […]

A Certain Model of an Ideal Man

Kind of how we got to today’s environment of protecting various types of bullet-spewing-weapons. May 26, 2022 Professor Heather Cox Richardson One of the key things that drove the rise of the current Republican Party was the celebration of a certain model of an ideal man, patterned on the image of the American cowboy. Republicans […]

American Impotence

American Impotence “The evenly-divided Senate approved the legislation – formally known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – on Wednesday in an 88-11 vote, garnering strong support from both Democrats and Republicans. The House of Representatives passed it by 363-70 last week.” Do Americans really think politicians who eagerly approved a $777 billion military-industrial […]

Duplicity in The Court’s Rulings

I started writing this a while back. Never put it up, was too busy doing other things like writing about healthcare and trying to finish a long post on pharmaceutical pricing replete with how the PBMs function and the kickbacks, discounts, chargebacks or rebates, cash discounts, free goods contingent on a purchase agreement, upfront payments, […]