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

January JOLTS report shows more (relative) weakening, downward revisions to 2023

January JOLTS report: shows more (relative) weakening, downward revisions to 2023  – by New Deal democrat The JOLTS report for January showed only minor changes compared with December, all to the downside, but was somewhat overshadowed by mainly downward revisions to all of 2023. Starting with the monthly changes, job openings (blue in the graph below), […]

Addressing Credit Card late fees and Supply Chain Pricing

My beef has been with the Supply Chain. Yep, you can be forced into manufacturing less product due to part shortages. Unless you are air freighting that stuff or running OT, costs do not necessarily increase due to producing less. Another situation? In 2008, the calls would come in about raising prices in a take […]

Big Mac Index Measuring Purchasing Power Parity Globally

Wikipedia: The Big Mac Index is a price index published since 1986 by The Economist. It is an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and providing a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries. It “seeks to make exchange-rate theory a bit more digestible. The index compares the relative price worldwide to […]

Commercial Interests Lobbying Against Railroad Safety kill Legislation

A bit of a rewrite on this article. Still a little too long. Talking about railroads, the East Palestine derailment February 2023 crash and how little has been done since then. Outside interests including Koch Industries have been blocking much needed reform through their lobbying of friendly resources in Congress. A good read. Last year’s […]

Real incomes and Presidential approval: most measures did not surpass pre-pandemic levels until 2023, or this year!

Real incomes and Presidential approval: most measures did not surpass pre-pandemic levels until 2023, or this year!  – by New Deal democrat This post is somewhat of a follow-up to one I wrote two weeks ago, about perceptions of income vs. inflation, as well as following up on yesterday’s post considering the electoral implications of […]

What real spending and the unemployment rate portend for the 2024 Presidential election (so far)

A bit behind here as other things have distracted me in AZ. Health being one of them. A double dose of excellent reviews of the economy today. If there is one commentary (if you are rushed) on Angry Bear you should read concerning the economy, it is NDd’s reporting. Spending and Unemployment are in the […]

The USPS Network Consolidation Plan: What’s at Stake for Southern Oregon

The USPS Network Consolidation Plan: What’s at Stake for Southern Oregon, Save the Post Office, Steve Hutkins In 2023, two years into the 10-year plan, USPS reported that the agency had committed $7.6 billion out of a total $40 billion restructuring budget and plans were on track to open 60 new Regional Processing and Distribution Centers across the country […]

Buy an Electric Vehicle or a Hybrid Electric Vehicle?

Another site has a long article on Toyota of it not going whole hog into electric vehicles in the beginning. Meanwhile domestic US automotive companies are proving out the technology with their models. Beyond mentioning the article, I will not delve into its content. That is other than saying it exists and may be a […]

Manufacturing and construction show softness to start the month

Manufacturing and construction show softness to start the month  – by New Deal democrat As usual, the new month’s data starts out with information on manufacturing and construction. The ISM manufacturing index has been a good leading indicator in that sector for 75 years. The difference over time, especially the last 20 years, is that […]

United Healthcare Physician Practice Mergers and Pricing

This is not just Physican practices being bought up. A while back I was writing about hospitals merging with other hospitals and healthcare practices being bought up. The advantage of such is in negotiating rates with insurance companies. ~~~~~~~~ A measurement of the competitiveness of a hospital within a certain area of the country is […]