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

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 […]

January personal income and spending: Goldilocks is knocking at the door

January personal income and spending: Goldilocks is knocking at the door  – by New Deal democrat Personal income and spending has become one of the two most important monthly reports I follow, because it nets out the impacts of higher interest rates and abating inflation due to the unlinking of the supply chain. Because real […]

Black journalists always knew what Confederate monuments really stood for

A way-to-long-time in coming. These monuments should have been removed decades ago to begin the healing the wounds caused by Black Slavery. A good read by Donovan Schaefer as taken from The Conversation. October 2023 and nearly seven years after the deadly Unite the Right white supremacist rally, the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in […]

Initial jobless claims still very positive, especially YoY

Initial claims still very positive, especially YoY  – by New Deal democrat Before I get to this morning’s personal income and spending report, let’s get the latest weekly update to jobless claims out of the way. New jobless claims rose 13,000 to 215,000, while the four-week moving average declined -3,000 to 212,500. Continuing claims, contrarily, […]

Stand your ground

When we moved to Missouri in 1982, it was a purple state. In the last decade, it has become progressively more extreme right-wing. Now, in Missouri and more than 30 other states, each citizen is their own well regulated militia with the powers of judge, jury and executioner. Law-abiding citizens become collateral damage with no […]

Supreme Court Decides on hearing trump’s Immunity Appeal

As told to us by Joyce Vance at Civil Discourse. This afternoon, the Supreme Court told us that it will hear Trump’s presidential immunity appeal. After sitting on it for two and a half weeks, they’ve issued a brief grant of certiorari, scheduling argument for the week of April 22. It’s a major disappointment for […]

The state of freight

The state of freight  – by New Deal democrat There’s no significant economic news today. Yesterday we did get durable goods orders, which are an official leading indicator. I don’t pay too much attention to them, because they are so volatile. Thus yesterday’s big -6.1% decline (blue in the graph below) is more likely than […]