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

September consumer inflation: headline closing in on the Fed’s target

– by New Deal democrat Today’s CPI report for September came in almost exactly as I suggested it would in my preview yesterday. To wit:  – Headline CPI continued increased 0.2% for the month, and decelerated to 2.4% YoY, its best showing since February of 2021.   – On a 3 month annualized basis, prices are […]

1st Look at Local Housing Markets in September

by Bill McBride Calculated Risk Newsletter NOTE: The tables for active listings, new listings and closed sales all include a comparison to September 2019 for each local market (some 2019 data is not available). This is the first look at several early reporting local markets in September. I’m tracking over 40 local housing markets in […]

Initial jobless claims: welcome back to hurricane season

 – by New Deal democrat Step away from the ledge, everybody; and pay no attention to the DOOOMers, who are surely out in force this morning: the big increase in initial claims was almost all about Hurricane Helene. By the numbers, initial claims increased 33,000 to 258,000, the highest number since August 2023. The four […]

COVID infection can cause brain damage

I’ve posted here before about herd immunity. Prior to inoculation/vaccination, herd immunity was the result of enough people dying or surviving that the transmission of the disease (plague, smallpox, etc) was arrested in that population until the next generation of uninfected people grew up, whereupon the substrate for another round of death appeared. But let’s […]

Biden administration’s recovery package got back these jobs in less than a year and a half

I very much agree with these findings. With Trump, the nation and labor would have floundered. WE are lucky he had the wherewithal to act quickly with the right stimulus to support job growth. Two months after Dean’s post the nation is still going strong. Christmas maybe good for many. U.S. Workers are Far Better […]

Healthcare Insurance Benefits In 2024: Higher Premiums Persist

This is just a partial of a much longer commentary by Health Affairs on Employer healthcare insurance for single employees am employees with families. “Health Benefits In 2024: Higher Premiums Persist, Employer Strategies for GLP-1 Coverage and Family-Building Benefits,” Health Affairs. I have used two of the charts to emphasis what is occurring. The first […]

Real aggregate payrolls and inflation preview for September

Real aggregate payrolls and inflation preview for September  – by New Deal democrat Tomorrow consumer prices for September will be reported. It’s almost certain that the best short term forecasting tool from the employment report, real aggregate payrolls, will increase once again. Let’s take a more detailed look. Post-pandemic, nominally aggregate payrolls have increased relentlessly. […]

If you can’t deliver standard medical care, get out of the hospital business

While I was raised Roman Catholic, I had already rejected the RCC teaching on abortion by the time I started high school. That teaching was not grounded in the Bible, nor was it grounded in biological science. Most human conceptuses never make it to term, making God the greatest abortionist of all time. And mammalian […]

All About Trump

October 8, 2022 by Prof. Heather Cox-Richardson Letters from an American “It’s been a tradition for more than half a century that the major party candidates for president sit down with 60 Minutes in October,” host Scott Pelley said to the camera last night before 60 Minutes aired an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. This year, both Harris […]