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

Consumer income and spending continued to power ahead in October

Despite a few soft spots, consumer income and spending continued to power ahead in October  – by New Deal democrat The monthly personal income and spending report is along with the jobs report, one of the two most important coincident metrics for the entire economy, because it is a fairly comprehensive look at the consumer […]

A new rule that would grant exemptions on swap trades

Here we are agin, trying to make it easier to trade derivatives. Never mind the lessons we thought we learned when Goldman Sachs called on AIG to ante up. There were little in reserve for the swaps and AIG was ready to collapse. Congress and the Fed (or reverse) saved them and the economy. The […]

Despite the continuing elevation of continued claims, initial claims signal continued expansion

Despite the continued elevation of continued claims, initial claims signal continued expansion  – by New Deal democrat I’ll comment on personal income and spending later this morning, but let’s start out with our weekly update on jobless claims. Initial claims rose 7,000 to 218,000, while the 4 week average declined -500 to 220,000. With a […]

Media still will not cover Trump after years of his lies

Commenter and reader J.P. Mc Jefferson linked to this Lawrence O’Donnell Youtube article “Media still not ready to cover Trump after years of his lies.” It appears; Donald Trump called on the government to “come down hard” on MSNBC and not one major broadcast news network covered it. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell explains why this is […]

In-Box Topics which May Be of Interest

Briefly, every morning I get an array of emails in my In-Box offering up what they think can be interesting reads. I would definitely read Economist David Zetland student’s writings on water shortages in other countries. Most Interesting Read Economist David Zetland’s Students Studying the Impact of Water Shortage in Europe, The one-handed economist, The […]

Presidential Campaign Politics November 2023

November 28, 2023, Letters from an American, Prof. Heather Cox Richardson I broke this down into various topics which makes it a bit more directed. Prof. Heather covers broad and interesting territory on the nation’s political activities. Pence: Here at home, the 2024 presidential campaign is heating up. This morning, Katherine Faulders, Mike Levine, and […]

Forecasting a further upturn in the unemployment rate: what works?

Forecasting a further upturn in the unemployment rate: what works?  – by New Deal democrat Yesterday I read a post over at Seeking Alpha in which the author confidently predicted a recession in Q1 next year, based exclusively on the NAHB builder sentiment index. Here’s his accompanying graph, comparing builder sentiment with the unemployment rate […]

Electricity Statistics by Month and Overall – United States

AB: IEA will not allow me to change any wording. Anything in italics or leads with an AB in front is my wording. I believe the following (charts and brief summation) to be a good explanation of where the US stands at far as changes in energy and usage. A little background concerning our home. […]