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

Weekly Indicators for November 23 – 27 at Seeking Alpha

 by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for November 23 – 27 at Seeking Alpha A little later than usual, my Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. While there has been no big deterioration, there are further slight signs that the out of control pandemic is taking a toll on the recovery that has been […]

Unprecedented

Unprecedented  It occurs to me that our current president has engaged in a rather large number of actions that are unprecedented by any other president, as well as some only rarely happening and not for a long time, many of which for nearly all other politicians would make them viewed as simply unacceptable for being […]

“with our breathtaking landscapes and wide-open spaces, we’re a place to safely explore.”

South Dakota: the Land of the Free. Celebrate what makes America great, and experience the Great Faces and Great Places of South Dakota. This is a bit of old news from September. Both South and North Dakota have emerged as the nations hot spots for Covid infections even though sparsely populated per square mile and […]

Don’t Pay Your Rent? Go to Jail in Arkansas

Arkansas is the only state where landlords can file criminal charges rather than civil complaints against tenants for falling behind on rent. Gee, whata surprise! As picked up from Crooks and Liars and originally reported by ProPublica – When Falling Behind on Rent Leads to Jail Time, ProPublica. An Arkansas prosecutor has been fired after […]

State Medicaid Reported Enrollment Compared to CMS’s Reports and Covid’s Impact on Medicaid

I get commentary (in my emails) from xpostfactoid who writes on healthcare issues and also does a yeoman’s function not found elsewhere  in reconciling ACA signups, the differences between the penalty-mandate vs no penalty-mandate, Medicaid signups by state in both expansion and non-expansion states, and lately the impact on Medicaid due to the Covid-19 pandemic. […]

October personal income declines, but still well above pre-pandemic peak; increased likelihood of negative pandemic reversal in jobless claims

October personal income declines, but still well above pre-pandemic peak; increased likelihood of negative pandemic reversal in jobless claims Before I turn to this week’s report on jobless claims, a brief word first about October’s personal income and spending. Although personal income declined in October compared with September, more importantly depending on how you measure […]

Is Bitcoin A Bubble?

Is Bitcoin A Bubble?  We have all thought so, with no income and nothing backing it, and it went zooming from nearly nothing to over $19,000, only to fall back hard down to around $3000, where it more or less hung out for a couple of years with the occasional up to $6000 or so.  […]

What Trump’s claim of a ‘stolen election’ means for activists today

George Lakey has played a part in direct action campaigns for over six decades. He has recently retired from Swarthmore College. Some of history giving him a background in social issues include being arrested in the civil rights movement and most recently in the climate justice movement. George has facilitated 1,500 workshops on five continents […]

Where do libertarians stand on race? Glad you asked.

Almost all Americans agree that the government should not actively discriminate against blacks and other racial groups, and most believe that private race discrimination should be prohibited as well.  Many people would go further and support efforts to reduce the large racial disparities that persist in America despite formal legal injunctions against discrimination.  Some believe […]