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

US crude at 24 month low, gasoline at 22 month low, total supplies at 42 month low

Focus on Fracking: US crude supplies at a 24 month low, gasoline supplies at a 22 month low, total supplies at a 42 month low; August global oil shortage was 2.77 million barrels per day Natural gas prices at 7 1/2 year high near a 12 year high before falling back; US crude supplies at […]

August housing construction shows stabilization, following interest rate moderation

August housing construction shows stabilization, following interest rate moderation This morning’s report on August housing permits and starts shows that the stabilizing of mortgage rates in the past few months has now stabilized housing construction. Housing starts increased 3.9% m/m, and total permits increased 6.0%. The less volatile single-family permits increased 0.6%. As a result, […]

We’ve been over this before . . .

I have found Ten Bears in our comments section from time to time. I also followed the link to his blog “Homeless on the High Desert” and read a few of his posts. In “We’ve been over this before . . . ,” Ten Bears makes the point of migrants, people leaving their homeland to […]

Yes, the covid epidemic is undermining trust in government . . . just not for the reason you may think

Disasters and threats tend to be politically unifying.  Public approval of George W. Bush jumped after the 9/11 attacks, and trust in government increased.  Donald Trump’s approval rating was highly stable due to increasing polarization, but even he enjoyed a small increase in approval at the start of the covid epidemic, and trust in government […]

Median household income and housing affordability

Median household income and housing affordability Let’s take a look at the affordability (or not!) of housing since there is no economic news of note today (Monday). Last week the Census Bureau released their annual report on median household income for the US, covering 2020. Since this is the best measure to gauge housing affordability, […]

Healthcare Articles from My In Box

Trip Notes Slept > 8-hours last night. Took off from Las Vegas, New Mexico yesterday morning and headed to Holbrook, Arizona.. If you are ever near Los Vegas NV, you might want to stay in The Plaza hotel, a blast from the past, still done up with a nineteen century interior. Bourbon was good as […]

CPI Rose .3% on Prices for Food, Energy, New Vehicles

CPI Rose 0.3% in August on Higher Prices for Food, Energy, New Vehicles, Furniture and Appliances; Commenter and Blogger RJS at MarketWatch 666 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Consumer Price Index: All Items for the United States [USACPIALLMINMEI], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USACPIALLMINMEI, September 19, 2021. The consumer price […]

Weekly Indicators for September 13 – 17 at Seeking Alpha

 by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for September 13 – 17 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. Despite the fact that Delta has been almost as bad as last winter’s wave of infections, which was the worst to date, and has been almost as bad in terms of deaths as […]