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

Eastman’s Memo giving Pence Direction on Overturning the 2020 Election

I did not believe I would have to put this up on Angry Bear. Prof. Heather Cox – Richardson in her Letter From An American, October 11, 2021; The Eastman memo, uncovered by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa at the end of September in their new book Peril, flew largely under the radar screen, explained away […]

Employers Added 194M jobs, U3 Down, PR Declined

Blogger RJS, Marketwatch 666, September jobs report September Summary Major agency reports released this past week included the the Employment Situation Summary for September from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the August report on our International Trade from the Commerce Dept, and the Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for August, and the August report on Wholesale Trade, Sales […]

The Passing Of Peter Flaschel And The Bielefeld School Of Macroeconomics

The Passing Of Peter Flaschel And The Bielefeld School Of Macroeconomics  German economist Peter Flaschel died yesterday at age 78.  I am not sure precisely of what, although it was not Covid-19.  He had been in declining health for some years, with a heart problem at least.  Roberto Veneziani, from whom I learned the news, […]

The Origin Of The Terms “Socialism” and “Communism”

The Origin Of The Terms “Socialism” and “Communism”  This is one of those rare times when I post here about my academic research, but on this matter, well, I think this is of broader interest than the usual obscuranta that I usually study academically. So, my wife, Marina, and I were asked to contribute to […]

September jobs report: once again, two very different surveys net to a “relatively” disappointing gain

September jobs report: once again, two very different surveys net to a “relatively” disappointing gain As I previously indicated, two items I was particularly watching for in this morning’s report (Oct. 7) were (1) manufacturing hours and payrolls – to see if that white-hot sector was holding up in the face of supply bottlenecks, and […]

Updated US wealth distribution data shows how bad the Great Recession and its aftermath were, and how effective the pandemic assistance has been

Updated US wealth distribution data shows how bad the Great Recession and its aftermath were, and how effective the pandemic assistance has been   The desert of new economic data this week continues today. But last week the Fed released its quarterly data on wealth distribution in the US, and it shows an important point […]

A slow grind in new and continued claims as Covid’s effects gradually transition from pandemic to endemic

A slow grind in new and continued claims as Covid’s effects gradually transition from pandemic to endemic Jobless claims declined 38,000 this week to 326,000, still 14,000 above the September 4 pandemic low of 312,000. The 4 week average rose 3,500 to 344,000, 8,250 above their September 18 pandemic low of 335,750: Continuing claims declined […]