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

Disposable time as a common-pool resource VI — Withholding labour

Disposable time as a common-pool resource VI — Withholding labour Superficially, it might seem that the individual worker can deny access to an employer offering unsuitable terms. But it is here we need to factor in that peculiarity of labour-power noted by the silk weaver, William Longson, that a day’s labour not sold on the […]

Not even a Fig Leaf

Senate Republicans are being dispicable as usual. They manage to combine bad intent and pathetic incompetence in a display which must delight all right thinking people. The issue is the debt ceiling. For months Mitch McConnell has asserted both that the debt ceiling shall and must be raised and that he plans to blame Democrats […]

Immune Memory

One non horrible effect of the Covid 19 epidemic is that people have become interested in immunology. I am pleased by this, but have the sense that journalists over-simplify. Roughly they act as if the immune system consists of circulating antibodies and killer t-cells. I think this post might be of some interest to some […]

The libertarian attack on vaccines, vaccine mandates, truth, and accountability at the Brownstone Institute

On November 10, 2021 (I think), the Brownstone Institute posted an article entitled “20 Essential Studies that Raise Grave Doubts about COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates” by Paul Elias Alexander.  Alexander’s essay featured selective quotations, misleading spin, and (arguably) fabrication.  I wrote up a lengthy response to Alexander’s article, but never finalized my take.  Then today I […]

Get A Booster shot

Many months and many mutations ago, I argued that one shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was enough to protect against the original Sars Cov2. Since then delta. It doesn’t especially evade, but is more generally fit and I thought (and probably didn’t post) that two shots are needed given delta. Now omicron. Pfizer just claimed […]

The Biden Administration had better come up with a ‘Plan B’

Coronavirus dashboard for December 7: since further mass vaccination could only happen at gunpoint, the Biden Administration had better come up with a ‘Plan B, New Deal democrat No significant economic news today, so let’s catch up a little bit with Covid. There are still distortions in the 7 day average data, as States did […]

A Racist Screed in the New York Times

Peter Dorman, Econospeak, A Racist Screed in the New York Times Really bad, misguided, even malicious writing serves a purpose, showing in extreme form the faults that, more subtly expressed, can pass under the radar.  That’s my reaction to this execrable column from today’s New York Times on the violation the author felt when her front lawn […]

SPR at an 18-1/2 Year Low, Gasoline Supplies Up

Blogger RJS, Focus on Fracking, Strategic Petroleum Reserve is at an 18 1/2 Year Low; Gasoline Supplies Rose by Most in 22 Weeks on a 22 Week Low in Demand The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the week ending November 26th […]

OPEC Increases Oil Production, Natural Gas Prices Fell the Most in Almost 8 Years

Blogger RJS, Focus On Fracking, OPEC Decides to Increase Production, Natural Gas Prices Fall by the most in 8 years and maybe most ever Oil for the sixth consecutive week this week, as OPEC decided to increase production even as a Omicron surge loomed . . . after falling 10.4% to $68.15 a barrel last […]