Some Points . . . Healthcare services slight increases as a share of total consumer spending in the quarter, rising from 15.9 percent to 16.0 percent of total consumption and down from 17+ percent. Hopes are healthcare stays at that rate. Structure investment increases at a 9.7 percent annual rate after growing at a 15.8 […]

Delightful story on how US pharmaceutical companies shift profits overseas. And US citizens are paying the highest prices globally for lifesaving meds which other countries our paying roughly one third. Pharma is also shifting their profits overseas and minimizing US taxes or tax avoidance. One way to avoid taxes is to move intellectual property to […]

Jobless claims: a good example of why my forecasting discipline demands a confirmed trend  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims for the last week of July rose 6,000 to 227,000. The 4 week average decreased -5,500 to 228,250. Continuing claims, with a one week lag, rose 21,000 to 1.7 million: The YoY% change […]

This is an abbreviated version of a Canadian trial which examines whether eliminating out-of-pocket costs would improve the health of people taking the medications by making drugs less costly. The greater impact was amongst lower income participants who may not take drugs as prescribed to lengthen a refill timetable. The elimination of out-of-pocket medication costs […]

Survey (NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist) finds 53% of Americans think addressing climate crisis should be given priority and 72% of Republicans say the economy should be. June and July were, by many measures, the hottest such months on record. Wildfires are raging across the world, in the US notably in California and Nevada. Smoke from fires in Canada has blotted […]

June’s JOLTS report: slow progress towards a new equilibrium  – by New Deal democrat Yesterday’s JOLTS report for June captured a labor market that continues to move towards a new equilibrium, mainly via a gradual decline in job openings compared with labor availability. In other words, for the umpteenth time, “deceleration.” Job openings and actual hires […]

This article came by way of Dale Coberly. In particular, Dale thought making student loans the responsibility of universities rather than students was enlightening. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a new economic plan Monday as part of his 2024 presidential bid that includes a goal of easing the path for student loans to be discharged […]

“About 90 minutes before the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Monday the cuts in payments to healthcare givers of badly injured motorists don’t apply to those injured before June 2019, one of those survivors died in a Farmington Hills hospital following a two-year struggle to maintain his quality of life and health. Sixty-four year old Brian […]

Manufacturing and construction give very mixed signals to start Second Half 2023 data  – by New Deal democrat As usual, the month’s data started out with the ISM manufacturing report for last month, and construction spending for the month before last. Additionally, I am going to take a look at motor vehicle production, because I […]

AB: This a good coverage on healthcare in the US as compared to other countries. It is long. It also has many charts and graphs rather than words. This is why I posted this at Angry Bear. It is easy to grasp the implications. U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2022, Commonwealth Fund, Munira […]