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

Initial claims, Expansion, and Employment

Initial claims continue to forecast expansion; further slight deceleration in employment, unemployment, and wages most likely tomorrow  – by New Deal democrat This morning we had our last look at initial jobless claims before tomorrow’s November jobs report. On a weekly basis, claims rose 1,000 to 221,000. The four week average rose 500 to 220,750. […]

Defying the Supreme Court:  an idea whose time has not come

Mark Tushnet is a leading critic of the Supreme Court and of the way judicial review is practiced today in the United States.  Following the Court’s recent decision on affirmative action, Tushnet and Aaron Belkin wrote an open letter urging President Biden to defy the Supreme Court (my bold): We urge President Biden to restrain […]

Manufacturing’s shift out of China is the shipping corridors

Manufacturing’s shift out of China is shaking up shipping, qz.com), Mary Hui AB: This is kind of along the lines of what I was involved in with manufacturing overseas and moving components to various countries from the US. We would plan the necessary materials to a planned ship date. We would ship to Thailand, Philippines, […]

Real consumer spending forecasts continuing jobs deceleration

What is interesting about NDd’s latest is his identifying manufacturing playing “a much smaller role in the total US economy now than it used to in the decades after WW2.” He identifies another factor occurring before the start of a recession. It has become increasingly necessary for spending on services to falter as well. Real […]

Open Thread December 6 2023 Vice President Harris

“casts record-setting vote in Senate.” Vice President Harris on Tuesday cast her 32nd tiebreaking vote to confirm Loren L. AliKhan to be a U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia — making history with the most deciding votes in the chamber by a vice president. Open Thread November 28 2023 Housing Buy or Rent? […]

Why vote?

On our trip to Colorado for Thanksgiving, the boarding announcements for each flight began with an invitation to active service people and veterans to board first, always followed with “thank you for your service.” People join the military for many reasons. Some out of a sense of patriotism, others because that was the best-paying job […]

October JOLTS report: yet one more month in the ongoing decelerating trend

October JOLTS report: yet one more month in the ongoing decelerating trend  – by New Deal democrat  All of the major metrics in this month’s JOLTS report for October continued to show deceleration. Here are openings (blue), hires (red), and quits (gold), all normed to 100 just before the pandemic: As you can see, at […]

Oral argument December 23 2023, Harrington v. Purdue Pharma

Court conflicted over Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan that shields Sacklers from liability, SCOTUSblog, Amy Howe. Conflicted? There is nothing to be conflicted about with Purdue and the US Opioid Epidemic. As was pointed out repeatedly. The Supporting Facts Leading to the Cause of the Opioid Epidemic is pretty simple. Purdue promoted the use of opioids […]

A big increase holds up construction spending in October; and construction spending is holding up the economy

On a YoY basis manufacturing is the star of the show. But note from the historical graph that residential construction previously has turned down first, with manufacturing and other non-residential construction lagging (likely because of long lead times and the extended duration of completing projects). A big increase holds up construction spending in October; and […]