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

Extending the Legacy of the 2001, 2003, and 2017 Republican Tax Breaks

AB: I am always looking for these types of articles. They offer up explanations on how certain government policies and acts impact the nation’s economy and its citizens. Been a while since I looked at the 2001 and 2003 tax breaks. Steve Roth and I were exchanging emails on the more recent Republican 2017 tax […]

Recent Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Decisions

Recent end-of-session SCOTUS Decisions. In no particular order. Still, some are left to be decided. SCOTUS Decisions by Amy Howe SCOTUS Blog (except where cited from elsewhere) Are there no Union workhouses? The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigor? Compliments to Scrooge . . . Grants Pass v. Johnson was decided in […]

Real income and spending in May a nice rebound, but watch the caution flags in manufacturing sales and goods spending

 – by New Deal democrat Personal income and spending, in addition to the jobs report, has become one of the most important monthly reports I follow, mainly because I am looking for signs that the contractionary effects of Fed tightening are finally taking effect. To cut to the chase, this month’s report was mainly positive, […]

The economics of rare disease therapies

I came of age scientifically at the beginning of the cloning era. As various genes associated with human genetic disorders—sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s—were cloned, the papers reporting these successes always ended with some statement that now the door was open to therapy. These prophecies proved to be wildly optimistic. Now, with […]

The debate

The long term effect of the debate may be small, but the race is at best a tie, and I just don’t see how Biden can turn it around.  I’m not saying he should drop out or that his candidacy is doomed.  He still may be the Dems best bet.  Maybe the outcry about his […]

The return of disposable time: time filled with the presence of the now

Book proposal: Marx’s Fetters and the Realm of Freedom: a remedial reading — part 2.9 by Tom Walker Econospeak Framing the revolution as being about disposable time brings Marx closer to Walter Benjamin’s remark about revolution being “the act by which the human race traveling in the train applies the emergency brake.” Benjamin’s “On the […]

“lawsuits alleging that OxyContin sparked an opioid epidemic”

I have been writing on the Opioid epidemic for years. I was asked to write on it by some organizations. SCOTUS tossing the settlement may be due to the settlement releasing the Sacklers from any liability in promotion and the sale of Oxycontin, etc. Supreme Court tosses opioid settlement worth billions for states, victims, USA […]

The picayune approach to statutory interpretation and the war on the regulatory state:  the case of bump stocks

Imagine that Congress wants to address some social or economic problem by prohibiting certain undesirable acts.  One approach Congress can take is to specifically describe the undesirable behavior and prohibit it.  This approach sometimes works well – it is the basis of traditional criminal law – but it has two great disadvantages.  First, in many […]