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

Some Angry Bear Updates

Two good commentaries coming up on Angry Bear as written by Joyce Vance and Robert Reich. Both are addressing what is going on with the economy or Black Monday (Reich) and the other by Joyce Vance and the Vice President choice and SCOTUS issues. Both are good commentaries. Got another on Covid which I am […]

Economy Still Barely in Expansion

Economically weighted ISM indexes show (and forecast) an economy still – barely – in expansion  – by New Deal democrat As I was traveling last week, I did not write about several data series that I normally update. I plan on taking care of that this week. There’s also a little excitement in the markets […]

Paul Davidson (1930-2024) and the founding of Post-Keynesian economics

Abstract: Paul Davidson was a critical figure in the preservation of John Maynard Keynes’s ideas, sticking with them when they were out of fashion. He was also key to the survival of the Post Keynesian school. Davidson endorsed Keynes’s liquidity preference theory of interest, and he emphasized fundamental uncertainty as a central feature of economic […]

High taxes for thee but not for me

Everybody knows that California is a “high-tax” state, right? Well, yes and no. Depends on where you are on the food chain. If your household is the top 1%, then California tax rates are 2nd highest, while Texas and Florida are 43rd and 50th, respectively. OTOH, if your household income is in the second quintile […]

Cut the risk of dementia by 20% with this dietary change

Adding where Joel paused . . . Can you reduce your risk of dementia? – Angry Bear, Joel Eissenberg Replacing red meat cuts dementia risk by 20%, CNN, by Sandee LaMotte Dementia risk rose by 14% when people ate about 1 ounce of processed red meat a day — the equivalent of slightly less than two 3-ounce servings a […]

Angry Bear’s New Deal democrat v. Al Jazeera’s Megha Bahree . . . U.S. Economy Recessionary?

Angry Bears New Deal democrat; July jobs report: Establishment survey weak (but still positive), Household survey (even more) recessionary. Last week: “In the past few months, my focus has been on whether jobs gains are most consistent with a “soft landing,” i.e., no further deterioration, or whether deceleration is ongoing. In the last several months I […]

Where do you start in your home to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions?

by Lloyd Alter Carbon Upfront! Over on Linkedin, UK Passivhaus developer Paul Richards complains, “There must be a clear step by step guide for Homeowners and occupiers, people are desperate to improve the efficiency and environment, but are lacking a guide as to what to do first, what are the small steps people can undertake without breaking an […]

Medicare reimbursement for 2025 is lowest since 1993

On 1 July, I retired from my 37-year faculty gig. Among other things, this meant shifting from private insurance to Medicare. I haven’t yet used my Medicare coverage, but my wife, who retired two years ago as a faculty at a different university, has had no difficulties with her transition to Medicare. So far. The […]

Why Did the US give away $52bn to corporations like Intel?

A counter argument by Robert Reich about Pres. Joe Bidens 2021 CHIPS Act. Why Did the US give away $52bn to corporations like Intel? by Robert Reich The Guardian Congress will soon put final touches on the Chips Act, which will provide more than $52bn to companies that design and make semiconductor chips. The subsidy is […]

Pharmacy Benefit Managers Overpay Their Own Pharmacies to the Detriment of Insurers and Taxpayers

More on Pharmacy Benefit Managers and their influence on costs In case you forgot who the PBMs are? The FTC said in its interim report, the “increasing vertical integration and concentration enables the six largest PBMs to manage nearly 95 percent of all prescriptions filled in the United States.” Those six are Caremark Rx, LLC; Express Scripts, Inc.; […]