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

Economic Data

Data drought continues  – by New Deal democrat There is no new significant economic data today, and I am on the road. Meaningful reporting should resume tomorrow with housing permits, starts, and construction. In the meantime, here is a look at a high frequency series I keep track of: Redbook retail sales, for the past […]

Do Democrats and progressives need a marriage counselor or a divorce lawyer?

Many moderate and liberal Democrats believe the party should sideline progressive advocacy groups.  The groups sometimes make extreme and unpopular demands that damage the Democrats’ brand and prevent needed compromise.  It appears to me that some critics would be happy kicking the groups to the curb.  I largely agree with the diagnosis (see here, for […]

Industrial Policy

Fairly new article on international manufacturing. I broke it down, added information plus another chart, and did some editing. It really was a good article on manufacturing. I just made it better based on my fifty years in supply chain and throughput. Industrial Policy is Back. Is That a Good Thing? What Are the Issues? […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for February 10 -14

– by New Deal democrat There’s no significant economic news today. Since I didn’t publish a link to my “Weekly Indicators” post up at Seeking Alpha over the weekend, here it is now. Left to its own devices, as I’ve written a number of times recently, the economy is in “steady as she goes” mode, with few […]

Flying the unfriendly skies

I’ve been a big fan of airline travel and have flown hundreds of times on commercial flights for business and pleasure over the past five decades. Not anymore: “The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal […]

U.S. Economic Confidence Ticks Down

I grabbed a few of the charts from this recent Gallup ECI report not so much to do a political viewpoint. Just watching the massive layoffs at the US Government which will certainly impact the nation’s Unemployment numbers. That layoff was bad enough when measured against the respect for people. It will have an economic […]