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

New Deal democrat’s Weekly Indicators for April 7 – 11

– by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. In this time of exogenous shock to the economy caused by the whims of one man, it is especially important to keep laser-focused on the hard data. And the first hard data that will tell you what is happening is the high […]

Real hourly and aggregate pay for nonsupervisory workers increased in March

 – by New Deal democrat  With yesterday’s CPI report, we can update two important measures of ordinary American workers’ well-being, that also serve as short leading indicators: real average hourly earnings and real aggregate nonsupervisory payrolls.  There have been two months since the pandemic lockdowns five years ago, including last June, where there were very slight […]

This is what stupidity looks like, peeps.

This guy is Secretary of Health and Human Services. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. RFK Jr.: “If you are healthy, it’s almost impossible for you to be killed by an infectious disease in modern times because we have nutrition, because we have access to medicines. It’s very, very difficult for any infectious […]

Immigration Raids at Schools, Libraries, etc.

It is bad enough as it is with the authorities going after people in public. Now politicians wish to “invade” schools in Arizona. Not that terrorizing people in libraries is acceptable either. And they would force teachers and others within the schools, etc. to fully cooperate by reporting on immigrants. One AZ State Senator wants […]

China holds a lot more cards than Trump may think . . . Tariffs

Tariffs . . . are a marvelous distraction while Trump hides what he really wants to do. Everybody is looking in the wrong direction, mesmerized by the shiny coin as Trump calls off tariffs for now. Trump does not care about America. He cares about himself and stuffing away $billions. Time to buy on the […]

Trump administration is a fresh onslaught against democracy

Joyce Vance of Civil Discourse to which I subscribe to directed us to The Contrarian where she joins Julie Zebrak, Bri Murphy, and Joshua Kolb to write. The topic? A new and fresh Trump administration onslaught against democracy. The characteristics of which are throwing as much garbage into the air so as to confuse the […]

“Maintaining Acceptable Water Pressure in Showerheads”

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” Bob Dylan ~~~~~~~ Then, there was the White House’s new Executive Order on Wednesday concerning, of all things, “Maintaining Acceptable Water Pressure in Showerheads.” While that may sound like an Onion headline, the Order included the following clause: “Notice and comment is unnecessary because I am ordering […]

Trump wants you to pay higher utility bills

During his first term, Trump railed about energy-efficient plumbing. He claimed he had to flush his toilet 10-15 times and was forced to stand in the shower five times as long. I have no idea what he’s talking about. Sounds like what he needs is a plumber. In the event, the Biden Administration mandated resource-conserving […]