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

Sunday Reads

Just some articles I get in my email. Maybe a good read for Angry Bear commenters too! – “Trump’s Fed Attacks, Trade War Push World to Sell Off US Assets,” Bloomberg – “What Happens When There Are No Deals?” Paul Krugman – “David Brooks: I Should Have Seen This Coming,” The Atlantic. – “Arresting a […]

Trump’s canal fixation

“Donald Trump has demanded free transit for American commercial and military ships through the Panama and Suez canals, tasking his secretary of state with making progress “immediately”. “Trump has for months been calling for the United States to take control of the Panama canal but his social media post also shifted focus on to the […]

Alien Enemies Act has triggered memories

Relocation Officer William Husso checks departure list at the Gila River Relocation Center in Rivers, Arizona, on Sept. 15, 1945, as evacuees returned to their former homes in California. (War Relocation Authority photo from the National Archives) “President Trump’s rare use of the Alien Enemies Act triggering memories of the country’s dark chapter of Japanese […]

March existing home sales continued the slow process of rebalancing in the housing market

 – by New Deal democrat Existing home sales are not that important for forecasting purposes, since they have much less economic impact than new home sales, because the main effect is simply a change in ownership. But there has been an ongoing shortage of housing for over a decade, which was only exacerbated by the […]

The Costs Incurred from the Government’s Attack on Universities

“The Atlantic” is my traveling partner. When I was gone for days or weeks at a time, I would read it on the planes or in my room after dinner. I would also have a book with me by Catton, Russo (Nobody’s Fool), or Crichton. This article in the Atlantic was written March 19th. It […]

Judge skeptical of Trump admin in collective bargaining case

The last thing a dictator, or Trump for that matter, would want is interference from a third party which may take the side of the person or group being forced to submit. If you remove union collective bargaining as a group, the individuals have lesser power to resist. Trump is comfortable threatening individuals over groups. […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for April 21-25

 – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. Another important indicator – corporate profits – tipped into negative territory this week, as Q1 profits look to be substantially below those of Q4 of last year. On the other hand, real money supply from the Fed has tipped back into positive […]

Biden Derangement Syndrome continues

The Trump USDA is defending your right to die from Salmonella poisoning. “The United States Department of Agriculture is withdrawing a rule proposed in August to help prevent food poisoning from poultry contaminated with salmonella. “The Biden Administration effort, which had been in development for three years, would have required poultry companies to keep levels […]

Jobless claims remain well behaved

 – by New Deal democrat Jobless claims remained well behaved last week, as they increased 6,000 to 222,000. The four week moving average declined -750 to 220,250. With the typical one-week delay, continuing claims declined -37,000 to 1.841 million, at the low end of its range over the past 10 months: As usual, the YoY% […]