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

The “no fire” economy sets a new, 55+ year record low

 – by New Deal democrat [Administrative note: yesterday’s problem, in which the platform would not allow me add a new post, seems to have spontaneously resolved, although “officially” the blog metrics show “0 posts” in all its history, Cross your fingers that this issue has gone away permanently.] I discussed the stock market’s very positive performance earlier […]

The employment effects of ICE enforcement in US cities

Findings of the Republican and President Tr__p attack on labor and foreign Labor in surge and non-surge communities. If you scroll down on the Brooking’s article you will find figures 3 & 4 as mentioned in the footnotes in section “The enforcement surge cost 668,000 jobs” below. “Shock, awe, and economic fallout” | Brookings Brookings: […]

Expanded Warren Take on Taxes and Why

I added some more charts and some wording to give the original piece greater depth The Big Corporations That Avoided All Federal Income Taxes: ITEP published a list of 88 profitable corporations that reported paying zero federal income taxes on their 2025 U.S. income, in no small part due to the corporate tax cuts pushed through […]

Increasing Healthcare Insurance Costs and Lost Healthcare

Charles Gaba @ his Blog of the same name has a commentary up detailing the loss of Healthcare Insurance due to the Tr__p administration with the support of Congress. . . . In case you have forhottens? The subsidies supporting ACA healthcare was cancelled this last year. I do not know whether Charles Gaba will […]

Regional Fed reports indicate elevated inflation is likely to continue

 – by New Deal democrat In It appears that both producer and consumer inflation are going to continue at elevated levels, despite the actual *de*flation in June. Here’s a look at the average of the New York and Philadelphia Fed’s prices paid (blue) and prices received (orange) diffusion manufacturing indexes:  In July, the average for prices […]

Trump, expertise, the Iran war, and the unitary executive

Trump’s inability to evaluate expert advice and incorporate it into his thinking will undoubtedly play a large role when histories of the Iran war are written. Trump evidently ignored warnings from experts within the government that Iran would respond to an attack by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Once the Strait was closed, Trump had […]

Quote of the day

There are instructive parallels between the Trump administration’s trade war with China in the first year of this term and the Iran war that is consuming its second year. In both instances, the administration grossly underestimated its rival’s resilience and capacity to retaliate, then escalated quickly and sharply before learning that the other side controlled […]