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

What News Was in My In-Box, December 21, 2022

I am not sure if you experienced similar. A year ago getting Delta Airlines customer service on the line took hours. And if you left a phone number, they never called back. I found calling them when they first opened up seemed to work. 6 AM? One time we even got better seats. Getting airline […]

Addressing Teacher Shortage with New State Funding and Programs

According to U.S. Department of Education data, total enrollment in teacher preparation programs in Michigan has also been steadily dropping. More than 23,000 prospective teachers were in the pipeline in 2008. That figure eventually dipped below 7,000 in 2016 before increasing slightly to around 12,000 in 2019. “New program launching to address Michigan’s teacher shortage,” […]

Letters from an American, December 18, 2022

I have not C & Ped enough of these recitals of present-day history in the making for AB readers to keep up with the House Committee meeting as recited by Prof. Heather. An in-committee vote will be taken to confirm whether a recommendation to prosecute former president trump will be made to the DOJ. My […]

A Look at Drug Pricing 2020, Costs, and Why – “Redux”

Commenter Arne asked how we would transition from today’s healthcare system to a Single Payer format. I do not have the answer immediately at hand. I have to look for it. I do want to review what we have learned to date and stated on Angry Bear already. I do have a number of posts […]

December Update: COVID Death Rates by Partisan Lean & Vaccination Rate

ACA Signups blog and healthcare author, Charles Gaba does a rewrite of an earlier commentary at his site. If you missed it, Angry Bear blog featured “33 Months of COVID In One Image” also. Recently, this writeup’s stats was used by Prof. Paul Krugman in his recent NYT article, “Will 2024 Be a Vaccine Election?” […]

Inflation is Falling Faster Than People Know; Fed’s Response to Inflation Poses a Bigger Threat

Mark Weisbrot of CEPR had an article up in the November LA Times addressing Inflation and the Fed. It appears it may be reprinted in December’s LA Times. “Weisbrot (LA Times): Inflation is Falling Much Faster Than Most People Know; and The Fed’s Response to Inflation May Pose a Bigger Threat than the Inflation Itself.” […]

More Railroad Workers Information

I am not the only one who sees issues with the way railroad workers are on call 24/7 with any time off being canceled or workers being subject to penalization if missing the call. Biden could have pushed harder to resolve this labor issue. Just like siding with financial issues, Jow Biden sided with Railroad […]

What News Was in My In-Box, Dec. 14, 2022

Rents decreasing, CPI slowly decreasing, and questions on whether any of this is due to the FED’s actions. Industrial production is still the same and gasoline prices have dropped. According to New Deal democrats’ analysis, real sales and real income have increased (still lower than they were one year ago), and payrolls have continued to […]

The Shrinking Future of Colleges, Especially the Small Ones

Interesting dilemma for higher education. I had heard that some colleges were having issues attracting students to their campuses. The high tuition and a lack of funding in the form of scholarships from offshore betting sites, grants from tech companies, awards, etc. have been an issue when they do not keep up with the costs […]

Pushing Train Crews and Other Railroad Workers to the Brink

What caught my attention to the potential train strike was it not being clear as to why. No one source was explaining why train crews and other crafts were angry at the railroad companies. Doing some reading I came away with a better understanding. Aaron Gordon at Vice does an excellent depiction of the issues. […]