We now have so many attempts to blame Democrats for high oil prices and even the McCain campaign is trying to tar Obama with this charge. But this looks like the simple answer to those charges.

Shall I try another cyclical chart of one of the variables that the the dating committee gives heavy weighting to in determining the official dates of recession. Real manufacturing and trade sales includes sales at all three level, manufacturing, wholesale and retail so it is reasonable to think of this as a proxy for real […]

It is very interesting to go to conservative and/or libertarian blogs and encounter the comments on public education. So often you run across the statements about how the cost of education is rising and that they take some quote about rising real cost as absolute proof of their beliefs that politicians and the teachers unions […]

Here at Angry Bear we regularly report on the poor economic performance of the economy under the Bush administration. But it now looks like we have a first. The Environmental Protection Agency has lowered its estimate of the the statistical value of a human life from about $8.04 million to $7.22 million, about an 11% […]

I thought I would start posting charts like this to show the major economic indicators compared to what happens historically in economic downturns. It should help people put the data in perspective.The recent parts strike in the auto industry impacted industrial production in recent months — reducing output over the last couple of months and […]

FA ask”Real after-tax income per person has risen by 9.6 percent – $2,840 – since the President took office” If this is true, then how can the claims of the Left that American incomes have been declining be true? This is exactly how political spin is done. Cite a number that is big. OK, over […]

by spencer Many interesting claims are made during political campaigns. Many of them are factually correct, but misleading. One of these is the standard claim that small businesses create 70% of the jobs in the US economy. It is true. But the US economy is one where firms both create and destroy jobs.The Small Business […]

Calculated risk is out today and just reported the head line trade data and linked to the Wall Street Journal calling the improvement in the trade balance a surprise But the real trade deficit improved from $ -46,966 M (2000 $) in March to $-46,679 in April and $-43,589 M in May. Remember, the improvement […]

After all the recent discussion of oil inventories and other arguments about the price of oil I thought I would throw another set of data and thoughts on the subject. This chart compares the price of oil to the CRB Index of industrial commodity prices — an index of 13 major commodities that does not […]

I’m looking for a bumper stickers that says,Bin Laden still has his job, do you? But seriously, when Bush took office in January 2001: The unemployment rate was 4.2%, now it is 5.5%. The inflation rate was 3.7%, now it is 4.1%. Gasoline was around $1.45, now it is over $4.00. The S&P 500 was […]