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

Upping Our War Crimes Game, Plus

Continual progression of Going to War with the Latest (original title below). It is difficult to describe what this administration is doing. Just watching, they are dismantling many of the past programs and doctrine to provide a different view for domestic needs. The military is being given a significant boost in funding and power. And […]

No More Driving Miss Daisy or Whoever . . .

It is too expensive and my vehicle does not guzzle gasoline. Gasoline Prices Just curious as to what Angry Bear readers are seeing for gasoline pricing. At a Shell Station (Riggs Road and Alma School, Sun Lakes, Arizona), the price was over $5 per gallon. I do not remember the change part of it exactly. […]

New Deal Democrats Weekly Indicators Summation May 11- 15

New Deal Democrat: Weekly Indicators: A Negative Steepening of Bond Yields And (Maybe) Shipping Rates Summary: Unsurprisingly, the big move among the high frequency indicators in the past week was interest rates. There was also a secondary big move, which is also inflationary, and reflects the ongoing idiocy of the current Administration in Washington: international […]

Sunday Question: Was Biden Economics Good or Was It Bad?

Yep, This one is from a couple of weeks ago. I like it because, we are seeing Trump destroy much of the economy, building debt, legislating tax giveaways to the upper 10% in the economy, snatching healthcare away from the middle and low in income citizens, and just being an ass. And Republicans are helping […]

Claim to Promote Affordable Housing

Two Trump (who else?) executive orders were issued in March (2026) which basically cause minority borrower additional hoops to jump through or road blocks to loans. In fact, the claim by this administration, the removal these mortgage protections will promote access to mortgages and remove barriers. The National Fair Housing Alliance® us claiming the opposite […]

Two manufacturing reports show increased expansion, but with a nasty side of inflation

– by New Deal democrat One of the things I used to harp on was that many forecasters make the mistake of simply taking an existing trend and projecting it forward. Often it is paired with the idea of “all things being equal,” i.e., that there won’t be countertrends in other sectors of the economy. […]

April retail sales: consumers may be switching to “wait and see” mode

 – by New Deal democrat Consumer spending is about 70% of the economy, and retail sales is our first wide measure of that spending. For the second month in a row, this morning’s update for April was unsurprisingly dominated by what happened at gas stations.  Nominally, total retail sales rose 0.5% in April, But after […]

Healthcare Costs – KFF

What you are getting here is a rundown of health insurance costs as measured in 2025. KFFdoes do an annual survey to back up its yearly numbers. I grabbed the early portion of the KFF report on Employer sponsored healthcare for its employees. This piece tells you what each grouping pays by size of firm, […]

Diluting Gasoline with More Alcohol Will not Save Much

Newsweek piece detailing how Republicans are going to solve the issue of expensive gasoline. The U.S. military operations against Iran initiated on February 28, 2026, After all of this, Iran still has the capability to disrupt shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Iraq does not need much to disrupt shipping. Seriously, the disruption is […]