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

The Supremes-Court Conservatives Change the Rules of the Game

This is a pretty good take on what happened at SCOTUS for 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis and Nebraska (which had no standing) v. Biden. Recently and along similar circumstance, the court rejected complainants’ cases due to not having standing. In this instance, the court changes its tune. Ankush explains the reasoning for the court’s decision being […]

Real income continues to set records, while real spending and real total sales falter

Real income continues to set records, while real spending and real total sales falter  – by New Deal democrat Real personal spending faltered in May, and real total sales continued to falter in April, as of this morning’s report; while real personal income continued to be aided by the big decline in gas prices that […]

Jobless claims: still at distress levels, still not red flag recession warning

Initial jobless claims: still at distress levels, still not red flag recession warning  – by New Deal democrat Initial claims dropped -26,000 last week to 239,000, the top of their former range this spring. The more important 4 week moving average rose 1,500 to 257,500, a new 18 month high. With a one week lag, […]

CNBC: Fed Chair “Powell says more ‘restriction’ is coming”

Calculated Risks Bill McBride Fed Chair Jerome Powell is participating in a panel discussion today at the European Central Bank (ECB) Forum on Central Banking 2023 in Sintra, Portugal. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell talked tough on inflation Wednesday, saying at a forum that he expects multiple interest rate increases ahead and possibly at an […]

Pent-up demand and sales: an Update

Pent-up demand and sales: an update  – by New Deal democrat There’s no big economic news today. So while we wait to see if initial jobless claims continue to worsen tomorrow, and what happens with real personal spending and income, as well as real business sales on Friday, let me point you to an updated […]

Higher new home sales, with lower prices in May: good!

Higher new home sales, with lower prices in May: good!  – by New Deal democrat Let me start with my usual caveat about new home sales: while they are the most leading of all housing metrics, they are very noisy and heavily revised. With that out of the way, the bottom line is that they offered […]

Supply Chain Backlog, Profit Taking, or Labor Driving Inflation?

Corporate profits have contributed disproportionately to inflation. How should policymakers respond? Economic Policy Institute, Josh Bivens The inflation spike of 2021 and 2022 has presented real policy challenges. In order to better understand this policy debate, it is imperative to look at prices and how they are being affected. The price of just about everything […]

House prices increase for third straight month . . .

House prices increase for third straight month, but Case Shiller index now negative YoY  – by New Deal democrat Seasonally adjusted house prices through April as measured by both the FHFA (red in the graph below) and Case Shiller (blue) Indexes rose, the former by 0.7% and the latter by 0.5%. This is the third […]

Childcare Can Increase the Labor Force

This is not a bad idea. It is one issue long over due and needed if we are to attract more people into the Labor Force. It should be government sponsored to cut the costs of it. To Increase the Supply of Workers, Our Economy Needs Childcare, Roosevelt Institute, Mike Konczal Tuesday February 23, the […]