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

A comment on Juneteenth; and what I’ll be looking for in tomorrow’s housing report

A comment on Juneteenth; and what I’ll be looking for in tomorrow’s housing report  – by New Deal democrat That Juneteenth is a national holiday ought to be a full rebuttal to those who think that teaching the entirety of American history, including its worst moments, is somehow an insult to the majority. That enslavement […]

Student Loan Debt, AI, and the Extinction of the American Middle Class

As American Jews, at what point do we stop to assess the collateral damage that the coalescence of crippling student loan debt and the advancement of AI in all facets of the economy will have on America’s working and middle class? Student Loan Debt, AI and the Extinction of the American Middle Class, jewishjournal.com, Lisa […]

Silent Spring’s Legacy Continues 60+ Years Later

Image of tractor and workers spraying is used courtesy of Getty Images. Originally published June 30, 1962, the book Silent Spring was banned initially. It was met with great resistance by many. Carson was advocating a more careful use of the pesticide. Instead, DDT was banned from any use. Globally, other countries followed suit. And […]

New Deal democrat’s Weekly Indicators June 12 – 16

Weekly Indicators for June 12 – 16 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. Stocks are really buying the “soft landing” scenario, rising to repeated 12 month+ highs, apparently anticipating that corporate profits will be off to the races again. Meanwhile, when we look at consumer […]

Real retail sales continue to suggest recession, decelerating employment gains

Real retail sales continue to suggest recession, decelerating employment gains  – by New Deal democrat The second of the three important datapoints this morning was retail sales for May. This is one of my favorite indicators, because it has several leading relationships, and is also an important component of one of the main data series […]

School Shootings and the Impact on Students Studied

I am XMilitary and my interpretation may not fit the scenarios described in these studies. If you know better, please explain your interpretation. This is not an easy topic to read. I was interested in the results of the studies and have read all of them. You have to wonder for them what happens a […]

Industrial production continues to falter in May

Industrial production continues to falter in May  – by New Deal democrat My final update this morning is for industrial production, the King of Coincident Indicators, which has most frequently corresponded with peaks and troughs in economic activity as determined by the NBER. The news for total production was not good, as it declined -0.2% […]

Delivering a New Deal to the American People

This is taken from Prof. Heather’s June 15, 2023, Letters from an American. It begs the question of why can there not be another New Deal for Americans? When he accepted the Democratic nomination for president in July 1932, New York governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt vowed to steer between the radical extremes of fascism and […]

Initial and continuing claims edge closer to signaling recession

Initial and continuing claims edge closer to signaling recession  – by New Deal democrat There’s a blizzard of data this morning. I’ll report on retail sales and Industrial production later. But let’s start with initial jobless claims, which were unchanged this week at 262,000, the highest level in over 18 months. The 4 week average increased […]