U.S. winning world economic war, axios.com, Neil Irwin. The United States economy grew faster than any other large, advanced economy last year, by a wide margin, and is on track to do so again in 2024. Why it matters: America’s outperformance is rooted in its distinctive structural strengths, policy choices, and some luck. It reflects a fundamental resilience […]
Last September, Kennedy—who has lambasted social media platforms’ attempts to contain his fact-free rants about vaccines as unforgivable infringements on free expression—brought suit in New Hampshire to squelch a blogger who posted anonymously on the Daily Kos website about a speech that the late Sen. Robert Kennedy’s son delivered in Berlin to a group called Querdenken. “Free Speech Lover RFK […]
January jobs report: A very strong report, but with pockets of significant weakness – by New Deal democrat As per usual, the Establishment and Household portions of the jobs report gave somewhat different impressions, complicated by annual revisions to each. In general, not only was January excellent of the Establishment report, but most months in the […]
New month’s data starts out with leading indicators in both manufacturing and construction indicating expansion – by New Deal democrat As usual, the new month’s data starts out with information on manufacturing and construction. The ISM manufacturing index has been a good leading indicator in that sector for 75 years. The difference over time, especially […]
We are into the fourth year of Biden’s first term as President and some are finally beginning to realize that maybe, just maybe what Joe did was mostly correct. Yeah sure, there were some things he got wrong. However, he did lead us through one of the worst economic calamities the nation has survived, a […]
Continuing claims near 2+ year high; likely the effect of Silicon Valley layoffs – by New Deal democrat Initial claims rose by 9,000 to a three month high of 224,000 last week. The four-week moving average also rose 5,350 to 207,750. With the usual one-week lag, however, continuing claims rose sharply, by 70,000, to 1.898 million, […]
December JOLTS report: while hiring has weakened, firing (and quitting) continue to show a strong labor market – by New Deal democrat Yesterday’s JOLTS report for December showed a labor market that, while decelerating, remains relatively strong. Let me start with layoffs and discharges, which increased by 85,000 to 1.616 million (blue in the graph […]
Repeat home sale prices continue rebound; rents continue decline – by New Deal democrat Since the Fed started raising interest rates almost two years ago, homebuilding has shifted away from single family houses to condos and apartments, the construction of which has made repeated all-time highs. This has become reflected in house price vs. apartment rental […]
Both production and transportation are down from 2022 peaks; why wasn’t that enough to cause a recession? – by New Deal democrat While I have written about how the Index of Leading Indicators failed last year, as the loosening of and disinflation in supply chains overwhelmed the effects of Fed tightening, it wasn’t as if […]
Mission of Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs The following is Mark Cuban’s pitch on supply drugs. If you do not have healthcare insurance which pays for drugs you more than likely going to pay list unless you have a drug store discount such as GoodRx. Mark Cuban talking pharmaceuticals and costs: We started Mark Cuban […]