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

1 in 4 Americans Still Reject Evolution

Another well written recreation of the Scopes Trial of 1925. It has been called the Scopes Money Trial. This a bit different than the movie you may watch on the topic. As the story goes John T. Scopes was approached by the American Civil Liberties Union to teach evolution. John Thomas Scopes was a young […]

New Deal democrat’s Weekly Indicators June 30 -July 4

 – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. There were almost no changes to any of the high frequency indicators in any timeframe last week. Despite that, below the surface, there has been a very gradual weakening of a number of important indicators in both the monthly and weekly data.  […]

His rockets blow up, his cars crash

“Autonomous driving is the core promise around which Elon Musk has built his company. Tesla has never delivered a truly self-driving vehicle, yet the richest person in the world keeps repeating the claim that his cars will soon drive entirely without human help. Is Tesla’s autopilot really as advanced as he says? “The Tesla Files […]

Jobless claims remain neutral

 – by New Deal democrat In addition to the jobs report, because this is Thursday we also got the latest jobless claims numbers. To wit, initial claims declined -4,000 to 233,000, and the four week moving average declined -3,750 to 241,500. With the typical one week delay, continuing claims were unchanged at 1.964 million: The more […]

Book Review “Basic Economics”

David Zetland doing a review of Thomas Sowell’s book, “Basic Economics.” I had written Mr. Sowell once, maybe a decade ago. I was the recipient of his book. I was a third of the way through it when I was called away for a business trip which lasted a month. I found the book and […]

JOLTS survey for May still consistent with “soft landing” scenario

– by New Deal democrat As promised, let me parse the JOLTS survey for May, which was reported yesterday.  As a quick refresher, this survey decomposes the employment market into openings, hires, quits, and layoffs. In 2024 the data were most consistent with a “soft landing,” but the actions of the new Administration, especially on trade, […]