It was getting kind of boring . . . One has to wonder where we would be if Pres. Donald had not attacked Iraq. Boring? I am sure Donald is in every bodies’ prayers . . . His silly actions did stir up the global economy. Been a tough week globally and in the United […]
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 […]
– 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. […]
– 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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
The inflationary, “K”-shaped T—-p economy – by New Deal democrat There are times when the economy is undergoing such a profound shift that there is suddenly a lot to say. This is one of those times. I have been meaning to put up a post like this for several weeks. Let me at least make some […]
Brief Four minute read with graphs and tables. The Consumer Price(s) Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after rising 0.9 percent in March. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported May 12, 2026. The biggies here? Energy rose 3.8 percent in April, accounting for over […]
This is one of those “You Wonder Why” commentaries, we got what we got in the presidency. There is a lot which can be said other than this piece and the numbers of voters. I have posted on the numbers who voted in 2024 in comparison to 2020. This is another look at them. The […]
– by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. Surprisingly, most of the data is almost relentlessly positive. In particular, those things most tied up with AI — corporate profits, stock prices, and downstream consumer spending — are particularly strong. Also, American energy companies are making windfall profits from the closure of […]