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

Forever Chemicals Released into Waterways

US EPA Enables Polluting Plastics Plants by Failing to Update Wastewater Limits, Report Says  – as reported by r. j. sigmund Federal regulators have enabled US plastics plants across the country to dump dangerous chemicals into waterways by failing to update wastewater limits for over 30 years, according to a new analysis by a watchdog […]

Review of the Tax Code and Who Benefited the Most from the Breaks in It

A review of the tax break impacts from 1981 till 2020 and who benefited the most from them. I found it to be interesting and detailed in what was occurring during this time period. As you read it and review the graphs, I believe you will find the majority of the tax breaks were targeting […]

Lawler: Early Read on Existing Home Sales in October

by Bill McBride Calculated Risk From housing economist Tom Lawler: Based on publicly-available local realtor/MLS reports released across the country through today . . . I project that existing home sales as estimated by the National Association of Realtors ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.97 million in October, up 3.4% from September’s […]

Watch Months-of-Supply! Housing

Watch Months-of-Supply! by Bill McBride Calculated Risk Both inventory and sales are well below pre-pandemic levels, and I think we need to keep an eye on months-of-supply to forecast price changes. Historically nominal prices declined when months-of-supply approached 6 months – and that is unlikely any time soon – however, as expected, months-of-supply is above 2019 […]

On Remembrance Day

 – by New Deal democrat Today in the US is officially Veterans Day, in which we salute the service of all veterans. But it started – and still continues in some countries – as Remembrance Day, a somber memorial to all those who were killed in World War 1, which ended on November 11, 1918. […]

Jobless claims, with hurricane effects abating, claims return to normal

 – by New Deal democrat It appears that, as I suspected earlier this month, the big YoY jump in initial jobless claims was largely due to the effects of the hurricanes, and is now abating. First, for the week initial claims declined another -12,000 to 216,000. The four week moving average declined -2,250 to 236,500. […]

U.S. Economic Growth Extends Solid Streak

by Harriet Torry WSJ U.S. GDP rose at a 2.8% annual rate in the third quarter, easing slightly from the previous quarter. The U.S. economy continued its recent strong stretch this summer, bolstered by hefty consumer and government spending. Gross domestic product increased at a 2.8% annual rate in the third quarter, adjusted for seasonality and inflation, […]

Stagnation Gone and US Productivity Growing

A quick and brief review of the economic trends and the third quarter. My only opinion on this recital being Supply Chain returning to a norm should be given more credit. Its manipulation was definitely one of the major influences on inflation. Beyond the standard metrics of industrial investment, it is also worth noting how […]