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

May jobs report: a solid positive report, with the important (likely) exception of wages

– by New Deal democrat My Big Theme for the past few months has been that the AI Boom (or possibly bubble) is counterbalancing a stagnant or even shallowly recessionary rest of the economy. The bottom line is that the May report was the third in a row that not only confirmed that, but suggested […]

Fast Trains in Japan

My (Samuel Walker) observation is that railroads capable of high speed, that is over 110 mph are passenger services. Where they have been built, they have been built with different goals and purposes. Often there is not enough in fare to cover all costs. The Japanese built the first high speed railroad because of its […]

Down the Tesla memory hole

To follow up on a previous post about Tesla autonomous driving vehicles: “Tesla has retroactively modified “Full Self-Driving” purchase agreements to add “supervised” language that did not exist when owners originally bought the product. In some cases, the original documents have been made entirely inaccessible. “Electrek has confirmed the issue with multiple owners. The contracts […]

Brief Middle East News

This does not look like it is going away any time soon. Iran is striking back. Worth reading even if brief: Iranian state media reports Tehran may be suspending ceasefire talks. U.S. and Iranian strikes resume over the weekend. Nuclear talks stall as U.S. leadership continues to temporize. Qatar open to temporary Hormuz fees for mine-clearing. Aid groups warn of resource shortfall for millions displaced […]

Trump again Crosses the Legal Line of Authority

I have not said or suggested what type of person this type of action would come from today. His actions with foreign people and people of color sys much about what his beliefs are today. Again, Pres. Trump crosses the legal lines of authority by issuing an edict (memorandum) telling in country foreign citizens they […]

Why no US recession? Free spending by the upper class

– by New Deal democrat There is a slew of economic data being released tomorrow, the most important of which will be personal income and spending, so I will likely defer some reporting on the other data until Friday. But in the meantime, there’s no significant data today. So let me take this opportunity to show […]