UkraineGate: What Will Volker Say? I am referring to Kurt Volker: The president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has revealed text messages of conversations between himself and senior officials at the State Department that he says show they endorsed his controversial dealings with Ukraine…During an appearance on Fox News show The Ingraham Angle last night, Giuliani revealed 15 […]
What Kurt Eichenwald says – Saving the Republic When I’m not reading and writing about the economy, I do occasionally comment elsewhere on political topics. So it was on Thursday when, in response to this post asserting that Democrats were powerless to do anything – (including enforcing THEIR OWN GODDAM SUBPOENAS!) – and that it was “green […]
Take Your Pick of Left Wing Climate Change Narratives: Green Abundance or Righteous Austerity While I was preoccupied with other things, the US left settled on a pair of competing climate change narratives. By the time I looked, the choice was down to just these two, and no other views could be considered. View #1, […]
Dean Baker considers whether Trump’s group of supporters would be able to manipulate the bureacracies of the federal government to alter the economic outlook of the nation in a more expansive way than Larry Kudlow and others, but the data itself ( if that is even needed?) He says not likely, but how creative would […]
(Dan here…lifted from Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts) by Robert Waldmann Has 21st century conservatism contributed anything useful at all ? This is a question I haven’t asked myself. I have long looked for reasonable and reasonably honest conservatives. It is frustrating, because I have found many, but few are still conservative. I don’t want to get […]
(Dan here…lifted from Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts) by Robert Waldmann I get Ruthless With David Leonard David Leonard picks cherries in a generally good op-ed. I agree entirely with his general conclusion that Democrats should run a populist campaign (no triangulation — he should have noted that Clinton ran on raising taxes on the rich and cutting […]
“Cigna gets major boost from Express Scripts in Q2,” Robert King, FierceHealthcare, August 1, 2019 And some claim PBMs do not matter in the cost of healthcare? Cigna healthcare insurance generated ~ $38 billion in revenue the second quarter 2019 and a major increase due mostly to a merger with pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) Express […]
(Dan here….some sharp humor for Sunday) I made something in honor of #sharpiegate. Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/vTm6KPaFAt — Sam Spiegel, Ph.D. 🪧 (@UNSEATpac) September 5, 2019
Trump: When Reality TV Becomes Reality The New York Times has an excellent dissection today of the Trump presidency as a reality TV show that has managed to set up shop at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, written by its chief TV critic, James Poniewozik. His op-ed digs down into the props and story line of “The Apprentice” and […]
As of the second quarter the year over year percent change in real GDP is 2.3%. Virtually everyone refers to this as strong. Why? By historic standards 2.3% real GDP growth is subpar. It is below the long term growth rate of the economy using virtually any widely accepted estimate of trend or potential growth. […]