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

Real average wages and real aggregate payrolls for December 2022

Real average wages and real aggregate payrolls for December 2022  – by New Deal democrat Now that we know December consumer inflation, we can see how the American working/middle class is “really” doing. Nominally, average wages for nonsupervisory workers increased 0.2%, while prices deflated by -0.1%, meaning that “real” average wages increased 0.3% for the […]

The market economy fails when applied to healthcare

I am hopping around a bit in this commentary. Fair warning. These are different versions taken from various authorities, different periods of time, and saying similar or the same thing. I am going to try to connect the dots here between some old and some more recent occurrences. Costs and prices keep rising in healthcare […]

Jobless claims start out 2023 where they left off in 2022

Jobless claims start out 2023 where they left off in 2022 – as positive  – by New Deal democrat It took a little while for FRED to post this data today, but with that reason for a delay . . .  Initial jobless claims started off 2023 where they left off in 2022, with another […]

Say hello to XBB.1.5: The Red/Blue COVID Death Rate Divide is no more

This commentary by Charles Gaba was up earlier this year. What Charles is doing is issuing a warning about this batch of Covid. People have tossed caution to the wind, not boosting for less than adequate reasons, not practicing safe social practices, and not making up in public crowds. “Say hello to XBB.1.5: The Red/Blue […]

Consumer inflation remains dominated by gas prices (good) and shelter (bad)

Consumer inflation remains dominated by gas prices (good) and shelter (bad)  – by New Deal democrat Declining gas prices continue to do wondrous things for the economy. In December they declined from roughly $3.50 to $3.10/gallon. Meanwhile the phantom menace of Owners’ Equivalent Rent continues to drag “core” inflation higher. Details below. Total inflation: -0.1%m/m […]

Giving bread-basket Farmers the Ability to repair their Tractors

‘Right-to-repair’ advocates skeptical of John Deere agreement, NPR, Joe Hernandez Pulling from NPR’s Joe Hernandez’s article and adding some of my automotive background. to explain. Like automobiles, tractors have gone high-tech using on-board computers and semi-conductors to run various systems within cars and also farm tractors. This includes systems such as fuel injection to oxygen […]

The December jobs report: more deceleration

Scenes from the December jobs report: more deceleration  – by New Deal democrat The only significant economic data this week will be released on Thursday, with both CPI and jobless claims. In the meantime, let’s take a closer look at the jobs data we got last Friday. As indicated in the title of this post, […]

The main reason for the decline in inflation since June

In which I quibble with Prof. Alan Blinder about the main reason for the decline in inflation since June  – by New Deal democrat Alan S. Blinder is getting traction for an opinion piece published in the WSJ concerning the big decline in inflation since June. He acknowledges that“ energy inflation played a meaningful role” but […]

Our success or failure in life may be influenced by where we’re born

Economist David Zetland lets us know our place of birth has a much larger impact on our success or failure globally than what we suspect. It is not solely up to us to be successful. The country of our birth has a great impact. Understanding this, exploring books about success can offer valuable insights into […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for January 2 – 6, 2023

Weekly Indicators for January 2 – 6 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. No big changes from the past month or so. The overall economic picture continues to be driven by the effects of the price of gas. As usual, clicking over and reading will […]