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

What Was in My In-Box

Both Dan and I put this assortment of articles from various sites showing up in our In-Box. Rearranged the articles according to subject. Hopefully, you find something of interest. Democracy “How to confront the growing threat to American democracy,” Tom Nichols – Niskanen Center, In September 1787, an onlooker is said to have asked Benjamin […]

Coronavirus dashboard August 9: BA.5 dominant, slowly waning, a model for endemicity

Coronavirus dashboard for August 9: BA.5 dominant, with a slow waning; a model for endemicity  – by New Deal democrat  BIobot’s most recent update, through last week, shows a decline of 15% of COVID in wastewater, consistent with about 460,000 “real” new infections per day: All 4 Census regions (not shown) are participating in […]

Drug price control in the Inflation Reduction Act

Inflation Reduction Act The Inflation Reduction Act drug price negotiation is small in returns, low in the number of drugs initially impacted, and slow to start. Ten drugs will be selected and the impact of the act begins in 2026. It rises to 20 drugs to be negotiated in 2029. The new act ignores European […]

Blue dystopia

I read this over at Hullabaloo, “Blue dystopia” by Digby “The fantasy liberal hellholes red America loves to hate” “The Dystopian Myths of Red America,” New York Times, Paul Krugman Desensitization is an amazing thing. At this point most political observers simply accept it as a fact of life that an overwhelming majority of Republicans accept the […]

Previewing July CPI: about gas, housing, and vehicle prices

Previewing July CPI: good news and bad news about gas, housing, and vehicle prices  – by New Deal democrat While July’s consumer inflation is likely to be less intense than in recent months, I don’t see it coming back down to more “normal” levels. The good news is gas; the bad news is vehicles and housing. […]

Investigating a Supreme Court Justice

Retreating to the political side of Angry Bear. Atrios, had “You Could Fire Him” up on Friday. This concerns Justice Kavanaugh and how he was pushed into the position on SCOTUS by upper management (trump for those who are unassuming). There are some overlooked issues with his application “references” for the position as gathered by […]

Shuttering a Union Manufacturing Plant

Joe Manchin’s Daughter Helped Shutter a Union Drug Plant, theintercept.com, Daniel Boguslaw Also taken from “Can You Patent the Sun?” – Angry Bear, What About Drug Costs? The story of EpiPen is a good example of out-of-control pricing. In 2007 Mylan acquired the EpiPen brand from Pfizer. The acquisition did not include the Pfizer subsidiary manufacturing […]

July jobs report: in which an absolute positive blowout make me happily wrong

July jobs report: in which an absolute positive blowout make me happily wrong; all pandemic job losses now recovered  –  by New Deal democrat As I wrote earlier this week, the short leading indicators for both jobs (real retail sales) and the unemployment rate (initial jobless claims) have each signaled that we should expect weaker […]