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

Political declaration of independence (reprise)

Political declaration of independence (reprise), Infidel753, Blogger and Commenter I know Infidel from Crooks and Liars where he would moderate Mike’s Blog Round Up and feature Angry Bear from time to time. Infidel writes some pretty darn good posts on his own site of the same name. This particular post is about the Virginia election […]

“Constitutional Sheriffs” and “Posse Comitatus”

“Constitutional Sheriffs” and “Posse Comitatus,” Econospeak, Barkley Rosser  In the mid-1970s when I was finishing my Ph.D. diss and also working for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in its Water Quality Bureau, where I was mostly dealing with sewer systems issues, the Wisconsin branch of the Posse Comitatus was attacking and “arresting” individuals from […]

Layoffs, wages, and labor costs: three measures of the labor Boom

Layoffs, wages, and labor costs: three measures of the labor Boom, New Deal democrat Initial claims declined another 14,000 this week to 269,000, and the 4 week average declined 15,000 to 284,750, both new pandemic lows: For the past 50 years, initial claims have only been at these levels briefly at the peak of the […]

It’s time for Democrats to declare victory and begin the process of managing covid as an endemic disease

There were two pieces of good news yesterday:  the big job gains in October, perhaps due to the waning of the delta-fueled covid-spike, and the new Pfizer covid pill, which is reported to be 89% effective at preventing severe illness and death. Coming after the demoralizing mid-term election, this is indeed very welcome.  But welcome […]

September Trade Deficit Rises 11.2% to a Record High

September Trade Deficit Rises 11.2% to a Record High on Lower Exports of Precious Metals, Oil & Oil Products and Capital Goods, MarketWatch 666, Commenter and Blogger RJS Our trade deficit rose by 11.2% in September as the value of our exports decreased and value of our imports increased…the Commerce Dept report on our international trade […]

Three reasons for the decline in Biden’s (and Democrats’) popularity

Three reasons for the decline in Biden’s (and Democrats’) popularity Dan Guild follows presidential approval closely and uses it to model election outcomes, including State level as well as Congressional and Senate races. He’s been very consistent, and very good. For the past several months, his hair has been on fire about a real decline […]

Thoughts on Virginia governor’s election

(Dan here…from Wednesday, Nov.3) About last night I was going to write about motor vehicle sales (not good), but FRED is down for maintenance. I might put something up later whenever the site comes back online.  In the meantime, because a few people have asked me offline what I make of last nights results (at […]

Coronavirus dashboard for November 2: the winter wave has begun

Coronavirus dashboard for November 2: the winter wave has begun The Delta decline is probably over. Nationwide US cases are up 4000/day from one week ago. The Northeast and South census regions still show a decline, but West and Midwest regions show increases:  One week ago only 3 States were in the “increasing” category. Now […]

An election post-mortem

There is no shortage of explanations for Democratic losses in yesterday’s elections.  Here is my quick partial list with a few comments.  Additions welcome. Basic structural explanations: Democratic losses are a standard mid-term loss for the President’s party.  [No doubt.  Without checking, I suspect the losses were larger than normal.] Democratic losses reflect standard retrospective […]