This is not new news. It goes back for years. Medicare Advantage costs more than Medicare. Much of this is due to price setting. Advantage plans will receive overpayments of approximately $76 billion Center for American Progress above what the same care would cost in traditional FFS Medicare. This is nothing new. It has been […]
“In 2017, Roy Moore was accused of sexual misconduct with teenage girls, including one who was fourteen at the time of the alleged assault. Nine women came forward. The reporting was extensive and documented. The Republican Party of Alabama endorsed him anyway. The President of the United States endorsed him. He lost by less than […]
My postdoc mentor used to say “We don’t compare ourselves to the worst, we compare ourselves to the best.” Does that aphorism apply in politics? “POLITICO REPORTED ON MONDAY AFTERNOON that Graham Platner’s ex-girlfriend said he “forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections.” Immediately after the story […]
“Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” Well no shit, Sherlock. We want mandatory safety classes for people, not guns. We want more background checks of people, not guns. We want stricter negligence penalties imposed on people, not guns. If you’re stupid enough to think activists are pissed off at guns, you’re too stupid to […]
– by New Deal democrat The economically weighted ISM manufacturing + services indexes have become one of my favorite datapoints. In particular, in the past year they have been an excellent dashboard for the state of the US economy as a whole, both as a coincident and short leading indicator. Last summer they accurately suggested that […]
Sounds like a strategy to me. Been to China multiple times. Interesting place to go. We would fly in Beijing. The plant manager’s vehicle along with two drivers would pick us up and take us to the plant in Tianjin. We would spend a few days there listening to the issues, taking notes, and discuss […]
A couple of commentaries by Robert Reich. Some history on a new candidate that is different than what is usually picked. This World War II PSA Warned Us About Fascism – Robert Reich Robert Reich: I came across this Public Service Announcement produced by the U.S. government in 1945. It seems apt today, on the […]
I read Michael Klein’s (executive editor of EconoFact) conversation with Roger Lowenstein on the role of government in the economy. It is not terribly long. Maybe 10-15 minutes in listening and a bit longer in reading for me. I like to read as I dwell on what I read. Then I will go back and […]
As you read Paul Krugman’s commentary on the Slaughter decision by SCOTUS, it is not that hard to understand why he is concerned about the results of the SCOTUS decision. I typically might say (in a normal situation) we could expect a president given this power would decide in a manner benefiting citizens. Not this […]
Weekly Indicators: Still Strong Spending, Tepid Tax Payments Two cross-currents I mentioned in my long piece Friday were very much in evidence in the high frequency data this week: huge gains in aggregate YoY consumer spending, and very weak withholding tax collections. My take on this is that the top end of the income distribution […]