Weathering Q1 Storms and Looking to the Horizon One always wonder how these mega hardware stores are doing in a not-so-great economy. I suspect the tariffs will impact some of the products. If anything, the on and off tariffs, 10% one day and 20% a week later must throw their planning off. Pay less and […]
Confronting the Cost-of-Living Crisis – Roosevelt Institute Perhaps, you remember during the pandemic the pricing of food did increase as businesses did slow down. I do not recall much missing from the food shelves either. There were small changes in packaging which did impact pricing in that you paid the same amount for less. The […]
The one-handed economist I don’t know when this trend started, but it’s now with tiresome regularity that I hear students and adults (adults!) blame capitalism for many sins: poverty, environmental destruction, corrupt politics, the housing “crisis”, failing health/educational systems, and so on. Do the sins of one capitalist company condemn the whole system? Condemn all […]
This commentary by Steve Hutkins outlines the plan Louis Dejoy put in place as the US Postmaster General. I am not too sure where the plan is at in actions at this time. If you are experiencing slower mail delivery, then it has been implemented in your area. Citified areas are less likely to experience […]
“John Deere Maintains Profits and Shareholder Value by Whacking Labor,” Angry Bear August 13, 2024 and Kevin Baskins at the Des Moines Register reports on the Deere & Company layoffs across the state of Iowa. Layoffs happen when the economy turns down, companies make mistakes, or when a new competitor hits the market. Just about anything can […]
Just read that Rhode Island public radio and public broadcasting will have to downsize, but are far from out of business. That looks to be the case for many blue states and blue cities in red states. You know who will be hurt? Trump voters in rural parts of red states. And not because they […]
Mildly (temperament) rewritten CNN piece on the Affordable Care Act and how Republicans are changing it instead of repealing it. Republicans are claiming increased fraud. No so much with the recipients using the ACA but with the various brokers selling the plans. I am not sure how taking healthcare away from people has a positive […]
Federal Reserve officials believe risk of inflation outpaced labor concerns, Minutes Since Tr__p has been fumbling around with tariffs July 2025: Majority of Federal Reserve officials believe the risk of higher inflation outpaces concerns about the state of the labor market. This is according to the latest minutes released by the central bank. Inflation and the health […]
– by New Deal democrat Let’s take a look at the “real” purchasing power of average working and middle class Americans. The July jobs report showed that average hourly earnings for nonsupervisory workers rose a little under 0.3% (blue in the graph below). Consumer inflation (red) rose 0.2%, so “real” average hourly earnings rose 0.1%. […]
Civil Discourse It’s one of those days with so much going on that it was clear to me early in the day I needed to do a standalone post on the topic of Trump’s most recent attack on our elections to give that topic the focus it deserves. I hope you’ll share this post with […]