I’ve read over 200 history books and biographies. The two great drivers of history are war and money. For a dose of military history, I recently read “The Dark Path” by Williamson Murray. A big take-home of that book was how often victory depended on superior finances. For economic history, I’ve read “Money: The true […]

Healthcare commentary, April 19 by Paul Krugman. It has been a while since I tackled the topic and pulling from multiple resources. The issue still remains. Healthcare in the United States is expensive. Even with the healthcare aid provided by the Biden Administration via congressional approval was not enough. And then voters stayed home, voted […]

In “A 1980 Letter on the Risk of Opioid Addiction letter” article, identified were 608 citations of the index publication and noted a sizable increase after the introduction of OxyContin (a long-acting formulation of oxycodone) in 1995 (Figure 1). Of the articles that included a reference to the 1980 letter, the authors of 439 (72.2%) […]

Tracking 2025 Domestic Performance by Amtrak; It is an alternative to expensive gasoline, dangerous highways, crowded airport and increasing costs. It is profitable . . . The issues? Not enough trains and cars, Old equipment. Increasing demand. And not enough support to put another method of travel in place besides cars and planes. About time […]

As if you did not know this? Fortunately, our vehicle is efficient, our stores are close, and we do not have to be anywhere U.S. gasoline prices jump to highest since 2022 U.S. gasoline (UNG) prices extended their climb Thursday, with AAA’s national average for regular fuel reaching $4.30 a gallon as drivers absorbed the […]

– by New Deal democrat April data started out as usual with the ISM manufacturing index. There was some good news, but mainly bad news. The good news was that the headline ISM number (blue in the graph below) remained positive, and was unchanged at 52.7 (recall that any number above 50.0 indicates expansion). The more […]

Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet this month. If you are Taiwanese or care about them, this is what you need to know: China holds $760 billion in US debt, which it could call by beginning to sell its bonds at any point. It wouldn’t crash the US economy, but it would put a […]

A new survey underscores the importance of professional salaries and benefits like paid parental leave in keeping educators in the profession—and how collective bargaining can have a major impact. “How Teachers View Their Pay and Benefits” Tim Walker, Senior Writer Ask most K-12 public school teachers what would make them stay in the profession, better […]

I do not recall being in this section of Bangkok. As it is, Bangkok is an interesting city having quite a bit of history to it. The residents are nice to Americans and others. Most are trying to just make a living. They look to foreign visitors to make part of their income. I found […]

– by New Deal democrat I wasn’t able to get to either the GDP report or the jobless claims report yesterday. I’m going to hold off on the GDP report until next week, because there was a lot going on, but this morning (before the ISM manufacturing Index comes out) let’s take a look at jobless […]