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

Forgotten Generation of Prosperity Time Period

America’s Forgotten Generation (of Prosperity) – by Paul Krugman Krugman Wonks Out How and why the postwar boom got memory-holed. So the don’t-know-much-about-history gang are at it again, asserting that the Gilded Age was an era of unique prosperity. I wasn’t planning on another post today, but this really needs addressing in a short note. […]

The final jobless claims report of 2024 is good weekly, but the trend indicates substantial weakening

 – by New Deal democrat Welcome to 2025! The data this year starts out with jobless claims for the last week of 2024, which of course is heavily influenced by seasonality. The news was mainly good this week, with claims declining -9,000 to 211,000, the lowest number in over half a year. The four week […]

Immorality of Greed and Its Impact on Healthcare – Opinion Piece

Greed Is Immoral. Health Care Greed Is Abominable. – by Jim Hightower Creators.com America has endured a long panorama of corporate greed — from the East India Trading Company to the Robber Barons, Gordon Gecko Wall Streeters to Elon Musk. But down at the bottom of raw greediness today, you’ll find the insatiable profiteers of […]

Puerto Rico Suffers New Year’s Eve Blackout

Fury at Private Power Giants as Puerto Rico Suffers New Year’s Eve Blackout, Common Dreams The latest failure of the Puerto Rico privatized power grid on Tuesday plunged much of the island into a blackout on New Year’s Eve, sparking fresh anger toward the system’s for-profit operators and political leaders who sold off the U.S. territory’s public […]

Upcoding Linked to Up to Two-Thirds of Payment Growth

Upcoding Linked to Up to Two-Thirds of Growth in Highest-Intensity Hospital Discharges in 5 States, 2011–19, Health Affairs This is an abstract as I did not have access to the research article by Health Affairs. Besides the numerics also consider this is only for 5 states. Just something to be aware of and the magnitude […]

Albertsons Files Lawsuit Against Kroger

In the past . . . In September it appeared this get-together stood a good chance of not happening. things are being said that are not legally enforceable. Other thing occurring that are questionable. Let me see . . . Deleted emails, Albertsons CEO walks away with a $40-something million bonus if he can close […]

Fixing the Anti-Worker H-1B Immigration Visa Scam

“Biden Can Fix the Anti-Worker H-1B Immigration” was written early on in 2022. It was not till recently a new Biden rule change is taking place for H-1B Visas. Of course, the problem with this change is how long will it last under a Trump – Musk presidency. I am sure the H1-B program is […]

Repeat Sales House prices show signs of re-acceleration in the last data of 2024

 – by New Deal democrat I was on vacation through the weekend, and since there has been no significant economic data in the post-Christmas lull, I decided to continue to play hooky. After tomorrow, on Thursday the 2025 data will start in earnest, so expect a return to form later this week. In the meantime, […]