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

The Reason Dems Lost this Election? Layoffs and Prices.

I believe it is more than just GM sticking it to Labor. Increasing food prices. Each major automotive company laid off thousands. Some examples of sticking to the population. Eggs in particular saw an increase. Packaging was made smaller. Some examples: – Fritos Scoops: “Party Size” bags used to be 18 ounces, but are now 15.5 […]

Extending Trumps 2017 Tax Cuts

Trumps 2017 Tax Break Extension chart and explanation . . . Sources: CBO (for most provisions), *JCT( R&E provision), **CRFB (Interest provision) New estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) put a price tag of nearly $5 trillion on extending all the Trump-GOP tax law, which is mostly scheduled to expire at the end of 2025. That is more […]

Being atypical is “not representative of a type, group, or class”

Dean Baker: “Story telling attracts attention and sells newspapers.” I was reading at another site which was making the argument of Medicare Advantage plans being less costly than Traditional Medicare. It cites a truism that Medicare Advantage offers Part D and Supplemental in its package while Traditional Medicare does not. That is true. However, Medicare […]

Hourly Wage Labor Benefited more, 2020 to 2023 than Salaried

An interesting phenomenon occurred from 2020 – 2023. Hourly wage labor experienced increasing wages during the pandemic. A recent NBER report by David Autor, Arindrajit Dube, and Annie McGrew susply the data creating a foundation for the Labor v Salary words. To display I provided an additional graph besides the one shown by The Bulwark’s […]

Undocumented labor: solutions, not scapegoating

Trump has promised to deport >10 million undocumented people living in the US. He justifies this by saying they are dangerous criminals. In fact, immigrants commit crimes at a *lower* rate than US citizens. He has announced his intention to deploy US troops in US streets to capture and detain people who are claimed to […]

October existing home sales: a pause, or possibly reversal, in the rebalancing trend

 – by New Deal democrat Yesterday’s report on existing home sales indicated, at least for one month, a pause or even reversal in the previous trend of abating price increases and increased inventory. While existing home sales are  not nearly so important to the economy as new home sales, to the extent that home buyers […]

The end of the “American Century”

The United States emerged in the 20th century after two world wars as the world’s sole superpower. It further cemented its political and economic hegemony with the collapse of the Soviet Union. But like all empires throughout history, the American empire has a finite half-life, and its final decline is in full view. For some […]

The Nation’s Dole for the Wealthy

Musk is on the Nation’s Dole. There is much he has done with the help of government funding. Now he wishes to bring efficiency to government. The largest items he wishes to attack on his list includes veterans’ healthcare, childcare, college grants, NASA, and housing assistance. That is going big with veterans especially when Trump […]