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

More of the “Economy Is Bad” Under Biden Series

 I guess if it is said enough times it has to be true or does it have to be? The Biden rescue since he took office is far better than what we experienced in 2008 onward. Yet Another in the Economy Is Bad Under Biden by Dean Baker CEPR Like other major news outlets, the […]

Who is better on unions, Harris or Trump?

A fitting topic for Labor Day, 2024. Over at TPM, they have an extended discussion of the records of the Biden/Harris Administration vs the Trump/Pence administration regarding unions and workplace safety. Click the link to read the whole thing. I’ll keep the quotes here within fair use. “. . . three aspects of the candidates’ […]

The SEC and the economics of college sports

I lost interest in football after high school. Although college athletes were ostensibly amateurs, the perks they enjoyed, above and beyond full scholarships, made them more like professionals than your average college student. And there were regular recruiting scandals to back up that perception. Now that all that financial compensation is above board, those “student-athletes” […]

An A1 Price Fixing Dream. You Know It’s There. But You Can’t Prove It.

I spent some time today adding to this piece in the hope of making it clear in explanation. What is occurring is many entities are using software which compares its pricing to what the market will bear. No one knows the others adding their data. However, the end result is what is being charged is […]

Developing the World’s Tallest Timber Tower Again

Milwaukee is developing the world’s tallest timber tower . . . again | CNN Commenter Bob Michaelson recently posted on Joel Eissenberg’s post Getting High on Wood . . . What Bob was pointing to in his comment was Milwaukee, WI build of another Timber Tower skyscraper building type made of wood. Presently, a mass […]

New Deal democrat’s Weekly Indicators August 26-30 2024 . . . Normalization?

 – by New Deal democrat My detailed “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. There were two noteworthy events this past week. First, the 10-year minus 2-year Treasury spread briefly normalized during the week, on Wednesday, and ended the week only inverted by 1 basis point (.01%). Second, almost *all* of the coincident indicators are […]

The truth about immigration

The big lie about immigration, promoted by the GOP and its right-wing propaganda outlets, is that under Biden the US has had “open borders.” LOL! Nowhere close. And the US hasn’t had open borders at least since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years. The law […]

Inflation Data Gives a ‘Bright Green Light’ for a Fed Rate Cut

We have been playing brinksmanship the last 30 days as to when it is a good time to reduce the Fed Rate taking your foot off the bake so to speak. If you read New Deal democrat’s latest report . . . “The monthly personal income and spending report is now the most important report […]

July personal income and spending: an excellent report, with only one fly in the ointment

 – by New Deal democrat The monthly personal income and spending report is now the most important report of all, except for jobs. That’s becuase it tells us so much about the state of the consumer economy. It is the raw material for several important coincident indicators that the NBER looks at, as well as several […]