I did some rewriting on this particular commentary and added two charts from another commentary (at the bottom). The point being to give graphical depiction of the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and who it benefited the most. You can see (for whatever reason) why the Republican Party is pushing for […]
– by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. In the wake of yesterday’s weak jobs report, bond yields and mortgage rates declined to 12 months+ lows, commodities declined across the board, stocks sold off sharply, and the 10 years to 2-year Treasury spread un-inverted. That’s bad news and good news. […]
Interesting and brief piece by Dean Baker of CEPR in relation to price gouging. There continues to be a debate about the extent to which “price-gouging” or “greedflation” has been responsible for the rise in prices since the pandemic. We can debate the extent to which companies were able to take advantage of monopoly power […]
by American Economic Liberties Project Looks like things are being said that are not legally enforceable. Let me see . . . Deleted emails, Albertson’s CEO can walk away with a $40-something million bonus if he can close the deal, a special dividend to private equity investors worth $4 billion and paid with borrowed money, […]
It is an accurate rant and depicts what I see on the highway. I see much of this in Arizona where we live today. An explosion of oversized vehicles which typically do not carry anything but people. As one planning commissioner said to the builders, sixty percent of the vehicles being driven in southern Arizona […]
This report by Employ America was written the day before the Unemployment report was released on the 6th. There is another link to a report on Indeed at the end of this report. It too makes for an interesting tead. The good news from the August jobs report is the labor market is not weakening […]
Just like American companies, Volkswagen made the jump to EVs the technology of which is still being developed and just before the pandemic. Of course, the pandemic created an economic desert where people cut buying anything other than essentials. Fewer vehicles sold leads to an abundance of uncovered costs and debt. Can’t reduce the costs […]
More on the FTC investigating Albertsons and Kroger as to whether they are truly competitors. The issue being how much of the market-controlled now by each and what would result after Kroger acquires Albertsons. Both the FTC and Unions argue “FTC argues different stores have different use cases. FTC lead attorney Susan Musser noted “you […]
Yes, I get occasional commentaries from this substack. No, I am not going to post it all here. Follow the link after you read what I did post of Claudia Sahm’s here. Labor market conditions. – by Claudia Sahm Tomorrow (9/6) is the jobs report for August 2024. There is intense attention for any clues […]
– by New Deal democrat My focus continues to be on whether jobs gains are most consistent with a “soft landing,” i.e., no further deterioration, or whether there is further decline towards a recession. For a change, this month the Establishment report was the weakest in several years, if still positive. Meanwhile the Household report rebounded […]