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

New home sales and prices continue range-bound in May, while new homes *for sale* make a 15 year high (and that’s good!)

 – by New Deal democrat We finished housing data for the month with this morning’s report on new single family home sales and prices. As I usually point out, new home sales are the most leading of the housing construction metrics, but they are noisy and heavily revised.  That was true again in May. Sales (blue […]

How can getting food into Gaza be up for debate?

From the NYT: I am not sure what the claim is here.  If the idea is that Hamas will get political credit if people do not starve, this is a totally unacceptable reason to withhold food.  Maybe the worry is that Hamas will gain political leverage by monopolizing the distribution of food aid and distributing […]

High Interest Rates Restricting Housing

An abbreviated portion of Preston Mui’s “Where High Rates are Restricting Investment,” Employ America. This portion of his economic commentary discusses housing and in particular Multifamily. Preston Mui: The Federal Reserve has held rates at the current level for nearly a year. The majority of the committee appears confident that monetary policy is currently restrictive. […]

US Debt, Problems, and Fixes

Discussing US Debt looked interesting enough to post on Angry Bear. I do not agree with the proposed fixes as I believe there are other fixes which would resolve the issues mentioned. Perhaps you have better ideas? Addressing Rising US Debt by Karen Dynan Econofact, The Issue: United States Federal debt rose sharply after the […]

FHFA and Case Shiller repeat sales indexes show YoY price growth has peaked; slow deceleration in shelter CPI should continue

 – by New Deal democrat This week’s data focuses on house prices and new home sales, and the more important personal income and spending report on Friday. In the housing data I am looking at any movement towards rebalancing between new and existing home sales. To recapitulate, the big increase in mortgage rates has locked […]

Five Men at Atomic Ground Zero

This popped up. What not to do on a sunny day in the Nevada desert. The F-89 Fighter Fired ‘Mini’ Nuclear Bomb Rockets to Make Russia Freak, msn.com A new design F-89J flying overhead was carrying a different and altogether deadlier payload. An approximate three-meter-long rocket with a 1.5 kiloton nuclear W25 nuclear warhead in […]

“lowering out-of-pocket costs” number one health care concern

The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans found employers are projecting a 7 percent hike for health care costs in 2024. Aon projected the average costs for U.S. employers paying for their employees’ health care could increase 8.5 percent to more than $15,000 per employee in 2024. Voters remember the pain, not the gain by […]

Travelin’ man

New Deal democrat at The Bonddad Blog takes a vacation day. On the road again . . .   Fortunately, there’s no significant economic news today, so a perfect day to play hooky. See you tomorrow.

Moody’s Analytics; cooling inflation, economic growth of 2.1% v. an economic disaster

AB: I am not sure how Republicans will sugar coat Trump’s economic plans for 2025. June 23, 2024 Prof. Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American On Thursday, Moody’s Analytics, which evaluates risk, performance, and financial modeling, compared the economic promises of President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Authors Mark Zandi, Brendan […]