Kevin Drum has a post up at jabberwocking.com about a claim by the chair of the Alabama GOP that democracies lead to socialism. I can’t think of a single example of a socialist country that evolved from democracy to socialism. Russia became socialist when the Bolsheviks overthrew the Kerensky government by violent revolution. Socialism throughout […]
Real average nonsupervisory wages near, real aggregate nonsupervisory payrolls at, all-time highs – by New Deal democrat Now that we have the CPI reading for June, we can calculate how average wage earners are doing in “real” terms. First, real average hourly nonsupervisory wages increased 0.4% for the second straight month. On a YoY basis, […]
by Tom Walker Econcospeak Book proposal: Marx’s Fetters and the Realm of Freedom: a remedial reading — part 2.5 Pauperism and “minus-labour” “It is already contained in the concept of the free labourer, that he is a pauper…“ Pauperism and surplus population play brief but strategic roles in the Grundrisse, appearing in the three fragments on […]
– by New Deal democrat Consumer prices in June failed to show any inflation at all for the second month in a row, as they declined -0.1% following an unchanged reading in May. On a YoY basis inflation decelerated -0.3% to 3.0% (technically 2.98% if you go out one further decimal point), the lowest YoY […]
Continuing the ongoing implementation of President Biden’s prescription drug pricing law called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final part one guidance for the new Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. Today’s guidance helps ensure that Medicare Part D plan sponsors can successfully implement the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan and effectively […]
by David Wainer WSJ, June 1, 2024 America’s healthcare insurers do not say this openly. It is not a secret that many of them would like to be a little more like United Health Group UNH 4.69% increase; green up pointing triangle. Just as Amazon is the e-commerce industry’s 800-pound gorilla, UnitedHealth has built a sprawling health services company. It shows […]
– by New Deal democrat Ever since jobless claims started higher in May, I’ve cautioned that I suspected that unresolved seasonality may be at play. This week and the next two weeks are the acid test for that hypothesis, because they were the lowest weeks for claims all last summer. And . . . The […]
From The No Good Deed Files – Digby’s Hullabaloo (digbysblog.net) Jim Tankersley @ The NY Times reports (Italicized quotes) the Biden administration has pulled off an amazing success in some places that will never reward him for it: America’s so-called “left behind” counties — the once-great manufacturing centers and other distressed places that struggled mightily at […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2023), received over 1,200 complaints involving credit card rewards. Which is reflective of a 70 percent increase over pre-pandemic levels. Some complaints are perennial issues such as the administration of credit card rewards. Consumers are claiming credit card companies are denying them benefits after they met program requirements. Others suggest […]
I love the smell and taste of freshly cooked bacon. That said, I very rarely eat bacon, for the same reason I rarely eat sausage, ham or bratwurst. Preserved meats are associated with a higher risk of colon cancer. But if you *do* eat bacon, can you afford to? Not according to Donald Trump, who […]