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

Repeat home sales indexes renew favorable YoY comparisons, suggest slow deceleration in shelter CPI to continue

 – by New Deal democrat The FHFA and Case Shiller repeat sales indexes are the last home sales and price data for the month. Two months ago I wrote that “for the next seven months the comparisons will be against an average 0.7% increase per month in 2023. Because house price indexes have shown a […]

US Immigration: How many people are coming to the US and where are they coming from?​

I chose three graphs off of the USA Facts Org. site to make points of where are immigrants coming from, the makeup of them, how the border apprehends them, and the numbers turned away or apprehended. There is a much longer, well detailed, and interesting version of this commentary at USA Facts Org. ~~~~~~~~ 2024 […]

The business of pot

When I was in high school and college in the 1970s, marijuana was (a) illegal and (b) plentiful. I may or may not have inhaled, but people I knew were certainly growing, drying, selling and buying dope at the time. From a public health standpoint, marijuana is more benign than alcohol and tobacco. I’m happy […]

The Failing Battle for Health and Healthcare in These All Too Disunited States

Tom Dispatch site commentary suggested by Dale Coberly . . . Tom: It’s not complicated. This country, as TomDispatch regular and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign Liz Theoharis makes clear today, is simply unprepared — unprepared, that is, to keep all too many Americans even reasonably healthy and well. It matters little that this may be the wealthiest country on the planet . […]

Greed killed Red Lobster

I seldom eat at chain restaurants, and I’ve never set foot in a Red Lobster. So the latest bankruptcy of Red Lobster doesn’t affect me personally, but it does serve as yet another illustration of pernicious consequences of vulture capitalism. When the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital bought Red Lobster, the chain was already […]

Anatomy of a policy failure

by Merrill Goozner GoozNews How high-deductible health insurance plans, touted by free marketeers, caused the medical debt crisis and degraded public health. ~~~~~~~~ The 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, best known for its senior citizen drug plans, also encouraged the rapid expansion of high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). It allowed people, mostly well-off, to put pre-tax earnings […]

New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators May 20-24, 2024

 – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. While the inverted yield curve and negative money supply growth keep the long leading indicators negative, both the short leading and coincident indicators have almost all turned neutral or positive. As usual, clicking over and reading will bring you up to the […]