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

Who’s in Charge Here ?

By “here” I refer to my home town Washington DC. The answer, obviously, is that Binyamin Netanyahu is in charge there. At least he has much more influence over US Federal Government spending than the guy wincing in the photo. Both Biden and Netanyahu know that Netanyahu has much more support in the US Congress […]

How Redistribution Makes Us All Richer

Modeling the numbers on bottom-up and middle-out economics. How Redistribution Makes Us All Richer, Wealth Economics, Steve Roth You hear a lot about bottom-up and middle-out economics these days, as antidotes to a half-century of “trickle-down” theorizing and rhetoric. You’re even hearing it, prominently, from Joe Biden. They’re compelling ideas: put more wealth and income […]

Attacks on Red Sea shipping, and its tie to US energy consumption

Attacks on Red Sea shipping, and its tie to US energy consumption  – by New Deal democrat The drought in economic data continues today. So let me continue on the issue of energy, tying into yesterday’s note on hybrid and electric vehicles. Here’s an eye-opening graph from JP Morgan via Carl Quintanilla’s social media feed, showing […]

Boeing 737 Max Plug Bolts not tightened to specification

Follow-up to “Why is Boeing such a shitty corporation?” Angry Bear, by Robert Reich Assebly Issue – Boeing 737 Max Plug Bolts not specifications. No defective parts, just defective assembly. As I said to Ron . . . “The same with cars. For example, Testing on vehicles such as smashing into a wall (commonly seen […]

EV sales stalling and hybrids are flying off dealer lots

A discussion: EV sales have been stalling, while hybrids are flying off dealer lots  – by New Deal democrat In addition to housing, the other big area where supply shock inflation has not completely resolved is vehicles. Basically almost the entirety of 2020 production was lost, leading to roughly a 10 million vehicle shortfall in […]

Are working class wages really still a malady?

The Bonddad Blog: Are working class wages really still a malady? New Deal democrat Via Kevin Drum, NY Times columnist Nick Kristof says, “There isn’t a good term for the bundle of pathologies that have afflicted working-class Americans . . . .” “One gauge of how many Americans are struggling is that average weekly nonsupervisory wages, a […]

Reshoring and FDI Jobs Increase a Record 53% at the End of 2022

I suspect some of the magnitude of job increasing claims are subsiding with the automotive sector backing off on EV vehicles. The trend is there. It will grow over time. The US tires of having to deal with medical supply issues during the pandemic, semiconductors, and the supply chain. The backup of containers on the […]

high corporate profits are/were a (main) driver of ongoing inflation

It appears like someone is waking up to a reality. When they can, corporations will take advantage of an economic event to increase margins resulting in increasing profits. They will call up and say they are increasing prices, take it or leave it. When your customer is one of the big three, you take it. […]

2 Posts on 2 Articles II : this time it’s less pedantic

Just below, I express my shock caused by the disappearance of basic copy editing, blocking, and tackling at The New York TImes, but, in this article, I want to discuss substance. The article on what President Nixon did in 1979 is, aside from that little slip, very interesting. It notes that people in Taiwan are […]