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

Trump’s latest threat is suicide for the US economy

Now, Trump is threatening to double down on his Iran disaster. “President Donald J. Trump threatened Friday to destroy Iran’s major oil terminal on Kharg Island if Tehran continued to obstruct shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.” Trump fancies himself as a deal-maker. Any deal-maker who can bankrupt a casino is a fool. This latest […]

End some of the Massive Tax Breaks Trump gave out in the One Big Ugly Bill to Fund Healthcare

The only solutions being offered up for healthcare in America are political, favoring industry and healthcare. The issue being this form of healthcare is too expensive. Time to take a step back. Merrill Goozner @ GoozNews, “A health care plan for the mid-terms” Americans say health care affordability is their number one pocketbook concern. In […]

It’s not just the gasoline

The de facto closing of the Strait of Hormuz resulting from Trump’s little war impacts supply chains besides transportation. “Farmers in the U.S. and Canada, who were already worried about prospects for another year of low profits or losses, now could have spring planting disrupted as they struggle to find fertilizer, ‌and prices for any […]

Jobless claims continue at very low levels

“Jobless claims continue at very low levels (plus an update on tech enshittification)”  – by New Deal democrat I’ll post on the updated housing situation later this morning. Meanwhile, before I get to jobless claims, a brief update on the tech situation. It turns out that I am not the only person having this problem. Basically […]

March 9 2026 and . . .

At Angry Bear, Dale Coberly is the resident expert on Social Security. He is the go-to person for questions or discussions. Dale and Bruce Webb wrote on the topic and were known for their knowledge. The issue here being, we are running a shortage of funding. There is still time to correct SS with small […]

Recent Gasoline Pricing and Six Months of History

Charts below are taken from Gas Buddy and cover one month (left) and six months (right) of pricing trends. As you can see, fuel prices were on a downward trend having hit a low in and around January 2026. Pricing had dropped ~ 40 cents per gallon. I can tell you similar did not occur […]

Can China poach US-trained scientists?

There were few if any Chinese students in my college classes and none in my graduate program. There was only one Chinese postdoc in the lab where I did postdoctoral training, and no Chinese grad students. But two of the four grad students who started in my department when I started as a faculty in […]