Doing the world a favor. For Michael. I did indeed post Dilke’s work. Then I reposted it. Then, ten years later, Contributions to Political Economy reprinted Dilke’s pamphlet, along with an essay about it by Giancarlo de Vivo. And forthcoming in the next issue of CPE is my article on the “Ambivalence of Disposable Time.” Thank you, Michael, for asking me to […]

RIP Michael Perelman  I have just learned that old friend Michael Perelman has “passed quietly in his sleep” (not reported of what) on September 21, 2020, having been born on October 1, 1939, so just shy of his 81st birthday.  I knew Michael for a long time and considered him a personal friend, although it […]

Turns out that the best weapon against the COVID-19 virus was, and still is, the N95 face mask. If this wasn’t known from the start, it should have been. We, the greatest nation on earth, the greatest nation that has ever been, were, and still are, dependent on China, and South Korea, for N95 masks. […]

Writer Nancy LeTourneau describes herself as “a pragmatic progressive who has been blogging about politics since 2007.” She writes at her blog, “Horizons” and also commentary on Twitter @Smartypants60. In the past, Nancy has written articles for the Washington Monthly. “How Biden Is Walking His Talk on Unity,” Horizons, Nancy LeTourneau, January 27, 2021, There […]

The two most leading sectors of the real economy – manufacturing and construction – remain “on fire” Data for January 2021 started out this morning with the ISM manufacturing index, while the December laggard of construction spending was also reported.  While the ISM manufacturing reading declined from 60.7 to 58.7, since 50 is the break-even […]

Desirable incentive effects of income taxation I Desirable Incentive Effects of Income Taxation II Desirable Incentive Effects of Income Taxation III Desirable Effects of Income Taxation IV Dissipative Signaling Desirable incentive effects of income taxation V Debt and Taxes I Debt and Taxes II Debt and Taxes III Debt and Taxes IV: This Time It’s […]

 by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for January 25 – 29 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. After many weeks of stability, there is some turmoil – in opposing directions – among the short leading indicators in particular. It is an indication of the bifurcated nature of the economy at […]

Is China Now Number One?  Actually I think focusing on such questions can be a not very useful exercise, but here I am asking it anyway.  As it is, indeed the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) is indeed Number One on a number of important grounds, although probably the bottom line is that the world […]

Real personal spending declines in December, while income rises; not quite enough to start a “double-dip” recession This morning’s report on personal income and spending for December reversed the pattern we have seen all during the second half of 2020. After rebounding strongly for 6 months, real personal spending (blue in the graph below) declined […]

Read: When does democracy morph into mobocracy? Read: A critique of gentrification that misunderstands the commons and property rights Read: Most economies are in a “K-shaped” recovery in which the rich get richer and the poor poorer and more on how everyone is better off on average but the poor are not average. Interesting stuff