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

Interesting stuff

by David Zetland    (One handed economist) Interesting stuff “Biohacking life” — a physics geek gets into our metabolism Governments are printing money to “get out of the crisis”, but they are probably sowing the seeds of the next crisis (of inflation? fiscal collapse?) An incredibly interesting dive into Japanese cosmology The American Press Is Destroying Itself (under […]

New and continued jobless claims level off, as spreading secondary impacts and job recalls balance

New and continued jobless claims level off, as spreading secondary impacts and job recalls balance Weekly initial and continuing jobless claims give us the most up-to-date snapshot of the continuing economic impacts of the coronavirus on employment. Three full months after the initial shock, the overall damage remains huge, with recalls to work roughly balanced […]

Angry Bear “Again” On List Of Top Economics Blogs For 2020

Angry Bear “Again” On List Of Top Economics Blogs For 2020 Intelligent Economist has again put out its annual list of the top 100 economics blogs, with some new ones and some gone, although two of those were due to retirements, especially the  Economists View of Mark Thoma. Closely connected Econospeak , Bondadd blog ,  and Capital Ebbs and Flows also were […]

The Coronavirus Recession may already (technically) have ended: sales and production both increased in May

The Coronavirus Recession may already (technically) have ended: sales and production both increased in May  – by New Deal democrat Sales and production are two of the four things that economists look for in gauging whether the economy is in expansion or recession, and this morning both of them – retail sales and industrial production […]

S&P PE NOW BACK ABOVE FAIR VALUE

After the recent market rebound the S&P 500 valuation has risen from below my estimated fair value to just over the top of the fair value band. It is important to remember that much of the rebound in the S&P PE  is due to weaker earnings.  In the second quarter earnings are falling at double […]

Weekly Indicators for June 8 – 12 at Seeking Alpha

by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for June 8 – 12 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The short leading indicators have continued to improve, from awful, to less awful, to merely really bad. But that the NASDAQ briefly made a new high last week, while the S&P was only […]

Coronavirus dashboard for June 12: the costs of recklessly reopening begin to come due

Coronavirus dashboard for June 12: the costs of recklessly reopening begin to come due  – by New Deal democrat It is pretty clear now that in general those States (but not all) which left lockdowns the earliest and with the most lax continuing restrictions are suffering renewed outbreaks of the coronavirus, *possibly* in several cases […]

Initial jobless claims decline further, but continuing claims fail to make meaningful progress

Initial jobless claims decline further, but continuing claims fail to make meaningful progress – by New Deal democrat Weekly initial and continuing jobless claims give us the most up-to-date  snapshot of the continuing  economic impacts of the coronavirus to the average worker. Twelve weeks after calamity first struck, the theme remains “less awful.” First, here are […]

May inflation steadies: meanwhile, an artificial all time high in “real” wages

May inflation steadies: meanwhile, an artificial all time high in “real” wages –  by New Deal democrat In May, overall consumer prices declined by -0.1% (blue in the graph below), while consumer prices excluding energy (gas) rose +0.1% (red): Note that in 2015 when gas prices collapsed, prices otherwise continued to increase, showing the underlying […]