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

Rare Earths

Playing the tough guy, Tr_mp goes around China to Australia for Rare Earths. China has the largest known estimated reserve of 44 million metric tons. It also holds the leading position in rare earth production, producing 270,000 metric tons in 2024. Both Australia and the United States are second in reserves. The last time I looked […]

Manufacturing Jobs and Unions

Just talking jobs in factories and how they improved after unions took hold in the plants and industries. Most definitely a plus for throughput, productivity, and attitude. It did foster a different atmosphere on the shop floor. Labor felt like they had a place in the business albeit on the shop floor, etc. “Manufacturing Jobs: […]

New Deal Democrats Weekly Indicators for October 13 – 17

– by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. About 90% of the high frequency data comes from non-Federal government sources and so is unaffected by the shutdown. It continues to signal no particular stress. But there is no denying that the loss of the monthly official data series (for things like […]

Earth crosses first climate tipping point as coral reefs die off

I do not believe this requires much of an introduction or explanation. This event has been discussed and warned about for decades. Mankind does not appear to want to pay attention to the warming of the Earth. We can stopped the severity of what we are doing and take a lesser path. Or we can […]

Unstable coins

Cryptocurrencies are a manifestation of The Greater Fool Theory of investing. A justification for cryptocurrencies is that they are unmoored from any government-regulated currency. Their primary utility, it turns out, is funding criminal activities. Stablecoins are a form of cryptocurrency linked to a government currency (the dollar, the rouble, etc). Of course, tethering the value […]

The U.S.-Born labor force will shrink over the next decade

“Immigration, Population, Replacement, Politics and the Economy,” Angry Bear. Immigration, Population Replacement, Politics, and the Economy are what comes together to ensure national growth. In 2006 the rate of population growth was 1 percent. Since then and in 2021, it has decreased to 4 tenths of 1%. With the present administration removing legal and illegal immigrants, […]

DOGE layoffs hit, but still no significant change in initial or continuing jobless claims

– by New Deal democrat We continue our exercise in flying blind (into terrain?) as the government shutdown prevented the release of housing permits, starts, and construction this morning; and the Fed did not have the data necessary to update industrial production and capacity utilization. The only current information we have on the housing sector is […]

Just Like Colleges, Local School Districts are Having to Adjust to Shrinking Populations

The same as colleges adjusting to less students so it goes in some school districts. It is not like population is shrinking overall. The US population is still growing in spite of today’s politics. People are not coming to these communities. “Kansas’ Smallest School District Prepares to Close in Warning Sign for Rural Communities,” The […]

Social dissatisfaction and right wing revanchism:  comment

Paul Campos has a post up asking:  “What are the main sources of the immense amounts of social dissatisfaction that have fueled among other things the political ascent of the worst person in the history of American politics to the presidency?”  He lists several factors: Campos’ discussion of these factors is worth reading. Obviously, there […]