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

Still Incomplete Economic Data and . . .

If I am reading New Deal democrat’s commentary correctly today , we definitely are flying blind. We are not getting all the economic detail we need to know which way the wind is blowing economically. Not a good situation to be in and Republicans appear to be ok with this scenario. It can because they […]

If his lips are moving, he’s lying

Trump is borrowing from the Zohran “Socialist” Mamdani playbook to brand himself as the affordability president. ““I AM THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT,” Trump wrote in the Saturday morning [Pravda Social] post. “Trump based that proclamation on his claim that “DRUG PRICES ARE FALLING AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, 500%, 600%, 700%, and more.” He also suggested […]

Deepening Stagflationary Contraction

“November ISM manufacturing report indicates deepening stagflationary contraction”  – by New Deal democrat Normally we begin each month with reports on both construction spending and manufacturing. But even though th federal shutdown has been over for more than three weeks, data releases have been both very sparse and very stale. In particular, construction spending for August […]

New Deal democrat’s Weekly Indicators for November 24 – 28

 – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. In the aggregate, consumer spending remains robust. On the other hand, as I pointed out yesterday with my aggregation of the various regional Fed reports on manufacturing and services, the largest sector of the US economy appears to be stagnant or even shrinking […]

Regional Fed manufacturing and services indexes for November 2025

“Regional Fed manufacturing and services indexes for November show manufacturing rebound, continued rampant price pressures, and stagnant employment”  – by New Deal democrat Although the federal government has resumed reporting economic data, it is spotty and woefully stale, from August and September. As a result, the two big sources for current data remain the regional Feds […]

Money, Power and the Traders who Barter the Earth’s Resources

Book Review: The World for Sale The one-handed economist Javier Blas and Jack Farchy (B&F) published this book in 2022, and I decided to read it after hearing them discuss it on a podcast. The book focuses on commodity traders “who barter the Earth’s resources” as it says in the subtitle. On the one hand, these […]

The housing market continues to be recessionary: repeat home sales edition

– by New Deal democrat Note: there was a good advance manufacturers’ new orders report for September this morning. I’m going to save discussing it until Friday, when I dissect the regional Fed reports, which are now all in through November. Neither building permits and starts, nor new residential sales, were updated this morning, which means […]

Jobless claims continue recent trends, do not suggest any worsening of unemployment

– by New Deal democrat With the end of the government shutdown, jobless claims are fully updated and back on their regular schedule. And this week, there was more of the same. Initial jobless claims were down -6,000 to a very low 216,000, and the four week average declined -1,000 to 223,750. With the typical […]