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

Bit of Thailand News on Exports, etc.

Briefly: Exports have decreased. Slowest in nearly a year. Tariffs and a stronger Baht are listed as the causes. Thailand is hardly competition for the United States although they are contracted by American companies to make automotive and other industry components. Labor costs are less. AS well as other costs. Whether is it superior healthcare […]

Initial jobless claims

 – by New Deal democrat I’m on the road today, and won’t have time to update anything until tonight. So here is what to look for in initial and continuing jobless claims. Remember that the most important figure for forecasting purposes is the YoY% change. One year ago, initial claims came in at 221,000, the […]

Open Thread with a Topic

Or you can talk about something else. I did this in early August also. As I said before, this used to be a weekly process and sometimes was very successful. As a subscriber. I am posting part of a Paul Krugman commentary from the past. It may interest you. You can always use your own […]

How many immigrants live in the U.S.?

Answering the question as a part of: “Immigrants and the economy,” Economic Policy Institute. Just how many migrants and immigrants are living in the United States? There were 47.8 million migrants and immigrants who resided in the United States as of 2023 (see Figure A), which includes all foreign-born persons of any immigration status and those […]

Keeping Trump honest

A recurring theme in shut-down commentary is that Democrats cannot trust Trump and congressional republicans to keep any deal they make to fund the government. This seems like a valid concern.  Some commentators cite this as one of the main reasons for Democrats to refuse to fund the government.  But unless the Democrats have a […]

“the last shoes to drop, have dropped” Recession

New home sales: despite the noisy sharp increase in August, the last pre-recession metrics are firmly negative  – by New Deal democrat Have I mentioned before that new home sales, while perhaps the most leading of all the housing data, suffer from being very noisy and heavily revised? Yes, I think I have, just about […]

The State of the Consumer

– by New Deal democrat In addition to my system of long and short leading indicators, and the weekly high frequency data, the third system I use to mark to market my views of the economy is what i call “the consumer nowcast.” Introduction I have various systems for tracking the economy — including high-frequency weekly […]

Private equity is killing us

American hospitals are under siege. The Trump administration just announced an increase from $1500 to $100,000 per year for H-1B visas that are used by foreign-trained physicians. The recently passed GOP budget dramatically cuts Medicaid funding, cuts that will drive the closure of many rural and community hospitals that are on the edge of insolvency. […]

Two Industries Which Would Be Better-off if Modernized

Trump administration’s tariffs on U.S. imports are passing through the supply chains and ending up impacting the consumers wallet in the form of increasing prices. There is no way to avoid these increases in the US. These are two industries which are disproportionately worse-off, I am familiar with due to my experience in manufacturing. They […]

Trump’s newest attack on rural hospitals

The Trump GOP’s Medicaid cuts will cause many rural hospitals to close. Now, Trump has come up with a way to hasten that process. “NBC News medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta warned of the consequences that President Donald Trump’s imposed $100,000 annual visa fee for highly skilled foreign workers could have on those seeking health […]