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

Repeat home sales through March confirm continued deceleration of price increases

 – by New Deal democrat Last week the existing home sales report showed continued deceleration in YoY price increases to 1.8%, indicative of the ongoing rebalancing of the housing market. This morning’s repeat home sales reports from the FHFA and S&P Case Shiller confirmed that deceleration and ongoing rebalancing. On a seasonally adjusted basis, in […]

Europe isn’t flying the unfriendly skies of America

It’s not just Tesla that is becoming poison in Europe: “European airlines are freezing their transatlantic growth and pulling back from major U.S. cities like New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Chicago as they redirect flights to Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Caribbean, where bookings are rising and demand is outpacing the American market. Carriers including […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators May 19 – 23

Weekly Indicators for May 19 – 23 at Seeking Alpha (plus bonus charts)  – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. The effects of Tariff-paloooza! are like a slowly building tsunami. The tide rolled out, but now far out at sea there is a horizon to horizon white wall of foam. […]

Tesla tanks in Europe

I wasn’t gonna buy a Tesla before Elon joined the Trump Administration, so his politics weren’t a consideration. Apart from the fact that I wouldn’t pay that much for a car, I’ve never lived in a place where Teslas are green. Before we left St. Louis, ca. 80% of electricity in Missouri came from burning […]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

Trump says he’s using tariffs to re-shore manufacturing from other countries. Setting aside the fact that it takes years to build and operationalize a manufacturing plant, why would anyone bother when he flip-flops every week? This has nothing to do with jobs in America. This is pure market manipulation for speculators. “Donald Trump has announced […]

Briefly Speaking to the Elimination of Appliance Efficiency

Cutbacks to the Energy Star program will result less efficiency and greater costs to consumers. But then, costs passing to the plebian citizens were not in the minds of Republicans. The thought pattern here being . . . will citizens remember who was responsible for increasing energy costs? Ultimately, Republican in Congress are responsible for […]

A quick note on the Medicare cuts

Better explanation on the “One Big Beautiful Bill” impacts Medicare by Merrill Goozner at GoozNews. It hits providers and insurers directly, not beneficiaries. People need to be educated about the impact — not the $500 billion number. I’m no defender of the cruel and unusual punishment inflicted on the American people by the House Republicans’ […]

International Travel with Trump as the President

At this particular point in time, I would forestall any travel to Europe for work or vacation. My German cohorts were always somewhat cautious around myself and others. Herr Trump and his band of sycophants have caused serious damage to the US imagine and relationship. The same as Trump, they would be suspicious. They will […]

Book Review: “The End of the World is Just the Beginning”

A repost from “The one-handed economist” site Review: The End of the World is Just the Beginning – The one-handed economist KA recommended this 2022 book, and I was very much interested in the thesis of its author, Peter Zeihan, i.e., that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and that the US will come […]

Pushing the “Big Beautiful Bill” . . .

Getty’s Kevin Dietech snapped this picture of Republican Majority Leader Mike Johnson peering over his shoulder as he enters a meeting. Or what looks like a meeting. One of several authors writes it is a House Rules Committee Meeting. And probably about Trumps “Big Beautiful Bill.” “The Devastating Harms of House Republicans’ Big, ‘Beautiful’ Bill […]