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

New Deal democrat’s Weekly Indicators for July 6 – 10, 2026

My “Weekly Indicators” post is up. The high frequency data continues to confirm my Big Picture outlook that after a near-miss or possible “mini-recession” late last year, the economy is rebounding. In particular, the YoY improvements, already Booming, in consumer spending are accelerating even more. Some of this is probably the wealth effect from stock portfolios, […]

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern Railroads

Rail Passengers Association | Substack Bit of an Introduction. Having ridden in trains in other countries, I can see where having similar passenger rail services would benefit the United States. Rather than traveling by air, one could take a trip by passenger rail to another state several hundred miles away and arrive in better condition […]

What are ACA Enrollees Paying this Year due to Trump/GOP Policies?

NATIONAL: How much more are ACA enrollees *really* paying this year due to Trump/GOP policies? ACA Signups, Charles Gaba Partial post taken from; “How much more are ACA enrollees *really* paying this year due to Trump/GOP policies?” Charles Gaba @ ACA Signups. Nationally, on average, net ACA premiums have jumped by 58% this year vs. last, from […]

Jobles claims: the “low-hire, *no*-fire” regime continues, as the “Quick and Dirty” forecast model remains positive

 – by New Deal democrat Let’s take our regular weekly look at jobless claims. In addition to being 1/2 of my “quick and dirty” forecasting system (the other 1/2 being stock prices), they have a 60 year history of being a good short leading indicator. [Later this morning we’ll get existing home sales, and I’ll […]

Regional Fed surveys confirm manufacturing rebound: services, not so much

 – by New Deal democrat Yesterday I looked at the economically weighted ISM manufacturing and services indexes, pointing out that they have shown a rebound this year. Today let’s take a brief look at the regional Fed manufacturing and services indexes. Below are the manufacturing and services indexes, averaged over the four Fed districts whose […]

Scenes from the June jobs report: a weak but improving economy

– by New Deal democrat There’s no important new economic news today, so let’s take a somewhat deeper dive into last Thursday’s employment report for June. To cut to the chase, this is of a piece of my “Big Picture” narrative from Friday in which I wrote that most of the signals suggest and economy coming […]