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

Unwelcome news for homebuyers and the CPI, as repeat home sales prices continue re-acceleration in December

– by New Deal democrat There was unwelcome news in this morning’s repeat home sales reports from the FHFA and Case-Shiller. On a seasonally adjusted basis, in the three-month average through December, according to the Case-Shiller national index (light blue in the graphs below) prices rose 0.5%, and the somewhat more leading FHFA purchase only index (dark […]

Employment was Considerably Weaker than We Thought Last Year

Q3 2024 QCEW suggests employment was considerably weaker than we thought last year – by New Deal democrat This will be income, spending, and housing week, but that won’t start until tomorrow. While there’s no news today, there was an important update to employment data last week; namely, the QCEW for Q3 of last year. […]

A Change in Attitude after the November Election

God has a plan and Congress does not. November 2024 and the election is over. Rep. Mark Alford, a Lake Winnebago Republican, won a second term in Congress Tuesday, gliding to an easy election win in Missouri’s heavily conservative 4th Congressional District. The Associated Press called the race for Alford at 9:24 p.m. At the […]

Existing home sales: trends of increasing prices, increasing inventory, and flat sales all continue

 – by New Deal democrat Existing home sales have been flat in the general range of 3.85 -4.10 million annualized for two years, and that continued in January, as on a monthly basis sales decreased -4.9% to 40.8 million from an upwardly revised December number of 4.29 million annualized: The slightly better numbers in the […]

GOP cuts to Medicaid will harm America’s health

“Congress is considering proposals that could change Medicaid financing and eligibility. “Some of these proposed changes could cause millions of people to lose access to care under Medicaid. People without coverage often skip necessary care, leading to worse health outcomes. For people in poor health, the results can be dangerous. “Cuts will put a greater […]

The fake economics of DOGE

DOGE is claiming to have saved $55 billion so far. The NYT calls bullshit: “The math that could back up those checks is marred with accounting errors, incorrect assumptions, outdated data and other mistakes…. Some contracts the group claims credit for were double- or triple-counted. Another initially contained an error that inflated the totals by […]

Perception of Business, Military, Education, and Religion

The differences in Republican and Democrat’s views can play out in how they view certain aspects of the US. For example, small businesses versus corporations. Both appear to perceive small business as being positive and take a negative view on corporations. I suspect it is one having a greater impact versus the other. Americans overwhelmingly […]