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

2017 Tax Cuts made Income Inequality Worse and Hurt Black Americans

The author did not include graphs. I added graphs from the sources the author had included in their piece. A picture sometimes says more than words do. This is a well-documented and sourced commentary. It mostly says one thing . . . the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act did little for Black Americans, minorities, […]

Retail Real Sales

Real retail sales on the cusp of breaking out of their multi-year doldrums  – by New Deal democrat Consumption leads employment, and as I reiterated yesterday real per capita retail sales has a history as a long leading indicator. Which means that retail sales for November, which rose 0.7% nominally, continues its recent strong string […]

Planned Tariffs, An Economy Argument with Political Implications

Former Sen. Pat Toomey (R), represented the key state of Pennsylvania for 12 years in the Senate. He said he would not vote for former President Trump or Vice President Harris in the November 2024 election. (Psst, pre-November 2024 election commentary). I do not know if this person actually did not vote for either Trump or Kamala Harris. He […]

Will DOGE be an exercise in futility?

The smirking faces of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have joined the smirking face of Donald Trump in threatening to burn down government in order to save it. What they’re announcing sure sounds bad to me (eliminate a third of federal spending, including cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid). Over at eatingpolicy.com, Jennifer Pahlka […]

Funding Public Goods Problematic??? Blame the Tax-Dodging Billionaire

So, what are nepo babies or nepotism babies? The second name gives the meaning away. A person who gains success or opportunities through familial connections. Especially a child of a famous parent (such as an actor, musician, entrepreneur, or politician), Merriam Webster. Some Examples. There are tax implications benefiting them as explained by Common Dreams author Julia […]

Looking at Five Long Leading Indicators

 – by New Deal democrat I haven’t “officially” updated my take on the long leading indicators – those that forecast a recession at least one year beforehand – in almost two years. That’s because the hurricane force tailwind of the supply-side deflationary unlinking of the global supply chain completely swamped everything else. So if I […]

From the Middle Out and Bottom Up

Over my 40 something years, I spent much of my time in career in Supply Chain or certain aspects of manufacturing in different industries. The discipline I knew, learned, and was certified in could and was used by me to streamline what companies were doing at the time to their benefit of lowering costs or […]

The business model of modern universities

I’m seeing people attacking universities, particularly private universities, for accumulating large endowments while allowing their graduates to accrue education loans that saddle them with debt for years or decades and cannot normally be discharged by bankruptcy. Why aren’t these universities the lenders? Setting aside the question of whether it is in the national interest to […]

Healthcare in the United States

The uninsured numbers dropped since the advent of the ACA. Lower costs would have been available if one Congressional Rep from Michigan had not interfered. I will find that information and add it. Still 26 million uninsured in the US. The State of Health Insurance in America, Econofact, Mark Shepard The Issue: Universal access to […]

Capital Gains: Realization

Capital Gains: Realization Does Not Matter – by Steve Roth Wealth Economics You’re looking at your asset portfolio and decide to sell or buy some ETF shares. Click. The transaction is a dollar-for-dollar asset swap between you and your counterparty, at current market prices: M assets (bank deposits) in exchange for ETF assets, and vice versa. Equal […]