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

Cost Plus Drugs has added 5 new products

I get quite a few commentaries on healthcare and also announcements. I thought I would follow Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs site for a while. I can vouch for the lower cost drugs I use are close to what Mark’s business is citing. If anyone see one of these drugs is of a lesser cost, […]

NDd’s long leading forecast for 2024

The long leading forecast for 2024 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat A couple of times a year I update my long leading forecast. With the latest GDP and Senior Loan Officer Survey data, there is enough to take a look at what the next 12 months probably have in store. This article is up […]

‘Hell No’: Trump Allies’ Plan to Privatize Medicare Draws Alarm and Outrage

It never ends as commercial interests keep trying to horn in on healthcare for the old geezers like myself. Except, it is not person related healthcare. It is related to the size of your wallet. More on Medicare Advantage by Jake Johnson at Common Dreams. ~~~~~~~~ A right-wing coalition’s proposal to make Medicare Advantage the […]

Eleven* Years of #ACA Medicaid Expansion in One Image

Eleven* Years of #ACA Medicaid Expansion in One Image, ACA Signups, Charles Gaba I just posted a colorful graph which tracked ACA Qualified Health Plan (QHP) enrollment over eleven years of Open Enrollment Periods. Below I’ve done the same thing for ACA Medicaid Expansion. The data comes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services quarterly Medicaid […]

January 2024 consumer inflation: still a tug of war between gas and housing

January 2024 consumer inflation: still a tug of war between gas and housing  – by New Deal democrat As it has been for going on two years, consumer inflation has boiled down to a contest of strength between energy (mainly gasoline), which peaked in June 2022 and roughed in June 2023, and housing, which peaked […]

Open Thread February 13 2024 Inflation cooled again in January . . .

but came in above Wall Street’s expectations, another sign that the Federal Reserve’s path to interest-rate cuts is far from settled. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that consumer prices rose 3.1% in January from a year earlier, versus a December gain of 3.4%. That marked the lowest reading since June. Inflation at 3.1% Reflects “Stubborn […]

Aggregate payrolls vs. total withholding taxes paid: which one has been telling the truer tale?

Aggregate payrolls vs. total withholding taxes paid: which one has been telling the truer tale?  – by New Deal democrat The drought in new data continues for today. So I wanted to take a further look at the two measures of total payrolls I discussed on Friday, one of which has been of some concern. […]

Gen Z is Leaving Michigan in Droves

Michigan has always had its ups and downs. Pretty much this was the resuly of automotive being a core business within the state. Michigan economy would go which ever was automotive and the economy would go. Another core industry would help in Michigan. Michigan now find itself as the only state from which more Gen […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for February 5-9 2024

Weekly Indicators for February 5- 9 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. Most notable is that two of the long leading indicators – interest rates and corporate profits – have turned from very negative to at very least neutral, increasingly suggesting better economic news ahead. As […]

Cohousing Could Be the Answer for Aging Baby Boomers

Cohousing, another way to have multifamily and multigenerational housing. Why Cohousing Could Be the Answer for Aging Baby Boomers, Carbon Upfront, Lloyd Alter In a recent post, Why the future of housing should be multifamily and multigenerational, I mentioned cohousing, which was started in Denmark primarily by young families as a way of sharing resources like […]