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

Take the Medical Profession and Healthcare Back from Corporate Interests

Shot an email off to Kip Sullivan to see what he was up to with Medicare. He returned my email with a copy of a letter he wrote Much going on in this letter I was not aware of and am assuming many other are not aware of either. Still they persist in corporatizing Medicare […]

Report revisions changes the picture in the January Establishment Survey

Scenes from the January jobs report: revisions changed the picture in the Establishment Survey  – by New Deal democrat Last Friday’s jobs report contained a number of annual revisions which change what the trend line for the last year looks like. Particularly the extent to which there has been continued deceleration, or even a downturn, […]

January Growth in Jobs and Wages

Job and Wage Growth Surge in January Center for Economic and Policy Research, Dean Baker I believe this report by Dean Baker to be a bit premature. If you are keeping up with New Deal democrat, he cites reasons why this still can go either way at this point. One reason is the Fed’s foot […]

Low Income Consumers are Having It Their Way

McDonald’s wants to win back low-income consumers, Laura Bratton @ QUARTZ US customers making less than $45,000 stayed away in 2023. That could continue this year, executive says . . . McDonald’s chief financial officer Ian Borden told investors Monday (Feb. 5) that he’s looking for ways to win back the low-income customers the company lost […]

The Senior Loan Officer Survey makes an important turn

The Senior Loan Officer Survey makes an important turn   – by New Deal democrat The Senior Loan Officer Survey is a long leading indicator, telling us about credit conditions that typically turn worse a year or more before the economy turns down, and improve just at the economy is ready to turn up. The one […]

Open Thread February 6 2024 “hard to find jobs right now even with low unemployment”

Employers’ hiring rate fell sharply in 2023, Zhao said. And workers are quitting less. Fewer people are changing jobs. Business Insider. And Jobs are hard to find even with low Unemployment. Open Thread February 2 2024 federal judge tosses disinformation superspreader Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lawsuit, Angry Bear

GAO: Food Prices: Information on Trends, Factors, and Federal Roles

This is a good recital by the GAO on Food Prices, its trends, factors affecting it, and how the government plays a role in it. It covers quite a bit of territory on costs and prices pre-2021 and 2021 to 2022. It was those two years when Covid was having an impact on the nation […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators January 29 – February 2

Weekly Indicators for January 29 – February 2 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. One week ago many of the high frequency indicators hit an “air pocket.” This week some – but not all! – resolved. At present there is one of the more anomalous situations […]

Just One U.S. GDP Chart to Talk About

U.S. winning world economic war, axios.com, Neil Irwin. The United States economy grew faster than any other large, advanced economy last year, by a wide margin, and is on track to do so again in 2024. Why it matters: America’s outperformance is rooted in its distinctive structural strengths, policy choices, and some luck. It reflects a fundamental resilience […]