– by New Deal democrat The advance report for Q1 GDP was a study in contrasts, both in terms of the leading indicators and also the sources of strength. Let me start with the general information: on a nominal basis, GDP in Q1 increased a mediocre 1.4% at an annual rate (blue). After adjusting for inflation, […]

Healthcare commentary, April 19 by Paul Krugman. It has been a while since I tackled the topic and pulling from multiple resources. The issue still remains. Healthcare in the United States is expensive. Even with the healthcare aid provided by the Biden Administration via congressional approval was not enough. And then voters stayed home, voted […]

In “A 1980 Letter on the Risk of Opioid Addiction letter” article, identified were 608 citations of the index publication and noted a sizable increase after the introduction of OxyContin (a long-acting formulation of oxycodone) in 1995 (Figure 1). Of the articles that included a reference to the 1980 letter, the authors of 439 (72.2%) […]

Tracking 2025 Domestic Performance by Amtrak; It is an alternative to expensive gasoline, dangerous highways, crowded airport and increasing costs. It is profitable . . . The issues? Not enough trains and cars, Old equipment. Increasing demand. And not enough support to put another method of travel in place besides cars and planes. About time […]

– by New Deal democrat April data started out as usual with the ISM manufacturing index. There was some good news, but mainly bad news. The good news was that the headline ISM number (blue in the graph below) remained positive, and was unchanged at 52.7 (recall that any number above 50.0 indicates expansion). The more […]

A new survey underscores the importance of professional salaries and benefits like paid parental leave in keeping educators in the profession—and how collective bargaining can have a major impact. “How Teachers View Their Pay and Benefits” Tim Walker, Senior Writer Ask most K-12 public school teachers what would make them stay in the profession, better […]

– by New Deal democrat I wasn’t able to get to either the GDP report or the jobless claims report yesterday. I’m going to hold off on the GDP report until next week, because there was a lot going on, but this morning (before the ISM manufacturing Index comes out) let’s take a look at jobless […]

 – by New Deal democrat Personal income and spending are among the most important monthly indicators of all, because they give us a detailed look at consumption by the broad range of American households. And since consumption leads employment, they also give us an idea of what is likely to happen with regard to jobs […]

The following (Healthcare Cost Increases) is taken from the longer Employ America piece. His portion touches upon healthcare costs and how those costs impact labor income and hiring. An Increase in healthcare and insurance costs is similar to a tax. As it increases, more money must be set aside having an impact on overall overhead. […]

– by New Deal democrat As I reiterated the other day, housing is the one long leading signal of the economy that has been soundly negative – indeed frankly recessionary – for the past year. That trend continued in March, although there are signs of it bottoming out. Without having caused a recession.  Let me start […]