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

Child labor laws are under attack in states across the country

This is a mixture of my comments and comments pulled from multiple sources (BLS, Cosmopolitan, , Why do Child Labor Laws Matter? Federal laws provide a minimum of protections for child labor. The laws were enacted nearly a century ago in reaction to children being exposed to dangerous activities. There was a time in this […]

There is now only one significant manufacturing datapoint that is not flat or down – but it’s the one the NBER relies upon

There is now only one significant manufacturing datapoint that is not flat or down – but it’s the one the NBER relies upon  – by New Deal democrat I am increasingly of the opinion that at the moment, the only two economic data series that are important are nonfarm payrolls and the personal consumption expenditure deflator. […]

New home sales for February increase; likely bottomed last July

New home sales for February increase; likely bottomed last July  – by New Deal democrat Most of what you probably read elsewhere focuses on new home prices, which after finally declining -0.7% YoY in January, rebounded to +2.5% YoY. As is usual, prices  follow sales YoY with a considerable lag (note since prices are not seasonally […]

The Exxon Tiger Rampant

The Exxon Tiger Rampant, Bad Crow Review, Weldon Berger Links are at the end, doing linky stuff. ______________________________________________________ “confidence is high in the oil and gas world” ________________________________________________________ And why not? Record profits, massive new drilling projects in delicate environs, a presidential pronouncement validating decades more of fossil fuel burning and did we mention fabulous profits? […]

February existing home sales confirm prices have declined

February existing home sales confirm prices have declined, but bottom in sales and construction may be in  – by New Deal democrat There were only two noteworthy takeaways from the February existing home sales report: (1) like mortgage applications, permits, and starts, existing home sales responded to lower mortgage rates (a decline from just over […]

Average and aggregate nonsupervisory wages for February

Average and aggregate nonsupervisory wages for February 2023  – by New Deal democrat There’s no significant economic news today, so let’s update a couple of income indicators important to average American working households. Namely, because we now have the inflation report for February as well as payrolls, we can update average and aggregate nonsupervisory wages. […]

Escape from Muddle Land

Escape from Muddle Land, Econospeak, Peter Dorman Let’s get the up-or-down part of this review over with quickly: Escape from Model Land: How Mathematical Models Can Lead Us Astray and What We Can Do About It by Erica Thompson is a poorly written, mostly vacuous rumination on mathematical modeling, and you would do well to ignore it. […]