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

Gasoline Pricing during my lifetime

A bit of Kevin Drum: “Raw data: Gasoline during my lifetime,” jabberwocking.com, Kevin Drum. I had just been discharged from Marine Corp active duty in 71, married, and bought a boxy Datson 510 to get around in the Chicago suburbs. Finished up at one college in 72 and started finishing my BA at another college […]

Women’s out-of-pocket healthcare costs are higher than for men

Out-of-pocket healthcare costs are $15 billion higher for US women than men, qz.com, Clarisa Diaz Healthcare financial burden on women persists outside of maternity related care. That is the crux of the issue. Women pay more for healthcare. Consulting firm Deloitte: The analysis of the resulting costs after the current benefit coverage is applied, indicates […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for September 25 – 29

Weekly Indicators for September 25 – 29 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. Interest rates continued to head higher, with mortgage rates briefly going over 7.5%. With the long leading indicators having worsened, With the decline in commodity (including gas) prices over, I am looking for […]

Hardly Worth the Wait – OIG report on Sorting & Delivery Centers

It appears Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is well on his way to implementing his modernization vision of the future US Post Office. The is not going to be pretty. If even half of the claims made by Steve Hutchins and Mark Jamison are true, the nation will suffer a loss which will be impossible to […]

Drones and Trenches

For less than $1 thousand a pop, Ukrainians are taking out Russian tanks costing $3 million. For less than $300 thousand a pop, they are taking out Russian warships costing $ billions. Ukraine is doing these things with homemade cardboard drones, store-bought drones, and their roll-your-own mostly-submerged drones. Ukraine’s TLK-150 and TLK-400 submersible drones with […]

Consumer spending holds up well in August, despite ending of disinflation

Consumer spending holds up well in August, despite ending of disinflation  – by New Deal democrat  As I have repeated for the past several months, in the current economy the personal spending and income report is just as important as the jobs report. That’s because, despite the downturn in manufacturing production and many parts […]

Is Choosing the Status Quo sage ? Is it even possible ?

I am struggling with thoughts about status quo bias. I see many issues where a proposal to do something new is subject to severe scrutiny which is not applied to the implicit proposal to keep doing what we have been doing. The logic is small c conservative — better to stick with what we know […]

“If things are good, then why do I still have nothing left over?”

Angry Bear: I have been bugging Daniel to write on occasion for Angry Bear. Daniel did write occasionally and his commentaries were good. I know it is a burden. Well, here is one of Daniel’s comments. A good one as usual . . . I believe the interest costs are part of the story as […]

Initial jobless claims remain higher on a YoY basis

Initial jobless claims remain higher on a YoY basis, but do not suggest near term recession  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose 2,000 last week to 211,000. The 4 week moving average declined -6,250 to 211,000. With a one week lag, continuing claims rose 42,000 to 1.670 million: Although this appears very […]