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

Weekly Indicators for December 22 – 26, 2025

 – by New Deal democrat My ”Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. The year ended with a magnification of several trends that have been a theme all year: the US $ is down almost 10%, largely responsible for a nearly 15% rise in commodity prices, while consumer spending ended with a bang as well. “Commerce […]

How the “wealth effect” fueled Q3 GDP

 – by New Deal democrat In Q3, personal spending rose 1.6%, or 6.4% annualized, while personal incomes only rose 0.8%, or 3.3% annualized. A little more precisely, personal spending rose 0.75% more than personal incomes. Just how much more did spending rise than the income to fuel it compared on a historical basis? In the past […]

The low pace of firings continues to Christmas

 – by New Deal democrat Our last bit of news before Christmas continued the positive news, as initial jobless claims declined back to 214,000, while the four week average also declined to 216,750. The last three weeks collectively have had the lowest seasonally adjusted numbers since January. Meanwhile, continuing claims rose back above 1.9 million to […]

Wage gains for low-paid workers were larger than for those further up the income scale

The economy turned bad when Covid hit the nation. People were not able to work. And whether it was Biden or Tru_p were in the White House, the same problems would have existed. As Paul Krugman documents, the results for lower wage employees was better and increasing during the Biden administration, This is far different […]

Miracle on 34th St is not an economic solution

I was pulling on a thread today researching the product of cryogenic treated fret wire. I have a Les Paul style guitar I built from a kit while in college in the early 80’s that needs a new fret board. I stumbled upon this bit of history: Scroll down to response #11 CB Alyn “In […]

The future looks golden

Looking at trends in White House décor, it’s easy to conclude the future of gold is bright. But investors see something different in the White House. “Gold futures traded in New York have soared almost 71% this year, on pace for their best annual gain in 46 years. The last time gold had such a […]

Santa and Social Planning

Rebecca Wilder was a writer at Angry Bear and posted originally posted this at Economonitors. With Rebecca’s permission, Dan reposted this at Angry Bear in 2011. “Santa Claus as a Social Planner“ – by Rebecca Wilder Here’s a nice little model I discussed in 2007: The Economics of Christmas! Hope that you enjoy; I do. […]

Judge supports Trump affirmative action for domestic tech workers

As a PhD molecular biologist, I’ve spent my entire career in tech, albeit academic tech. During that time, I’ve had the privilege to work with many colleagues on H-1B visas. I believe in meritocracy, and my experience is that most of these H-1B visa holders were eminently qualified. Were there more qualified Americans out there? […]