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

Respect and the Vulgar Class

I do not know how others are raised in their families. You can get an idea by watching how they act with others and yourseld for that matter. With an Italian mother and grandmother as well as a strict father, we were taught to respect others, their customs, and adults. It does carry over into […]

May new home sales: Another poor month for sales, prices stable, inventory increasing

– by New Deal democrat To start with the usual: new home sales are very volatile and heavily revised, which is why I pay more attention to single family permits. But they are the most leading of all the housing data; and averaged over three months, much of the noise goes away. In May, new […]

Drug Savings? Or So We Think So . . .

Just some thoughts . . . “The Shaky Assumptions Behind Trump’s Over $500 Billion in Projected Drug Savings,” FactCheck.org The administration’s most favored nation policy seeks to bring down drug prices to levels paid in other countries. The bulk of the savings, estimated in a May 5 report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, comes […]

Austerity for thee but not for me

Republicans are once again blaming social programs for the ballooning deficits and national debt. Setting aside the fact that the US debt/GDP ratio was higher at the end of WWII and that Japan has a far higher debt/GDP ratio, what would a serious discussion about federal spending look like? Obviously, it would decry the squandering […]

Consumer spending has turned red hot – expect no recession in the immediate future

 – by New Deal democrat Well, I was working on one nerdy long-term historical post this morning, when I decided to check the weekly update on consumer spending from Redbook. And, as you’ll see below, that was the end of that! (I may yet follow up this afternoon. We’ll see.) Last week, Redbook consumer spending was […]

Population Growth and Change

The changing population i terms of older versus younger people or labor will or could have a significant impact on the United States. If you remember, Angry Bear had posted on the issue several times. One of those commentaries was “300 Million and Counting” by Joel Garreau (written in 2006). Replacement rate then was at […]

Rural Health Programs

Building up healthcare availability in rural communities is a great idea. As I have shown in previous posts, healthcare in rural areas should be a priority for the United States. Availability is lacking, at a minimum, or is not as local as it should be. Commonwealth Fund examines the issue in rural areas and how […]

Quote of the day

Trump will not be president forever. And when he goes, Democrats will face a defining choice: exploit the executive machinery he has exposed, or dismantle it. The temptation to exploit it will be enormous—and yielding to that temptation would be a historic mistake. If post-Trump America is to be a post-authoritarian one, it will have […]