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

The future of the American southwest

Years ago, I was invited to give a talk at Arizona State University in Tempe. My host told me to fly in early in the day, so he could take me walking in the desert. I’d never seen anything like it: mostly cactus and rocks. Seemed like Middle Earth. Since then, we’ve vacationed in Arizona […]

New DEal democrats Weekly Indicators for August 11-15

Weekly Indicators for August 11 – 15 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. This week I quantified the difference between commodity prices in the US$ vs. a basket of all other currencies. Perhaps unsurprisingly,  the upward pressure on commodity prices appears to be all, or almost […]

Trump surrenders in the war on cancer

When my mom was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, she was given a chemotherapy that had proven so effective at the time that they couldn’t predict how much longer it would extend her life since not enough people had died yet. Progress in the war on cancer in the last 20 years has been amazing. Innovations […]

July retail sales: consumers party on, for now

 – by New Deal democrat As per usual, retail sales are one of my favorite economic indicators, because in the past they have told us a lot about both where the economy is at present, and because consumption leads employment, so much about where the economy is likely to be in the near term future. […]

Physician, heal thyself

32 economists associated with the University of Chicago at some point in their careers were awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics. With all that expertise, you’d assume that the University of Chicago would be a paragon of […]

Global Plastic Pollution

This report is coming out of Thailand as reported by the “Bangkok Post.” I like to read other news sites as they offer a different perception or perspective on what is occurring. It is obvious; plastic waste disposal is problematic. Plastic does not deteriorate readily. Many countries see it as problematic while some countries see […]

July industrial production: meh!

 – by New Deal democrat Industrial production is much less central to the US economic picture than it was before the “China shock,” since so much production moved overseas, meaning US consumers buy much more imported goods than they used to. Still it is an important if diminished coincident indicator. This morning’s report for July can […]

Slowing Job Growth To Date?

This piece by Claudia Sahm is about two weeks old. The perspective is still worth reading. The economy is still be pulled one way or another as Tr__p plays he tariff games up and down and who makes deals and who does not. That is enough to create uncertainty in the market. “There are factors […]