Open Thread for Talk. You can talk about tipping waiters or you may choose a different topic. Initial topic is “tipping waiters.” When we go to dinner, we expect good service and usually get it. A good waiter is typically checking on the restaurant guests and being attentive to their needs. The exchange should be […]
by Sandwichman EconoSpeak Back in December, 2024, The Wall Street Journal carried a feature on an economics preprint research article that showed surprising findings. David Autor and Daron Acemoglu lauded the preprint. “It’s fantastic,” said Acemoglu. “I was floored,” said Autor. The two economists appeared in a photo flanking the author, Aidan Toner-Rodgers. Turns out Autor was right. The […]
– by New Deal democrat Let’s take our weekly look at jobless claims. Particularly since it is one of two “quick and dirty” elements that will indicate whether the “recession watch” I inaugurated yesterday will need to be upgraded to a “warning.” Initial claims rose 8,000 last week to 247,000, while the four week moving average […]
Too many houses on the market. Opportunity for Buyers. The graph below has the details . . . As taken from: “The Housing Market Has Nearly 500,000 More Sellers Than Buyers,” Redfin, Lily Katz and Asad Khan There are an estimated 1.9 million home sellers in the U.S. housing market and an estimated 1.5 million homebuyers. In […]
“For the very rich who will see enormous tax cuts from this bill, it all might end up being a good deal,” wrote Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute. “For everybody else, it will not.” Economist Details How GOP Medicaid Cuts Would Be Disastrous for Everyone—Except the Super-Rich Common Dreams and Jake Johnson The […]
Musk has lost his shine with Trump so he has been sidelined. Instead, Musk has become critical of Trump and what he is doing. In this case Musk is calling Trump’s latest “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. […]
If we just don’t see it, it didn’t happen, amirite? “Trump administration officials delayed and redacted a government forecast because it predicts an increase in the nation’s trade deficit in farm goods later this year, according to two people familiar with the matter. “The numbers run counter to President Donald Trump’s messaging that his economic […]
– by New Deal democrat Last month I concluded my report on the economically weighted ISM manufacturing and services indexes by writing “new orders for the entire economy are tight on the cusp of tipping into contraction.” This month, they did, warranting a “Recession Watch.” To recap, because manufacturing is much less important to the economy […]
Sure, Trump and Musk are endangering America by their cuts to the Department of National Security, the FBI and the CIA. Sure, those cuts make it easier for the next 9/11 attack. But whatabout back when the Democrats held the WH and Congress and had the clairvoyance to foresee all this and didn’t pass any […]
Josh Marshall won’t come out and say it, but I will. Musk’s attack on Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is political kayfabe. Josh points out that they could each draw blood but haven’t. “Both of these guys have very big weapons each can use against the other. Musk can invest money against the GOP budget bill […]