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

“tiny inventions that make our world work”

“Nuts & Bolts” David Zetland The one-handed economist Book Review: I bought this 2023 book by Roma Agrawal after hearing her interviewed on a podcast. I was really excited to read about “tiny inventions that make our world work,” but I was ultimately disappointed. My main complaint is with Agrawal’s theme of (a) telling stories about how […]

Divide between Democracy and Oligarchy

“The single stupidest statement about Trump ever made,” Robert Reich RFK Jr: ”Elizabeth Warren or Robert Reich saying that President Trump is on the side of the oligarchs, there has never been a president more willing to stand up to the oligarchs than President Donald Trump.” Friends, I can take only so much sycophantic bullsh*t […]

Vietnam and U.S. Tariffs

If you travel in Asia, you can find knock-off products which are very similar to the original product with minor differences . . . wear and tear could be one of the differences. Of course, the cost would be far less and the product may look a bit different. In China, one could visit the […]

Tariffs Make Up 1.6% of All Federal Revenue

In other words, it is not much to be chasing and probably cost us more in lost trade due to Trump’s tinkering with it to extract concessions from other countries. If you look at the chart, you can see Individual and Corporate taxes made up the bulk of the income tax receipts or federal revenue. […]

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Talks

Live coverage as Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts speaks with Dean William M. Treanor as a part of the 2025 Graduating Class at Georgetown Law. Certainly, worth listening too. I do not agree with some of the conclusions the majority has reached. The John Roberts court created cover for this President giving him they […]

Measures of median wage growth show why consumers have still been able to outpace tariff increases

 – by New Deal democrat We’re still in a new data drought. CPI is out tomorrow, and then a slew of data on Thursday. In the meantime there is one more data point that helps explain why consumers are still powering the economy forward. The Atlanta Fed maintains a “wage tracker” that measures wage growth, […]

Trump Caves on Tariffs

The good news is that Trump agreed to end the trade war he started with China reducing Tariffs to 30% for 90 days. China reduced tariffs on imports from the US to 10%, In exchange China agreed to discuss things. For 90 days Tariffs are the status quo before “American Independence day” plus 10%. Of […]

More fuel to help consumers deal with tariffs

“Every time inflation went up more than aggregate payrolls YoY, it marked the beginning of a recession +/- 2 months.“ More fuel to help consumers deal with tariffs: real aggregate nonsupervisory payrolls likely increased again in April  – by New Deal democrat One of my favorite indicators is both a significant update from last week’s jobs […]

Would you buy a blood testing device from this guy?

Remember Theranos, the phony blood testing company fronted by made-for-TV wuderkind Elizabeth Holmes? “Elizabeth Holmes’s romantic partner – the father of her children – reportedly has raised millions of dollars to start up a new blood-testing company that is strikingly similar to the one that landed the Theranos founder in federal prison. “The fundraising comes […]

Job Market for the Young, Educated Workers

“Something strange, and potentially alarming, is happening to the job market for young, educated workers,” The Atlantic According to the New York Federal Reserve, labor conditions for recent college graduates have “deteriorated noticeably” in the past few months, and the unemployment rate now stands at an unusually high 5.8 percent. Even newly minted M.B.A.s from elite programs […]