The “just in time” model is supposed to make supply chains more efficient by minimizing warehousing and storage. The current Trump tariffs are doing violence to the JIT model: “Trade experts say that companies have stockpiled enough inventory in recent months that, if the White House reverses course soon and significantly drops tariffs on China, […]
– by New Deal democrat My question over the past year had been whether “decleration” into a “soft landing”would turn into “deterioration” towards a recession. That has now been overtaken by events in the form of T—-p‘s tariffs and trade wars. So my focus now is looking for hard data, rather than reports of sentiment, […]
Similar was a part of the Red scare of the fifties when McCarthyism was the political(?) flavor of the day. The idea was to instill hysteria promulgating over a perceived threat posed to the U.S. during the Cold War. Not so much the fear of communists today. What is occurring is a range of actions […]
My brother Mike is a retired mechanical engineer. He emailed me this morning and reminded me of a New Yorker article we had both read years ago and pointed me to a fascinating youtube video that retells the story. In a nutshell, the Citicorp building in Manhattan was a triumph of architectural innovation in its […]
A book review by David Zetland, The one-handed economist. Sometimes you just want the answer Review: “Moving Pictures” This 1990 book is the 10th in the 42-book Discworld series by Terry Prachett. I’m only “reviewing” it here because Prachett has so many wonderful perspectives. The plot of the book is the (re-)discovery of cinema at Holy […]
There are changes coming to the Medicare market place and Medicare Advantage. Healthcare Insurance companies are leaving the Medicare Advantage market. “Market exits by Humana, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare will collectively affect nearly 70% of those 1.8 million individuals.” The remainder of the 1.8 million will be looking at new plans with the same insurance provider. […]
For much of the time PBS relies on public donations. Of course, losing federal funding would have an impact. PBS in the Midwest would feature musicals and oldies in Pittsburgh PA. Largest collection of baby Boomers in one location. One time we escorted a man and his wife to the local hospital as he was […]
~~~~~~~ February 18, 2025, CBS: Billionaire Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration is to find ways to cut costs through the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But a new court filing from the White House states that the Tesla CEO isn’t an employee of DOGE, adding that Musk “has no actual or formal authority to […]
I’m on traditional Medicare and so is my wife. We’ve been happy with the coverage. We both elected not to get Medicare Advantage plans. Not only because we’d read about a higher rate of denial of care for MA plans, but because of the overcharging. If DOGE really wanted to go after a soft target, […]
The Age of Dis-Enlightenment “It takes an ignorant man to lead an ignorant throng,” w/ deepest apologies to Woody, the Kingston Trio et al. Dumb — yeah but, they are the epitome of dis-enlightenmenters. Dissers here, there, everywhere back during The Age of Enlightenment. But, then was 200-350 years ago when it was new and […]