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

March industrial production

“March industrial production mainly continues stagnant trend”  – by New Deal democrat Since I didn’t get to it yesterday, let me say a few words about yesterday’s industrial production report for March this morning. I used to call this “the King of Coincident Indicators,” but with the shrinking of manufacturing as a share of the US […]

population is growing at the rate of almost 1 percent per year

The following statement appeared in the Smithsonian in 2006. “The United States’ population is growing at the rate of almost 1 percent per year, thanks in part to immigration and its secondary effects. Not only does the United States accept more legal immigrants as permanent residents than the rest of the world combined, but these […]

What is inflation?

A couple years back, I attended a town hall hosted by my House representative, Gabe Amo. During the Q&A, a gal who I judged to be in her 20s referred to the current economic situation as “hyperinflation.” That was nonsense, of course. Hyperinflation is defined by prices rising ofer 50% monthly. Historic examples of hyperinflation […]

President Donald J. Trump Appears to melt down on social media?

The stress of being who he is and how he conducts himself to others and the social media may be catching up with him. Cartooning himself as a person being omnipotent and others as characters is not helping his image as the president of the most powerful(?) nation in the world. Rather an interesting commentary […]

Jobless claims continue to be the most positive metric . . .

Jobless claims continue to be the most positive metric in the array of economic indicators   – by New Deal democrat The new regime of lower jobless claims continued this week. Initial claims declined -11,000 to 207,000, while the four week moving average rose 500 to 209,750. Both of these remain within a stone’s throw […]

Under investigation, Cassidy Hutchinson

“Why the Cassidy Hutchinson Investigation Should Make Us Very Uncomfortable,” Civil Discourse I don’t know Cassidy Hutchinson, the former deputy to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who flipped and became a star witness during the January 6 Committee hearings and who is now reportedly under investigation. I don’t have an independent basis for knowing whether […]

“We make ourselves Poorer, Technologically Backward, and Less Influential”

The goal for China was always to be a global leader. Nothing has changed. My trips to various Chinese facilities building automotive components for US automotive countries, I could see how their technology was evolving. The United States did help them real such heights by sourcing production to their overseas plants. China could copy the […]

From an online comment thread at the NYT

“Meg”: Look, the reason Chinese cars are affordable is that they are subsidized by the Chinese government. Heavily. Removing import restrictions on these cars would devastate the American car industry. We are talking hundreds of thousands of jobs lost. How about instead we have the American government subsidize affordable cars here, or return to requiring […]

With Help from Trump-GOP Law . . . 

“At Least 88 Big US Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Income Tax Last Year,” Common Dreams, Stephen Prager Dozens of America’s most profitable corporations avoided paying any federal income taxes in 2025, according to an analysis out on Tuesday from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. What Companies Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2025? The companies avoiding […]