Back in October, I posted that Elon Musk’s claim that he could cut $2 trillion from the federal budget showed he couldn’t do arithmetic. Evidently, Elon has finally acknowledged this, but he tries to make a virtue of necessity: “Elon Musk has walked back his previous claim that he could cut at least $2 trillion […]
A plus now and a potential negative year end. January 8, 2025: ACA Open Enrollment is, was running over 16% ahead (I am sure it increased) of roughly the same point a year earlier in 2024, On January 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced “Nearly 24 Million Consumers Have Selected Affordable Health Coverage in […]
In his year end report, Chief Justice Roberts called out “threats to defy lawfully entered judgments”. President Andrew Jackson reportedly said, in response to a Supreme Court ruling regarding the rights of the Cherokee Nation, “The Chief Justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.” Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes asserted, the Constitution […]
I grew up in the city of Chicago. Up until the time I left high school, I was not driving a car many places. I did not have a car until later and was stuck with my dad’s 64 Ford Fairlane Station wagon. It was huge and an unimpressive family car. I took the CTA […]
The right-wing mantra is that private enterprise is always more efficient than government. As far as I can tell, private enterprise is more efficient at extracting dollars from citizens, yes. And banks have proven to be efficient at extracting bail-outs when their judgement leads to insolvency. Recently, the bankruptcy of for-profit Steward Health Care closed […]
Last year genetically modified mosquitoes were released in Djibouti. The technology is new and the biology is interesting, but I am most interested in the politics. I am late to this story, since it was reported months ago. They released male Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes which bear a female lethal gene — they mated with females […]
1st Look at Local Housing Markets in December – by Bill McBride Calculated Risk Newsletter NOTE: The tables for active listings, new listings and closed sales all include a comparison to December 2019 for each local market (some 2019 data is not available). This is the first look at several early reporting local markets in […]
Truck sales sound a warning – by New Deal democrat Twenty years ago Prof. Edward Leamer made a big splash with a speech to the Fed in which he proclaimed that “Housing IS the Business Cycle,” highlighting how downturns in the housing sector tended to lead recessions by an average of 7 quarters. For today’s […]
Compare the above numeric in the title to the 96% of employees in the highest 10% of wage earners. having access to employer sponsored healthcare. In 2022, seventy percent of private sector workers had access to medical care benefits. Less than half of them obtained coverage that way (a take-up rate of just 66%). As […]
Key findings about U.S. immigrants. Look at the first chart, you will see this is not the first time so many immigrants are arriving in the United States. What is occurring today is less than what occurred in 1890 (first paragraph) as a percentage of the present population. The United States has long had more […]