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

US 10 Year Interest Rates

Why have they increased so much. The US Treasury constant maturity 10-year interest rate has increased dramatically since the FED started fighting inflation (after falling dramatically during the Covid 19 epidemic). The increase is not unusual — Monetary policy effects GDP and employment through medium and long term interest rates, especially including the interest rate […]

Comet in the sky in the early morning in AZ

“Comet of the century” will be visible for first time in 80,000 years. Here’s how to glimpse it (msn.com) The passing of a comet can bring feelings of either dread or wonder. A mysterious celestial event known as the Star of Bethlehem. It was said to have accompanied the birth of Jesus Christ. It could […]

The political season, a (one-sided) return to sanity, and the need for a landslide

By Infidel753 Infidel753 By traditional assessment, in a US election year, early September is when the broad American public starts turning its attention to the choice looming in early November.  To those readers blessed to live in normal countries, where campaigning is limited by law to just three or four weeks before an election, a […]

Personal income and spending hits a triple, plus a big positive surprise revision

-by New Deal democrat The monthly personal income and spending report is now the most important report of all, except for jobs. That’s becuase it tells us so much about the state of the consumer economy. It is the raw material for several important coincident indicators that the NBER looks at, as well as several […]

Job continuity in America

I recently retired after working for the same employer for 37 years. My dad also worked ca. 35 years for his employer before retiring, as did my father-in-law. My sister worked for her employer for 40 years. Two of my sisters-in-law worked for their only employer for about that long. My daughter, on the other […]

Drug prices improved under Biden-Harris and Trump –

but not enough for everyone.” A partial taken from The Conversation on Drug Prices The impact of the drug negotiations has been modest at best. There is a lot of talk and hurrahs. The results are not there yet. When I go to the outside for care, the VA pays the doctors at a minimum. […]

Weekly jobless claims: good news and ‘meh’ news

– by New Deal democrat I’ve been writing for the past number of weeks that we were approaching the acid test for the hypothesis that unresolved post-pandemic seasonality explained the sharp increase in jobless claims in the summer. This week we are fully immersed in the 6+ month comparison period where initial claims in the […]

Just Some Business Stats

Looking at business firms by age, what type of firms create jobs, and in what industry. In manufacturing, it would be older firms (eleven years or older) creating the most jobs. Older firms of eleven or more years are also creating more jobs in Retail. As we look at each category, older firms play a […]