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

Enforcing a Supreme Court Ethics Code

It is about time, Congress puts in place an ethics code for judges, Justices, and themselves. If you do not believe this is needed, read this: “Supreme Court Justices Accepted Hundreds of Gifts Worth Millions of Dollars,” Angry Bear. All told, the number of gifts FTC identified that were accepted by the current nine, plus […]

Health Care Systems are Starting to Drop Medicare Advantage Plans

Much of this is the result of commercial healthcare gaming the system with pricing. Medicare Advantage can not compete head-to-head with Traditional Medicare much less the VA. VA sent me to Barrows (Arizona) for an issue with my back and right leg. I was going numb and it was painful to walk. So to make […]

Colorado crop fraud

Farming is a risky business. Always has been. A federal program to keep farmers in business during droughts seems like a good idea to me. Sadly, it’s also a target for fraud: “On a normal day, the promising storms produced snow or rain that would fall onto a system of official weather stations at airstrips […]

Book Review with Excerpts

Sailing Alone by Richard J. King Reviewed by one-handed economist David Zetland I read this 2023 book by Richard J. King on the recommendation of LS. It’s all about those sailors who take to the sea alone, with only wind (or muscle power). It’s about the mental and physical challenges, and how technology and society have added […]

Leading Indicators from Friday’s jobs report

 – by New Deal democrat There’s no big economic news today or tomorrow, so let’s take a more detailed look at the leading indicators from Friday’s jobs report. It turns out, the news wasn’t nearly as bad as the headline employment number. Let’s start with the negative stuff. The simple story is, manufacturing is in a […]

Beyond price controls:  Ozempic for all who want it, and a strategic food reserve

Suppose that you wake up tomorrow and discover that a sadistic alien has turned you into an economist.  You are just getting over your shock at your new predicament (“How will I make friends?  Will anyone ever trust me again?  At least I’m not a lawyer.”) when Kamala Harris, responding to voter concerns about inflation, […]

The Impact of Rebates on Measured Inflation of Branded Prescription Drugs

I found this report on Health Affairs a day or so ago. It was long and I spent the last two days condensing it so it could be presented and read on Angry Bear. Briefly, the author(s) detailed four main prices which consist of a List Price, an Out-of-Pocket Price, Insurer’s responsibility price, and the […]

How Clean Energy Can Benefit Climate, Communities, and Conservation

By Garry George Audubon The goal of conservation is to protect biodiversity and prevent species from disappearing. We often associate this work with the maintenance of natural areas, but Audubon’s science shows that bird populations are feeling impacts of climate change even in protected places like wildlife refuges. As just one example, Burrowing Owls are projected to lose […]

Making Trump Tax Cuts Permanent has Medicaid the Top Target for Cuts

I did some rewriting on this particular commentary and added two charts from another commentary (at the bottom). The point being to give graphical depiction of the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and who it benefited the most. You can see (for whatever reason) why the Republican Party is pushing for […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for September 2 – 6 2024

 – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. In the wake of yesterday’s weak jobs report, bond yields and mortgage rates declined to 12 months+ lows, commodities declined across the board, stocks sold off sharply, and the 10 years to 2-year Treasury spread un-inverted. That’s bad news and good news. […]