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

A Post Office Mark May Mean Nothing Now

Some information if you are dependent upon post marks to show you met a date via USPS stamp on your letter. Angry Bear has had a long relationship with Steve Hutkins’ “Save the Post Office.” Steve is credible and knowledgeable writer with regard the USPS. “When a postmark no longer tracks mailing,” Save The Post […]

Self-sufficiency in oil has done nothing at all to insulate the U.S. economy

Self-sufficiency does not mean stable pricing in the United States as Paul Krugman explains in his earlier March commentary. There is no allegiance to US citizens by oil companies. Give the tax breaks and citizens still pay. “The Impotence of Drill, Baby, Drill,” Paul Krugman, March 10, 2026 America produces a lot of oil. It […]

Cursive time.

I was on a Facebook thread recently questioning why kids should be *required* to learn cursive these days. I was casting around for an analogy to illustrate both the fact that cursive *could* have utility and acknowledging that in the third decade of the 21st century, it is an anachronism. One example is reading a […]

Expert analysis on Iran

I’ve had several Iranian colleagues throughout my faculty career. Unsurprisingly, none were anti-American. Here’s an interview with Juan Cole and Mojtaba Mahdavi, two Middle East experts, on the current events in Iran. They discuss the politics in Iran and among the Iranian diaspora. Both Cole and Mahdavi point to the Netanyahu ambition of hegemony in […]

Dems DHS Shutdown Strategy Became a Messaging Failure

Guest Commentary: J.P. McJefferson, “The breakdown turned a strategic advantage into public confusion . . . “ In mid-February, Democrats held a clear advantage on the issue of ICE and Border Patrol (CBP) reforms within the Department of Homeland Security. Following high-profile incidents and protests in Minneapolis, public attention was sharply focused on concerns surrounding […]

Economy Will Not Absorb This Oil Shock

AB: A review and forecast of what is happening and what will happen over the next few weeks due to the oil shortage brought on by Trump’s attack on Iran. The impact of which, Trump’s blunder will cause many more issues economically. This is not Venezuela. “The Economy Doesn’t Have the Room to Absorb This […]

“Problems of high prices and complexity of health care cannot be solved by shifting responsibility to people”

I read this piece at Health Affairs. Liked it, thought I could shrink it down with a bit of a rewrite, failed on the latter. It is a 10 minute easy read on health care, deductibles, and why the ACA is in trouble . . . think deductibles. They do not solve the use of […]

Book Review

Review: “Breakneck” – The one-handed economist Dan Wang is a trenchant observer of the US and China. He was born in China but raised in Canada. He’s worked in the US and China as an adult, and he compares the culture of the two in this 2025 book. Wang’s big point is that US culture is […]

Prepare for a major CPI shock in March and April

– by New Deal democrat Prepare for the CPI to increase over 1.5%, and perhaps even 2.5%, just by the end of April. That’s the message conveyed by the huge spike in gas prices so far this month due to the war with Iran. Let me start with the blockbuster graph. This is the monthly […]

“Deferring to pres. Trump in his determination to decide how large is large and how serious is serious?”

Sorry for the length of this piece. Trump will be heading back to SCOTUS with another proposal granting him unlimited authority. He really knows no bounds for the presidency when it comes to deciding outside of Congress. The Presidency proposes and Congress taxes, appropriates, budgets, and spends when it comes to the economy. Trump prefers […]