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

Monthly data starts out with slightly positive news in manufacturing, slightly negative in construction

 – by New Deal democrat The Bonddad Blog As usual, the new month’s data starts out with information on manufacturing and construction. To repeat what I have said often recently, these are the two sectors I am paying particular attention to for forecasting purposes this year. The ISM manufacturing index has been a good leading […]

Record wind and solar power generation in Germany. No foolin’.

When I think of the places on the planet that seem optimized for solar and wind power generation, I think of deserts like the Sahara and the desert Southwest in the US. And yet Germany is generating a growing share of its electricity through these renewables: “Preliminary data by energy market research group AG Energiebilanzen […]

The Right’s Long Game to End Public Education

Briefly, this commentary is about creating a better environment for all children in public schools and stymie the political and personal efforts impeding the environment for them coming from privatization interests. by Jeff Bryant The Progressive Magazine “Every year, there’s something to stoke division in an attempt to disrupt our public schools and decrease the […]

Sunday Funnies: “GOP Lawmaker Thinks He Exposed Busload of ‘Illegals'”

Anyone have a sword available for him to fall upon after his commentary of illegals invading Michigan? “Happening right now,” Michigan GOP Lawmaker State Rep. Matt Maddock wrote. “Three busses [sic] just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro. Anyone have any idea where they’re headed with their police escort?” Attached to the tweet […]

New Deal Democrats Weekly Indicators March 25-29 2024

 – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. Regional Manufacturing Declines Again After several weeks of flirting with full recovery, the remaining regional Fed’s weighed in with their monthly manufacturing indexes, and they all went in the tank again. On the bright side, payroll tax withholding has had its best month […]