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

November 5, 2023, Letters from an American

Prof. Heather discusses Biden motivating the FTC to start the process of breaking up monopolies and weaken up the economic power of these large entities. She draws upon the history of Roosevelt in 1908 doing similar and meeting resistance from House politicians led by Joe Cannon as supported by big business to stymie his efforts. […]

Scenes from the October jobs report: soft landing vs. continued slow deceleration

Scenes from the October jobs report: soft landing vs. continued slow deceleration  – by New Deal democrat  First, an editorial note: economic news is light this week, so don’t be surprised if I play hooky for a day or two. That being said, let’s take a look at the most important trends, as I […]

Driverless cars

Count me among those who hope for the dawning of the driverless car age to happen soon. If I live long enough, the day will come when someone—my wife, my daughter—will extend their hand to demand the car keys. The prospect of being able to summon a driverless car to take me to the grocery […]

Some old, insightful articles on boats

Article by the economist David Zetland citing other articles about boats during the time period of 1875-2020 as taken from The Atlantic. Like myself, David is a subscriber. It provide some interesting reads on a variety of topics. Some old, insightful articles on boats, The one-handed Economist, David Zetland The Atlantic has been publishing since 1857. […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for October 30 – November 3

Weekly Indicators for October 30 – November 3 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. One way I keep track of the producer side of the economy is via the long leading indicator of corporate profits and the short leading indicator of the stock market. As […]

Legislation to Alleviate Administrative Burdens for Family Caregivers

To detail why this is so important, I turn to Doctor Barry J. Jacobs: “Caregivers, like marathon runners, must learn the lay of the land, find a sustainable pace and accept replenishment along their journey if they have any hope of gamely persevering from start to finish line. With this metaphor in mind, we can […]

Open Thread November 5 2023 Drift of Earth’s Pole

“Direct observational evidence supporting this estimate has been lacking. In this study, we show that the model estimate of water redistribution from aquifers to the oceans would result in a drift of Earth’s rotational pole, about 78.48 cm toward 64.16°E.” Drift of Earth’s Pole Confirms Groundwater Depletion as a Significant Contributor to Global Sea Level Rise […]

Swift but Not Serious

I believe that I have caught a typographical error in the New York Times. The article is interesting, it alleges that Taylor Swift fans may decide the Argentinian presidential runoff (voting for the center left Sergio Massa and not for the right wing Javier Milie). A pop singer with actual measurable political influence (in a […]