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

December personal income and spending: on the very cusp of recessionary

 – by New Deal democrat Personal income and spending are among the most important monthly indicators of all, because they give us a detailed look at consumption by the broad range of American households. And since consumption leads employment, they also give us an idea of what is likely to happen with regard to jobs in […]

Largest Mined Military Base in the Western Hemisphere

That was a few decades ago. Not sure what they are doing today. Having served at Gitmo for almost 10 months, I can clearly state there is not much threat to the United States coming from Cuba. Indeed, we would get people coming over the fence to escape. The Cubans on base were happy we […]

A Battle Over High School Emails

It appears Michigan Republican politicians are afraid of high school students protesting the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Present Congress man Tom Barrett is seeking information about a high school walk out. A candidate running to replace Tom Barrett talked to students. Tom’s organization filed a FOIA to find out what opposing Democrat […]

TVA clings to coal

I grew up in the land of the TVA in East Tennessee. While the TVA is famous for hydroelectric power, it also built several coal-fired generators and nuclear power plants. A couple miles from our house was the Bull Run steam plant, a coal-fired plant. Its iconic smokestack was visible for miles. Recently the plant […]

Promises Made and Not Kept to Secure Confirmation

Taking this piece from “MedPage Today,” a site that I follow from time to time when the articles are interesting. I had worked in various segments of the medical supply and pharmaceutical industry planning the needs of various product. It is interesting enough to keep one on their toes. Not much of a surprise in […]

AI data center and electricity supply production as drivers of industrial production and capital goods spending

– by New Deal democrat There is more and more accumulating evidence that manufacturing, at least in the aggregate, is something close to Booming. That message was apparent in yesterday’s durable goods orders report for December. While the headline number (blue in the graph below) declined -1.4%, the three month average for this very volatile […]

SCOTUS overturns Trump tariffs

“The justices, divided 6-3 held that Trump’s aggressive approach to tariffs on products entering the United States from across the world was not permitted under a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).” *snip* “The decision does not affect all of Trump’s tariffs, leaving in place ones he imposed on steel and […]

Bearing the Cost of Tariffs

Good explanation on who pays the tariffs imposed upon imports by Trump. Who Bears the Cost of Tariffs? Liberty Street Economics Mary Amiti, Chris Flanagan, Sebastian Heise, and David E. Weinstein The next chart shows how global supply chains shifted in response to the higher tariffs. We plot import shares by country (or region) for […]

Holding the Newly Built and Paid for by Canada Bridge Hostage

How many more times will the fool in Washington D,C, embarrass Americans to the rest of the world??? “Anatomy of Ignorance — and Corruption,” Jack Lessenberry Donald Trump and the Morouns, owners of the Ambassador Bridge (Editor’s Note: If you’ve been reading me regularly, you know I’ve written twice recently about Trump’s outrageous move to prevent […]

Presidents’ Day week jobless claims pose a quandary

– by New Deal democrat Later this morning I’ll discuss yesterday’s positive durable goods orders release, and in that context, I’ll also have more to say about the likely reason why industrial production also improved so much. Tomorrow we’ll get personal income and spending, and new home sales, both from December, as well as the […]