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

‘There’s no way I can pay it’: Americans dread restart of student loan payments

About the time I was talking to USC’s Associate Director and Alan Collinge at the Student Loan Justice Facebook site, Michael “The Guardian” reporter was talking to students there about payback issues. Everyone is concerned about the startup of loan paybacks. It is a serious issue for most. ‘There’s no way I can pay it’: […]

Back to the basics: how do initial claims, total hours worked, aggregate real payrolls, and job growth relate?

Back to the basics: how do initial claims, total hours worked, aggregate real payrolls, and job growth relate?  – by New Deal democratFed One of the most important reasons why big Fed rate hikes and big downturns in things like housing starts and credit provision haven’t translated into a recession this year (so far!) is […]

A Pittance Offered Up for National PFAS Cleanup

What is being offered up by 3M, etc. (NYT article below) is a pittance of what will be necessary to clean up lakes, wetlands associated with the lakes, rivers, and streams. I lived in Michigan. The reported contamination from PFAS, etc. in Michigan is massive and then there is a potential Lake Erie cleanup, the […]

There are lies, and there is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program

Arizona Opinion: There are lies, and there is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, tucson.com, Lisa Ansell and Christina Winton. USC Associate Director Lisa Ansell discusses the predicament Christina Winton is in with Loan forgiveness applied for after 10-years in public service and the foot dragging by the PSLF program to cancel her student loans. […]

Initial Job claims: yellow caution flag turns more orange

Initial claims: yellow caution flag turns more orange  – by New Deal democrat Initial claims, which were one of the most positive indicators of all last year, have turned darker in the last several months, and are edging closer to triggering their recession warning levels. Claims were unchanged at a revised 264,000 last week, the […]

Wage Passthrough to Pricing is Minimal and Abating

This commentary is along the lines of what I have been taught when I was consulting with Ingersoll Engineers in Rockford and which is now extinct. My background includes manufacturing planning at all levels domestically and internationally for US and foreign companies. Labor’s wages are a small part of the Cost of Manufacturing, etc. Spencer […]

Corporate Healthcare being Handed ‘Get Out of Jail Free Cards’

Much like Kip Sullivan in Minnesota/PNHP who Angry Bear has featured, Kay Tillow of Kentucky is a Single Payer activist. You will find Kip saying similar things about Medicare Advantage, etc. And we are all a little bit different attempting to reach the same goals . . . preventing the privatization of Medicare and achieving […]

Real wage growth leads spending; meaning spending seems likely to stall after an increase over the next few months

Real wage growth leads spending; meaning spending seems likely to stall after an increase over the next few months  – by New Deal democrat No big economic news today, so I wanted to pick up on a subject I began a week ago Monday; namely, taking a detailed look at personal spending, i.e., consumption. To […]

Freya’sday Five Elements …

Freya’sday Five Elements … I caught up with Reich’s Substack Commentary by Robert Reich on Homeless on the Desert. June 16, 2023 in g’da said New to the blogroll lineup, from Robert Reich’s Substack and the Smirking Chimp The Washington Post calls Trump’s vision for a second term “authoritarian.” That vision includes mandatory stop-and-frisk. Deploying the military to fight street crime, break […]

Irrigation efficiency for who?

I live halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. Pretty much what you would call desert if you were new to the area like I am. Water is an issue as much of it comes from the Colorado river. The limits to draw water from the Colorado are still being determined or in a flux. The states […]