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

Aggregate Medicare payments to Medicare Advantage plans

Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans were to be the private plans able to deliver more and better healthcare than FFS Medicare. MA plans does offer more services than FFS Medicare. It offers similar services at a higher cost than ordinary Medicare costs. This is accomplished by over coding healthcare issues of participants which in turn […]

August personal income and spending: major downward revisions overwhelm modestly positive monthly gains

August personal income and spending: major downward revisions overwhelm modestly positive monthly gains  – by New Deal democrat This morning’s personal income and spending report for August was positive month over month both in nominal and real terms, but the major story was in the revisions. Personal spending is the essentially the opposite side of […]

White House Looking at Food and Nutrition, But Will it Matter?

Any given recession, food assistance needs increase. In an inflationary environment where purchasing power declines, food assistance needs increase. During a pandemic, well you get the idea. What is lost in that narrative is that the foods available to the general public, are same available to food assistance beneficiaries. The only difference is the bank […]

Distibution and Total Growth of Family Wealth

This popped up on “Letters from an American” just last night. I was too tired to read Prof. Heather Cox-Richardson’s article. So, I missed out on a good message about the income of America’s population. This is a recent commentary by the not-so nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in September 2022. The thrust of the article? […]

The positive trend in jobless claims continues

The positive trend in jobless claims continues For still another week, initial jobless claims continued their recent downtrend. Initial claims declined -16,000 to 193,000, a 5 month low. The 4 week average also declined -8,750 to a new 4 month low of 207,000. Continuing claims, which lag somewhat, declined -29,000 to a 2.5 month low […]

Has the Third Era of Globalization Ended?

by Joseph Joyce (Capital Ebbs and Flows) Has the Third Era of Globalization Ended? Behind the headlines forecasting a global economic recession there is another narrative about the end of globalization. This reflects political tensions over trade, the impact of the pandemic on global supply chains and the shutdown of economic ties with Russia. But dating the beginning […]