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

Jobless claims continue to drift higher, are no longer a positive; but no recession signaled

Jobless claims continue to drift higher, are no longer a positive; but no recession signaled Initial jobless claims rose 4,000 to 235,000 last week, vs. the 50+ year low of 166,000 set in March. The 4 week average also rose by 750 to 232,500, compared with the all-time low of 170,500 three months ago.  Continuing […]

Is classical liberalism anti-democratic?  Spoiler alert:  yes.

As we have discussed, classical liberals and libertarians have an uneasy relationship with democracy.  The reason is obvious – classical liberals support unregulated or lightly regulated capitalism, and this is not a popular position with voters.  Of course, it could be that classical liberals support both capitalism and democracy, and reluctantly prioritize their commitment to […]

May JOLTS report: a significant deceleration in the underlying jobs market has likely begun

May JOLTS report: a significant deceleration in the underlying jobs market has likely begun Late last year I introduced the idea that the jobs market was similar to a game of musical chairs, where employers added or took away chairs, and employees tried to best allocate themselves among the chairs.  Because of the pandemic, several […]

Abraham Lincoln quoting Thomas Jefferson on judicial despotism and oligarchy

Abraham Lincoln quoting Thomas Jefferson on judicial despotism and oligarchy At Springfield, Illinois, July 17, 1858 Now, as to the Dred Scott decision; for upon that he [Douglas] makes his last point at me. He boldly takes ground in favor of that decision. This is one-half the onslaught, and one-third of the entire plan of […]

W.Va. Court Rules in Favor of Drug Wholesalers

“Federal judge in W.Va. rules in favor of drug distributors in landmark opioid trial,” (WCHS). Why I think the judge’s ruling is BS. The City of Huntington and the County of Cabell sued three drug companies (Wholesalers) responsible for distributing hydrocodone and oxycodone or opioids. Their claim was AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc., and […]

Vladimir Mau Has Been Arrested

Vladimir Mau Has Been Arrested, Econospeak, Barkley Rosser  Vladimir who? I appreciate that most readers have never heard of this individual. But this is the sign of a major new shift in the situation in Russia. To make clear why this is important: until quite recently Vladimir Mau was the top economic advisor of V.V. […]

July 5, 2022, Letters from an American

I subscribe to this Substack and found Professor Heather Cox Richardson take on America to be interesting. From time to time, I contribute. What I found most interesting is people knew of the coming attack on January 6. They knew the dates it would happen. And they said nothing. How is this ok? I spent […]

Coronavirus dashboard for July 5: no sign of a BA.4&5 wave in cases yet

Coronavirus dashboard for July 5: no sign of a BA.4&5 wave in cases yet, as the next variant has appeared in India  – by New Deal democrat I haven’t done a Coronavirus dashboard in a couple of weeks, and there have been a few developments, so let’s take a look. First of all, the BA.4&5 […]