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

Oops!

Or was it? How many philosophical ‘baby Hitlers’ does it take? That’s a tough one, because how could you know? By 1937, it was a no brainer. By 2002, it was a no brainer. By 2008, less than zero. Now, there is no doubt it has been discussed at the highest levels, here, in Europe, […]

New Orders Down 2.2%, Shipments Flat, Inventory Up 0.4%

RJS, MarketWatch 666 “February” Durable Goods: New Orders Down 2.2%, Shipments Flat, Inventories Up 0.4% The “Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for February” (pdf) from the Census Bureau reported that the value of the widely watched new orders for manufactured durable goods decreased by $6.0 billion or 2.2 percent to […]

Focused protection was never the point

As I noted previously, Congress has somehow failed to provide funding for COVID vaccines and treatments.  This is a major policy error, an error that could kill many tens of thousands of people if not corrected. You might think that spending on vaccines and treatments would be something we could all agree on, regardless of […]

Inflation, politics, and policy

Between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and COVID outbreaks in China, it certainly seems likely that supply shortfalls and upward pressure on prices will continue.  This raises difficult questions about politics and economic policy. On the political side of the ledger, I think that President Biden’s strategy should be predicated on continued inflation; if inflation […]

Weekly Indicators for March 21 – 25 at Seeking Alpha

 by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for March 21 – 25 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The walls closed in a little more on the long leading forecast this week, as now real money supply is beginning to falter. As usual, clicking over and reading will bring you thoroughly […]

I. Kant, even

I. Kant, even The grinning mug on the right of the YouTube Fox News screen above is Allen C. Guelzo, a historian of the Civil War and biographer of Abraham Lincoln. Guelzo is also a purveyor of a bizarre theory that Immanuel Kant was the progenitor of critical theory, critical race theory, Marxism, Jim Crow, […]

Do We Produce Too Much If We Are Making Corn Into Plastic Bottles?

Outside of agriculture there is a feeling of vast quantities, that farmers produce too much corn, soybeans, cotton, and other monocrops in a habitat destroying, bee killing, rural, backward, government sponsored enterprise that is slowly adding to climate change and environmental destruction. Agriculture is largely reactionary and heavily influenced by capitalism. If the need is […]

Oil Supply at 13 Year Low, Exports at 8-month High

RJS, Focus on Fracking, US oil supplies are at a 13½ year low, but oil exports are at a 8 month high; SPR at a 19½ year low after biggest draw since Aug 2011, gasoline exports at a 39 month  high; distillate supplies at a 95 month low, total oil + products supplies at a 95 month low after across the board drawdowns. […]