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

Black journalists always knew what Confederate monuments really stood for

A way-to-long-time in coming. These monuments should have been removed decades ago to begin the healing the wounds caused by Black Slavery. A good read by Donovan Schaefer as taken from The Conversation. October 2023 and nearly seven years after the deadly Unite the Right white supremacist rally, the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in […]

Initial jobless claims still very positive, especially YoY

Initial claims still very positive, especially YoY  – by New Deal democrat Before I get to this morning’s personal income and spending report, let’s get the latest weekly update to jobless claims out of the way. New jobless claims rose 13,000 to 215,000, while the four-week moving average declined -3,000 to 212,500. Continuing claims, contrarily, […]

Stand your ground

When we moved to Missouri in 1982, it was a purple state. In the last decade, it has become progressively more extreme right-wing. Now, in Missouri and more than 30 other states, each citizen is their own well regulated militia with the powers of judge, jury and executioner. Law-abiding citizens become collateral damage with no […]

Supreme Court Decides on hearing trump’s Immunity Appeal

As told to us by Joyce Vance at Civil Discourse. This afternoon, the Supreme Court told us that it will hear Trump’s presidential immunity appeal. After sitting on it for two and a half weeks, they’ve issued a brief grant of certiorari, scheduling argument for the week of April 22. It’s a major disappointment for […]

The state of freight

The state of freight  – by New Deal democrat There’s no significant economic news today. Yesterday we did get durable goods orders, which are an official leading indicator. I don’t pay too much attention to them, because they are so volatile. Thus yesterday’s big -6.1% decline (blue in the graph below) is more likely than […]

Michigan awards GM $1bn in incentives for new electric cars

Michigan has always been in the hunt for new model manufacturing in Michigan. This one pitched by Michigan to GM is nothing new. Just another state buying a company by funding its stay. I can find my records on this, Michigan owes $billions to corporate Michigan. This all started with Governor Engler. Companies are used […]

Repeat sales house price indexes continue to increases on par with past expansions

Repeat sales house price indexes continue to increases on par with past expansions  – by New Deal democrat House prices lag home sales, which in turn lag mortgage rates. Yesterday we got the final January reading on sales. This morning, we got the final monthly (for December) read on prices, for repeat sales of existing […]

Kroger and Albertsons selling hundreds of stores in a bid to get FTC approval

This merger would only make groceries higher in cost. The economies of scale would not be passed along to consumers. Kroger and Albertsons sell hundreds of stores in a bid to clear merger of the 2 largest US groceries, QUARTZ The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block the $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons by rival […]