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

A Student’s View, The “Unshakeable Burden” of Student Loans

“Americans stress over ‘unshakeable burden’ of student loan payments,” The Guardian, Michael Sainato, May 2020 The nation can alleviate one person of their debt multiple times; but, it can not do so for the younger contingent consisting of minorities and white former students who would add to the growth of the economy if freed. Much […]

New home sales decline in April, revised sharply lower for March; prices continue to skyrocket, while inventory increases

New home sales decline in April, revised sharply lower for March; prices continue to skyrocket, while inventory increases This morning both new home sales and two price indexes for houses were released for April, completing our view of that important long leading sector. As anticipated, not only did new home sales decline for the month, […]

Farm and Ranch Report, May 2021 Beef Cattle Prices

This particular post is coming out of Angry Bear’s comment section. Farmer and Agricultural Economist Michael Smith is the author. Mike grows various food items on his farm and has a hands-on knowledge of what is occurring in the beef industry today. What Mike is touching upon today is the small farmer industry and how […]

New jobless claims continue to decline at rate of 100,000 per month, while continued claims stall at elevated level

New jobless claims continue to decline at rate of 100,000 per month, while continued claims stall at elevated level New jobless claims continue to be the most important weekly economic datapoint, as increasing numbers of vaccinated people and outdoor activities have led to an abatement of the pandemic – both new infections and deaths are […]

International Factor Income in 2020

by Joseph Joyce International Factor Income in 2020 The sharp contraction in economic activity in the first half of 2020 due to the COVID pandemic was followed by a slow and uneven recovery in the second half of the year. The decline slowed global trade and capital flows, although not as much as initially expected. The economc slowdown […]

Larry Summers Doubles Down On His Inflation Prediction

Larry Summers Doubles Down On His Inflation Prediction  But somehow becomes vaguer about exactly how this is going to happen and show up, but he wants the Fed to stop it in its track, goshdarnit.  This is in a column appearing in the Washington Post, May 25, “The inflation risk is real.” Well, he does […]

Wuhan Readings from the Fauci Files

I would not want you guys to fall behind in the conspiracy readings. I was reading this stuff April 2020. The news caught up in 2021. “Dr. Fauci Backed Controversial Wuhan Lab with U.S. Dollars for Risky Coronavirus Research,” Newsweek “Under Political Pressure, NIH Blacklists Wuhan Virology Lab,” American Institute of Physics “Why US outsourced […]

Why does McConnell favor a criminal investigation into the events of January 6th?

Josh Marshall nails it (paywalled, but here’s part of his argument): Published reports suggest – and it is no surprise that this is the case – that the DOJ investigations are not looking deeply into the causes of the January 6th insurrection, causes which are inherently political and tied to numerous public officials and electoral politics. They’re […]

The Uninsured and Free Healthcare Insurance

Eighteen million uninsured Americans are eligible for free or subsidized health insurance. Kaiser Family Foundation estimates, 12.5 million of the uninsured are eligible for free coverage which includes 3.4 million for whom “free” means high-deductible bronze coverage. More than likely, half of the uninsured could get “platinum-equivalent” silver healthcare insurance coverage for a premium amounting to no […]