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

Monthly retail sales sharply higher in November, but flagging YoY real sales spell further trouble

 – by New Deal democrat Real retail sales, one of my favorite broad-economy indicators, was updated through November this morning, making only one month stale. This, along with real personal spending, is one of the two most important indicators which have been missing, as we know the jobs and real income have been stagnant, but […]

SCOTUS on Immigrants and Legal Status

Coming by way of Sarah Burris at AlterNet, etc. It was not that long ago when Kavanaugh penned an opinion giving more leeway to immigration agents. His claim for doing so was “they rarely take American citizens into custody. If such were to occur by mistake a citizen is taken, they are released very quickly.” […]

The Rest of the Story

A reputable source of information to read and determine for yourself what took place. I subscribe to Letters from an American. I find Prof. Heather to be accurate and forthcoming in her articles depicting what is happening in the United States today. The story is quite different tah what is being broadcast. Indeed, it is […]

In re: Trump DoJ attack on Jerome Powell

Look, here’s the thing about money: it isn’t real. It’s all about belief and trust. I’ve been invested in equities and money markets for over 40 years. I’ve ridden the ups and downs. Money only means what people say it means, neither more nor less. Alfred North Whitehead coined the “fallacy of misplaced concreteness.” He […]

October new home sales: also pre-recessionary, also with signs of possible “green shoots”

 – by New Deal democrat New home sales were updated for the second time since the shutdown, with data only through October – i.e., stale. The silver lining is that this is a long leading indicator, so it remains of value. Normally I save inventory for last, but in view of the importance of new […]

The Death of a Civilian

I get the feeling the investigation is going to go on forever and the public may never have a complete story about the shooting. For sure she was not shot from the front. More likely than not, it came from the side and close to behind Renee. Trump Officials Lie After Killing of Protester Renee […]

December consumer inflation: a return to pre-shutdown trends and still affected by the shutdown shelter kludge

 – by New Deal democrat We finally got our first “regular” CPI report since September this morning. Caution is still warranted, however, because the October-November kludge is still present in the base from which December’s monthly change was calculated. But the bottom line is that the series’ all reverted to their pre-shutdown trend, with the […]

Consumer Price Index for Food, Commodities, Energy, and Services

If you’ve noticed you are paying more these days for milk and oranges, Tuesday’s inflation report is unlikely to surprise you. The report shows U.S. inflation cooling slightly in December. But it also demonstrates how the price pressures consumers actually notice with regard to food, energy, commodities other than the former, and services other than services. You have probably […]

“Zbig,” a book review

I just finished reading “Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet” by Edward Luce. Brzezinski was born in Poland between WWI and WWII, but he spent most of his life in North America, first in Canada and then in the US, where he eventually became a citizen. He was very successful as […]

September and October housing construction consistent with government shutdown recession, but also the possibility of “green shoots”

 – by New Deal democrat On Friday housing permits, starts, and units under construction were finally reported for the first time in four months, since September’s report for August. The bad news is that the report only updated through October, so we are still two months behind. The very qualified good news is that, since […]