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

Exercise can reduce risk of dementia

There are plenty of good reasons to maintain high levels of physical activity throughout your life. In addition to reducing risk of heart disease, diabetes and clinical depression, we can add reduced risk of dementia: “Physical activity in both midlife and late-life was linked to substantially less dementia risk, a long-term analysis of a large […]

September jobs report: a positive – if stale – report

 – by New Deal democrat First things first: the jobs data we received this morning, like the official data reported earlier this week, is “stale news.” The period canvassed giving rise to this data was over two months ago. As such, aside from the fuller texture which it provides to us, the most important question is […]

Why Would Increasing Sales Be an Indicator for a Poor Economy?

More likely than not, buying at WalMart indicates such because the costs are less. Even now when prices are up, WalMart may still be the place to shop. People may be buying off brands and poorer cuts of meat, Spaghetti may be on the menu more often. “Walmart Q3 earnings show a distressed American consumer,” […]

Jobless claims: new four year high in continuing claims

 – by New Deal democrat While this morning’s much delayed September jobs report was the big news of the day, the DoL did resume their normal weekly reporting of unemployment claims, so let me in turn resume my normal weekly note of them. Initial claims declined -8,000 to 220,000 while the four week moving average […]

Does Government Military Spending “Fund” Shareholder Dividends, Buybacks, and Concentrated Wealth?

Short answer: yeah. The long answer is . . . longer. – by Steve Roth Originally posted at Wealth Economics There are a lot of pathways and mechanisms in the US and worldwide that deliver wealth to assetholders, and that have perennially concentrated that wealth (hence power) into the hands of dynasties over millennia — notably over […]

Partially updated jobless claims data suggest unemployment rate at or near top end of 2025 range

 – by New Deal democrat There was no new official data reported this morning, including the normal monthly report on housing permits, starts, and construction. Yesterday the Department of Labor did partially update several weeks of jobless claims data, which helps us estimate what might happen with the unemployment rate when the September jobs report is […]

What is There to Understanding the Need for Healthcare Insurance?

Paul Krugman on a November Thursday talking insurance. We have mandatory auto insurance. We have life insurance, unemployment insurance, home owners insurance, travel insurance, etc. Yet for some reason the nation can not get into their head the need for healthcare insurance for all whether it is commercial or government backed. The person in the […]

Forget about the Epstein files

Trump announced he’ll sign a bill demanding the release of the Epstein file, something the White House has resisted for months. But if that’s the case, why doesn’t he just release them all now and dispense with legislation? BWAHAHAHAhahahaha!!! Did you fall for that one? “In his social media post suddenly declaring he didn’t care […]

August factory orders rebounded from early summer lows

As with yesterday, the good news is that important official economic data is being reported again. The bad news is that it is very stale, as in covering last August. – by New Deal democrat Still, one important area that private data did not cover well during the shutdown was orders and spending on durable goods, […]