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

First-ever binding end to a border war: Missouri-Kansas UPDATED

First-ever binding end to a border war: Missouri-Kansas UPDATED (Dan here late….August 2 post) Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has just signed an executive order that prohibits state subsidies being used to move existing Missouri firms in four Missouri counties to three Kansas counties, which together make up the Kansas City metropolitan area. Unlike previous voluntary no-raiding […]

“House Democrats’ Drug Price Strategy versus a Cost Strategy”

The House Democrats just released their drug pricing plan (summary) on the 19th. I read through it rather quickly and I found it to be interesting and having targets which could work. Rather than jump right into this, let’s talk about purchasing a bit and then what I believe would be better. In a purchasing […]

Weekly Indicators for September 23 – 27 at Seeking Alpha

by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for September 23 – 27 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. If you’re wondering why it’s so late, it’s because SA pretty much shut down between Friday afternoon and this morning. Anyway, recession risks are rapidly receding, at least through the 4th Quarter.  As […]

UkraineGate: What Will Volker Say?

UkraineGate: What Will Volker Say? I am referring to Kurt Volker: The president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has revealed text messages of conversations between himself and senior officials at the State Department that he says show they endorsed his controversial dealings with Ukraine…During an appearance on Fox News show The Ingraham Angle last night, Giuliani revealed 15 […]

Personal spending shows consumers OK; durable goods shows producers still struggling

Personal spending shows consumers OK; durable goods shows producers still struggling This morning’s reports on personal income and spending continue to show a consumer that is doing alright. Meanwhile durable goods orders continue to show a production sector that is struggling. First, real personal income (red in the graph below) rose +0.4% in August, while […]

Initial jobless claims continue near expansion lows

Initial jobless claims continue near expansion lows I’ve been monitoring initial jobless claims closely for the past several months, to see if there are any signs of stress. This is because the long leading indicators were negative one year ago, and many – but not a majority – of the short leading indicators have recently […]