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

ACA Healthcare Extension

Taking this from Health Affairs which addresses the solutions and the issues. It is too long to post at Angry Bear. I am providing a link above. “No Clear Front-Runner to Extend ACA Healthcare Subsidies.” Some details. Plans When It Can Happen Satisfying the Fears of Ineligibles Receiving Healthcare Who Goes First and Saving Citizens […]

What do vehicle miles traveled and gas usage tell us about the economy?

 – by New Deal democrat To be updated by NDd. Today is the last day of our data drought before the onslaught of delayed reports that begins tomorrow with the November jobs report and CPI.  In the meantime, there is a commenter on another economics site who generally believes that everything is OK as along as […]

American Manufacturing Jobs Declining Faster?

Yes of course, manufacturing has been declining in the US due to many things, The prime one being exportation of jobs to countries which have less Overhead than the US. This however is different as there may be a miscount occurring. The Fed believes we may be shedding more jobs than what is being accounted […]

New Deal democrat’s Weekly Indicators for December 8 – 12

Weekly Indicators for December 8 – 12  – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. While there were no significant changes in the ratings, two big stories stand out: (1) the nearly total re-normalization of the yield curve in response to Fed interest rate cuts; and (2) evidence of further deterioration […]

Is Thanksgiving seasonality masking a possible longer term positive regime change in jobless claims?

 – by New Deal democrat This week’s update of initial and continuing jobless claims is a demonstration of two frames of seasonality: one in the immediate term, and one longer term stretching back several years. When we parse them out together, they suggest there may have been somewhat of a regime change that began in July […]

Q3 employment costs: probably the “least positive” since the pandemic

 – by New Deal democrat The employment cost index, which was updated this morning through Q3, typically gets much less attention than the monthly payrolls report. But in this circumstance it is entitled to more notice, since the monthly data has only been posted through September as well. Additionally, one important advantange of the Employment Cost […]

Increasing 2026 ACA Market Place Premiums

“How much and why ACA Marketplace Premiums are going up in 2026?” Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker Health insurers submit rate filings annually to state regulators detailing expectations and rate changes for Affordable Care Act (ACA)-regulated health plans for the coming year. A relatively small, but growing, share of the population is enrolled in these plans (compared […]

October JOLTS report: red flag warning for employment sector in worst report since the pandemic

– by New Deal democrat This morning’s JOLTS report for October is now the most current official monthly indicator for the jobs sector. And it was emphatically not good. In fact, it was red flag recessionary. In the past year, in contrast to much other data in the jobs sector, the JOLTS reports had been very […]

What Happens When the GriNch Steals Healthcare?

As taken from “Who Will Pay If ACA Tax Credits Lapse?” A commentary out of MedCity News which speaks to the issue of losing subsidies. The Republicans are the instigators in blocking healthcare subsidies for up to 700-800% FPL for citizens. They must have some serious IOUs tucked away to carry them above and beyond […]

Heritage Foundation’s Influence

An interesting piece by Paul Krugman. Never really looked closely at the Foundation. Too busy with other issues I have worked with over the years. Things such as supply chain, transportation, manufacturing, throughput analysis, etc. Not sure I would call the Foundation a fraud; but then, I do not have the bandwidth to make such […]