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

Manufacturing expands in May; April construction expands nominally, but only data center construction in real terms

 – by New Deal democrat May data started out as usual with the ISM manufacturing index. Plus, as a bonus, official government data is finally back on schedule, only 7 months after the end of the shutdown! By which I mean to say, April construction spending was also released, on time. To cut to the chase, […]

Have Things in Manufacturing Improved Since Trump’s Trade Barriers

A year later, here’s where things stand on Trump’s manufacturing revival . . . What happened when Trump put a stack of tariffs into play? Not much good is happening for Labor, In the first place the amount of Labor in manufacturing has been declining for years due to manual machining going to multi-functional NC […]

Immigration Enforcement Harms all Labor

Unemployment has increased for U.S.-born workers in the face of mass deportations: Trump’s draconian immigration enforcement is harming all workers. Economic Policy Institute, April 3, 2026 During the 2024 campaign, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance promised that mass deportations and a crack-down on immigration would open up jobs for unemployed U.S. citizens. The theory was […]

Manufacturing Headcount has Been Decreasing in the US for Years

It is no surprise to see it still decreasing. It would still be decreasing with a different president too. Much of my experience has been spent in helping companies with the use of flow through analysis of manufacturing and materials. When I read this short piece, it was no surprise that it has not improved. […]

Miracle on 34th St is not an economic solution

I was pulling on a thread today researching the product of cryogenic treated fret wire. I have a Les Paul style guitar I built from a kit while in college in the early 80’s that needs a new fret board. I stumbled upon this bit of history: Scroll down to response #11 CB Alyn “In […]

Manufacturing Jobs Lost in 2025

How Many Manufacturing Jobs Has Trump Lost? CEPR In Donald Trump’s imagination, trillions of dollars are being invested in the United States. In the real world, factory construction, adjusted for inflation, was down by more than 10 percent from its year ago level, as of August (the most recent data available). Manufacturing employment, based on the data […]

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 […]

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, […]

“Rising Productivity in Manufacturing Reduces the Need for Industrial Workers

Such has been going on for decades. Some history on how much of this evolved historically on the planning side. Equipment efficiencies made planning easier and decreased costs. I started to work in industry late seventies and did so until 2020-something. Fresh out of the service in 71, three years to gain a math-driven BA […]