– by Alan Collinge Medium The taxpayers have been repaid. A federally owned student loan, in fact, could be cancelled at little- or no actual cost to the taxpayers. Over the past two years, beltway defenders of the federal student loan program have overwhelmed the mainstream media with articles and essays nearly shrieking that student […]

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 – by New Deal democrat Since I posted earlier about why I follow jobless claims so closely, let me briefly restate why I pay a lot of attention to real retail sales. Retail sales have been tracked for over 75 years. When they are lower YoY, that has historically been a good (not perfect) indicator […]

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For much of the world, simply getting enough calories to sustain life is a daily challenge. Among the relatively affluent citizens in the west, wave after wave of dietary fashions encourage us to medicalize food. A recent example is the demonization of “processed” and “ultraprocessed” foods. This has been validated by the Trump nominee for […]

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A Refresher on Why I pay so much attention to them . . . – by New Deal democrat  This might be a good time to reiterate why I post each week on jobless claims, and what my system is. Initial jobless claims in particular are a recognized leading indicator. In fact, they are one […]

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The Russians are using an amazing approach to drone warfare in Ukraine — fiber optic controlled drones. They are avoiding radio detection and jamming by using drones which play out and communicate through an optical fiber. “Russian forces are using explosive-packed drones connected to their operators by fiber-optic cables to deliver unjammable precision strikes on […]

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Why So Much Deficit Spending by the nation? This is here for another reason. The big issue I saw in the last election was the deficit spending by government. Much of it was due to the 2017 Tax Breaks put in place by then President Donald Trump 10 years earlier. This was passed by Republicans […]

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This article discusses the bad mouthing of California during the fire storm. Some politicians masquerading as Senators and Congressional Representatives do not want to help California. The claim being they bought this fire storm on themselves. So, the politicians do not want to “pay in $dollars for the repair of California. $83 billion in 2022 […]

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My track record in prophecy is certainly mixed, but based on what I’ve seen so far, RFK Jr will be the next HHS secretary. He’s certainly no more unqualified than Pete Hegseth is to be secretary of defense, and it looks like Hegseth is headed for approval. “Amid reports that the adults in Donald Trump’s […]

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Joyce is giving a good take down of the Trump story. The not-so-funny thing about this, I do not hear or see any commotion by people in general. Trump does not give a damn. For him, this is water under the bridge or this ship has sailed. All we or you are getting is a […]

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The title is a warning to me. The claim that “this time it’s different” is supposed to be typical of bubbles, but I write it meaning it. I think that this huge increase in the relative price of housing is different. In the past such an increase has been a reliable sign of a bubble. […]

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– by New Deal democrat December consumer prices indicate that we are leaving the immediate post-covid era and seeing a rebalancing of sectors, as sectors that declined sharply in the past several years rebound. As in November, the only two categories of “hot” numbers showing price increases of 4.0% a year or more are two […]

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Briefly: I did not have much of a chance to dive into to this last night. Just briefly reviewing it. The case is covering preventative care as determined by the US Preventive Services Task Force (PSTF). The PSTF currently requires insurers to cover “more than 50 preventive services.” This includes “screenings to detect lung, cervical, and colorectal […]

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As Biden’s presidency winds down, I have tried to collect my thoughts on his presidency, on what went right and (mostly) what went wrong, and why.  I want to confess up front that I do not follow “inside the White House” reporting very closely (I have not read any books on the Biden White House, […]

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Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon have been advocating for veterans, the VA, and VA healthcare well beyond my introduction to them years ago. Steve had helped me early on and gave me a contact to use if needed. If Suzanne and Steve are writing about it, it is an issue. I know the Washington pols […]

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Kevin Drum has a post up at jabberwocking.com about Trump’s proposed “External Revenue Service.” This agency, which would duplicate the work currently done by Customs and Border Protection, would allegedly be responsible for collecting tariffs from exporting countries. Only that’s not how tariffs work—they’re collected from US importers, who in turn pass them on to […]

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Producer prices join the parade of yellow flags  – by New Deal democrat I generally don’t pay too much attention to producer prices, but there are a couple of exceptions. One exception is that sometimes producer prices lead consumer prices by a number of months. That hasn’t been the case recently. But the other exception […]

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There is evidence that a higher minimum wage causes a lower suicide rate. I would not have guessed this: “Suicide is often connected to financial stress, so it makes sense that increasing income might reduce the risk of suicide. A recent study funded by NIMHD found that every $1 increase in the minimum wage of […]

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When I was in first grade, we had daily bible readings. Each child was allowed a turn to read a verse or two from their bible. This was in a public school. The problem of how to manage verses from, e.g., Muslim or Hindu children was solved by the fact that in East Tennessee there […]

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It is a thought of the cost of healthcare and people skipping it due to cost. I suspect the number in this report for 2022 – 2024 are lower. Lower only because of President Biden’s healthcare adjustments to the ACA plans making it less costly for families. People were out of work and would have […]

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And an opportunity too! We were living in Michigan at the time. My wife being from NYC and I from Chicago have a taste for bagels and cream cheese. Onion cream cheese for myself and she likes the plain. In the Detroit area, there is a Jewish community. My wife worked for the Jewish News. […]

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