a Better Bubble™

Kevin Drum 🕸

Jim Jordan loses yet again.

1 year 8 months ago
Third time's the charm? Nope. Jim Jordan has gone from 200 votes to 199 to 194. I really don't think Speaker of the House is in his future. Surely it's time for Plan D?
Kevin Drum

Public service announcement: Phenylephrine nasal sprays work fine

1 year 8 months ago
CVS is getting ahead of the curve: CVS Health is pulling some of the most common decongestants from its shelves and will no longer sell them, after advisers to U.S. health regulators recently determined that an ingredient doesn’t work. The products contain oral phenylephrine, an almost-century-old ingredient in versions of decongestants and over-the-counter pills, syrups ...continue reading "Public service announcement: Phenylephrine nasal sprays work fine"
Kevin Drum

Raw data: Women’s earnings compared to men

1 year 8 months ago
On average, how much do women earn compared to men? It depends. Here's the data for Q3 of this year from the BLS: This doesn't account for educational levels, experience, or type of job. It's just the raw overall numbers.
Kevin Drum

Lunchtime Photo

1 year 8 months ago
On Monday I showed you Chimney Rock silhouetted against Saturday's eclipse. Today I'll show you a more conventional view. In fact, I'll show you two Chimney Rocks. The top one is south of Cortez; the bottom one is an official national monument southwest of Pagosa Springs.
Kevin Drum

Democrats are not the ones preventing a deal to elect a Speaker

1 year 8 months ago
Here's a current headline in Politico: The text of the piece generally is OK, but what's with the consistent theme that Democrats are holding the strings here? They can't do anything until Republicans ask, and so far Republicans have flatly refused to entertain any kind of deal. A better headline would be: Republicans dither about ...continue reading "Democrats are not the ones preventing a deal to elect a Speaker"
Kevin Drum

Sidney “Release the Kraken” Powell pleads guilty to election conspiracy

1 year 8 months ago
Today is full of good news. First Jim Jordan threw in the towel and now crackpot lawyer Sidney Powell has done the same: Sidney K. Powell, a member of Donald J. Trump’s legal team after he lost the 2020 election, pleaded guilty on Thursday morning to six misdemeanor counts instead of facing a criminal trial ...continue reading "Sidney “Release the Kraken” Powell pleads guilty to election conspiracy"
Kevin Drum

Jim Jordan is out

1 year 8 months ago
I see that Jim Jordan has decided not to become a three-time loser, instead ending his run for Speaker of the House. What a wuss. Kevin McCarthy was willing to endure 14 rounds of humiliation before he finally became Speaker. So what now? It's not too late to go back to McCarthy. Maybe a few ...continue reading "Jim Jordan is out"
Kevin Drum

Student loan resumption will only barely affect the economy

1 year 8 months ago
The COVID pause on student loan repayment is over. With 28 million borrowers now having to make payments again, will this slash consumption and take the US economy down with it? Probably not. The New York Fed analyzed some recent survey results and concluded that the impact would be minimal: On average, borrowers expect to ...continue reading "Student loan resumption will only barely affect the economy"
Kevin Drum

Homes have gotten pretty expensive these days

1 year 8 months ago
Matt Darling is puzzled: "In recent years, however, homeownership has become unavailable to more people than ever before, including white-collar workers and even members of the managerial classes." ??? https://t.co/jmByEZ0eXt pic.twitter.com/XVpsjhyAjK — Matt Darling 🌐🏗️ (@besttrousers) October 18, 2023 It's true that the overall homeownership rate hasn't changed much recently, which might cause you to ...continue reading "Homes have gotten pretty expensive these days"
Kevin Drum

Lunchtime Photo

1 year 8 months ago
This is a white wagtail, photographed in Giverny while I was avoiding the crowds at Monet's cottage.
Kevin Drum

Why did CPI and PCE inflation diverge during the pandemic?

1 year 8 months ago
I don't remember: have I posted this chart before? I guess it can't hurt to post it again: There are technical differences between the CPI and PCE measures of inflation, but they mostly only show up over long stretches of time. Over short periods, as you can see, they're generally quite close. Except during the ...continue reading "Why did CPI and PCE inflation diverge during the pandemic?"
Kevin Drum

Can the economy continue to shrug off high interest rates?

1 year 8 months ago
Paul Krugman says that signs are good for a soft landing even though the Fed has hiked short-term interest rates sharply and long-term rates have followed right along: If you had told me two years ago that interest rates would soar like this, I would have predicted a nasty recession with spiking unemployment. But in ...continue reading "Can the economy continue to shrug off high interest rates?"
Kevin Drum