Here's a tidbit of interesting news that I missed last week: liberals are breathing a sigh of relief because the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against the government in American Hospital Association v. Becerra. Liberals were anticipating this ruling with trepidation. The issue in question was related to the way Medicare reimburses hospitals for certain prescription ...continue reading "Liberals lose on court deference, but they’re happy anyway"
I don't have anything substantive to say here, but WTF Uvalde police department? Are they seriously trying to prohibit access to bodycam video and other evidence related to their recent school shooting because . . . well, Jason Koebler of Vice tells us what they're saying: The city and its police department want to be ...continue reading "The Uvalde affair gets worse and worse"
The LA Times has an op-ed by Lex Rivers today with this title: Why is it so hard to get healthcare as a trans cancer patient? Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to endure as a trans cancer patient. The abusive treatment I have experienced makes clear how having cancer and ...continue reading "How badly are trans cancer patients treated by American doctors?"
I was cleaning out some old folders over the weekend and came across this picture of a white rose. It had a bit of a yellow cast in the center that I didn't like, but when I opened Photoshop to remove it I accidentally ended up changing it instead. I was quite taken with this ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"
Back in the Golden Age of blogging the Texas Republican Party platform was a regular object of ridicule, one that I'd write about every couple of years. It was always a hoot. Take back the Panama Canal! Return to the gold standard! Abolish the federal income tax! Today the Texas GOP platform is back in ...continue reading "Here’s a walk down memory lane with the platform of the Texas state GOP"
The LA Times has a story today about low-income housing—mostly in Northern California—that costs more than $1 million per unit to build. The culprits are the usual ones you'd suspect: state regulations, inflation, supply chain problems, union labor, strict environmental standards, and so forth. I don't doubt that all these things take a toll, but ...continue reading "Is low-income housing too expensive?"
I forgot to show you the apartment we stayed at in Paris. Here it is: The top picture shows the street we were on. At the far end among the greenery—about a two-minute walk—is Madeleine, and a short turn to the left leads to the metro station. The bottom picture shows the inner courtyard. The ...continue reading "Our apartment in Paris"
This is Hilbert rolling around on the backyard patio, only to be momentarily distracted by a dog walking by. Hilbert is oddly fascinated by dogs. Not afraid, precisely, and not sociable either, but always intrigued. What are these furry things that are almost like us? A strange breed of cat? Something else? What what what?
What did Republicans learn from Watergate? I'm here to explain: Bipartisan investigations are very bad things. Following Iran-Contra, it became obvious that they were very, very bad things. Partisan investigations are great! They are highly effective at damaging the opposition and should become a routine tool of Republican administrations. On the 50th anniversary of Watergate ...continue reading "The lessons of Watergate"
I'm not an economist with a sophisticated macro model or anything like that, but even before this week I thought that a recession was almost inevitable. Here are the basic reasons why: The economy has been propped up by COVID-19 spending for a while, which is a good thing. But the last stimulus bill passed ...continue reading "Recession is coming"
Courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, here's a map showing which states have increased employment the most over the past year: The biggest states have been the slowest to increase employment, but they're now catching up with very large gains over the past few months. The biggest annual gainer in percentage terms is Nevada, ...continue reading "Employment is still more important than inflation"
John Eastman, the lawyer who insisted that Mike Pence had the power to unilaterally reject the Electoral College results before they were certified, suggested days after the Capitol riot that he should be on the list for a presidential pardon. https://t.co/bcXI68HxGP pic.twitter.com/AEjVkRjgBx — The New York Times (@nytimes) June 16, 2022
I've explained in passing the difference between the annual inflation rate and the annualized monthly rate, but based on some feedback it sounds like it might be a good idea to do it a little more clearly. It won't take long. It all starts with an index of price levels, calculated by whichever agency is ...continue reading "What’s the best way to measure inflation?"
In Southern California right now it's the season of mustard, a horrible invasive species that overruns our hillsides seemingly earlier every year. This year there were only a few weeks of early spring greenery before everything started turning yellow. Still, like nearly any plant, it can be made to look pretty.
Over and over I hear that the inflation metric preferred by the Fed is the PCE core chained index (the PCE measure of inflation excluding food and energy). Here it is: I'm not saying this is the inflation measure everyone should put on their front pages. Overall CPI inflation is a good measure of what ...continue reading "The inflation rate has been declining for the past year"
A friend of mine passed along the latest summer gasoline outlook from the Energy Information Administration: In spring 2021, refineries sold gasoline for 59¢ more than their crude oil cost. In spring of this year, EIA projects that the difference is $1.13. That's an increase of 54¢. A few days ago I calculated that the ...continue reading "Why are refineries charging so much for wholesale gasoline?"
If you visit Paris and haven't been to the Musée Rodin, I highly recommend it. Not only does it have lots of beautiful Rodin artwork, but the grounds themselves are beautiful too. It's a great place to admire some artwork and to relax while you're doing it. Another nice thing is that they don't screw ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"
Note to the Fed: going big does not make up for going late. You're already late on inflation, but there's nothing much you can do to fix this aside from cures that are worse than the disease. Stay on a steady course.
The NHTSA reported statistics today on crashes of self-driving cars over the past year. The numbers are all but useless, but here they are anyway: Tesla leads the pack among Level 2 cars, which have limited self-driving capability. Among cars with higher levels of automation, Waymo is by far the highest. But in neither case ...continue reading "NHTSA releases non-useful crash stats for driverless cars"
stLouIST