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Kevin Drum ๐Ÿ•ธ

PPI eases substantially in October

1 week 5 days ago
The Producer Price Index dropped substantially in October: This is good inflation news. It's a volatile series, but on a trend basis PPI is down to 0%. Even the PPI for services was down to 0%. On a conventional year-over-year basis, PPI in October clocked in at 1.3%.
Kevin Drum

Democrats sympathize more with Israel than with Palestinians

1 week 6 days ago
Here's the latest YouGov poll showing Democratic preferences in the Gaza war: Every age group is more sympathetic to the Israelis than the Palestinians with the exception of the youngest cohort, which is slightly more sympathetic to the Palestinians. Overall, Democrats approve of Joe Biden's handling of the war by 62-21%.
Kevin Drum

Lunchtime Photo

1 week 6 days ago
This is a pair of (almost) twin horses snarfing away at their lunch shortly after the solar eclipse. It doesn't appear to have bothered them much.
Kevin Drum

Raw data: Deaths in Gaza

1 week 6 days ago
Israel has (so far) killed about half a percent of the population of Gaza. This is the equivalent of 1.5 million killed in the United States—or roughly 25 Vietnams. Relative to Israel, it's nearly the equivalent of 40 October 7ths.
Kevin Drum

Republicans fail yet again to pass spending bills

1 week 6 days ago
Three weeks ago, Rep. Mike Johnson wrote a letter to his fellow Republicans saying that he was sure they could pass all 12 outstanding appropriations bills by.......this week. In the event, Republicans have passed zero appropriations bills. The reason for this is the usual one: Hard-right members of the Freedom Caucus have stalled any progress ...continue reading "Republicans fail yet again to pass spending bills"
Kevin Drum

Inflation slows significantly in October

1 week 6 days ago
CPI was down a lot in October: Headline inflation was down almost to zero thanks to lower gasoline prices, but core inflation was also down. On a trend basis, we're already down to the Fed's target rate. On the conventional year-over-year basis, headline CPI was down to 3.2% and core CPI was down to 4.0%.
Kevin Drum

Raw data: Absenteeism in DC public schools

2 weeks ago
This is a remarkable chart: In Washington DC's public high schools, about two-thirds of all students last year were chronically absent (missed 10%+ of all school days). About a third were profoundly chronically absent (missed 30%+ of all school days). This is up considerably from the previous year, primarily because of excused absences: parents are ...continue reading "Raw data: Absenteeism in DC public schools"
Kevin Drum

Lunchtime Photo

2 weeks ago
Last month I showed you the Heart Nebula—or part of it, anyway, since it was too big to fit in a single frame. Today I've got the nearby Soul Nebula, aka IC 1848. Get it? Heart and soul. Anyway, the Soul Nebula only barely fits in a single frame, but it's almost all there. And ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"
Kevin Drum

Progress is good

2 weeks ago
Henry Farrell has critical words for the notion that technological progress is both inevitable and inevitably good: Marc Andreessen’s recent “tech optimist manifesto” is one of the most significant statements of Silicon Valley ideology. As I’ve written elsewhere, it’s actually less a political manifesto than an apostolic credo for the Religion of Progress. The words ...continue reading "Progress is good"
Kevin Drum

Holiday hiring, spending projected to be low this year

2 weeks ago
Everyone is forecasting a weak holiday season this year. Here's the latest: The number of seasonal positions publicly advertised this fall fell to the lowest level in a decade, according to outplacement-services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The National Retail Federation estimates that between 345,000 to 445,000 seasonal workers will be hired this year, down ...continue reading "Holiday hiring, spending projected to be low this year"
Kevin Drum

Raw data: Non-religion by educational level

2 weeks ago
Tyler Cowen asks today why more intellectuals don't convert to Protestantism, and I figured the answer was simple: intellectuals tend to be nonreligious and rarely convert to anything. But no! According to GSS data, level of education doesn't correlate in any way with being nonreligious. It doesn't really correlate with any other religious question on ...continue reading "Raw data: Non-religion by educational level"
Kevin Drum