Backsliding...

 

Joe Biden has had a rough few months. Polling has his approval falling below 40 percent and Friday's jobs report won't do anything to prop it up. The Afghanistan catastrophe, COVID-19 deaths surpassing those during Donald Trump's tenure, and the increasing crisis at the southern border all will be secondary compared to the coming recession. Unlike many other economic events, this one will be the direct cause of policies promulgated by the White House.

Americans have noticed increasing prices everywhere from the gas pump to grocery store aisles. Inflation has hit a 30-year high. Economists and political pundits are shifting their tone, away from denying its existence to preparing the public for the current and coming pain. Media narratives now reflect that price hikes aren't "going away very soon" to full risk of "runaway" inflation. Inflated prices already have hit double digits overseas and cost the average household more than $2,000 annually.

Reckless federal spending and money printing are only accelerating inflation. The last year and a half's policies are effectively "baked in" to what is coming next. However, passing Biden's $3.5 trillion infrastructure package would have a sapping effect on the economy. 

The massive spending binge will face a reckoning in December's fight over raising the debt limit. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) already has signaled that he won't pull the Democrats' chestnuts out of the fire in two months. 

Mistrust...

 

A new article appearing in Frontiers in Psychology provides convincing evidence of a tendency among borderline personalities to expect the worst of people. Naturally, this is not a recipe for psychological health and happiness.

“Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) show intense reactions to perceived abandonment, a high degree of mistrust, and a distorted, negative perception of others,” report the authors of the research led by Evelyn Levay of Simmelweis University in Hungary. 

“They misinterpret social cues with a pronounced negative bias, or fail to accurately perceive positive and neutral cues.

With borderline personality disorder, you have an intense fear of abandonment or instability, and you may have difficulty tolerating being alone. Yet inappropriate anger, impulsiveness and frequent mood swings may push others away, even though you want to have loving and lasting relationships.

Reception...

 

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio faced a negative reception from New Yorkers at the Columbus Day parade on Monday.

Several crowd members yelled obscenities at the mayor as he walked down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in the parade.

“F*** you, you piece of s***,” a man yelled at De Blasio, followed by clapping from the crowd, according to a report.

“F*** you, De Blasio. You piece of garbage ... Get out of here, you piece of s***. You’re garbage," another crowd member shouted.

“I love my New York people. I love my blue. I’m tired of the crime. I’m tired of him dividing people,” resident Suzan Miller told the New York Post. “He can go to goddamn hell.”

Show some love people. He isn't that .....  Just a thought.

Half...

 

Moderna is urging the US Food and Drug Administration to authorize a half-size booster of its Covid-19 vaccine, according to a briefing document posted Tuesday, ahead of a key meeting of the agency's vaccine advisers.

The company is asking for authorization for a 50-microgram booster dose -- half the size of the 100-microgram doses used in the primary series of the two-dose vaccine. The company says halving the dose increases protection against the coronavirus while helping the worldwide Covid-19 vaccine supply.

The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is meeting this week to consider booster doses of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines. The FDA previously authorized boosters of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine for some adults.

Executive...

 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that President Biden has signed 15 executive actions, part of a flurry of steps he plans to take in the coming days to address his top policy priorities — and to roll back some of former President Donald Trump's initiatives.

Are we suffering with his decisions?

CZAR...

 

Better...

 

Plenty...

 

Myself...

 

Outlook...

 

Goldman Sachs is becoming increasingly pessimistic about the US economy as coronavirus support from the government phases out and consumer spending remains on an uncertain path.

Over the weekend, the Wall Street bank downgraded its forecast for America’s economic growth, which is closely monitored by the investment community.   It’s the second time Goldman Sachs has revised its 2021 forecast lower in two months.

 Two main factors drove  this outlook. 

One is that Covid-19 relief programs are set to wind down "significantly" through the end of the year, eliminating a source of income for some households.

The other concern is that consumers are not doling out enough money on services to compensate for a drop in spending on goods.