Economic data plunged today

You are too negative about Trump. He is not as bad as the far left portrays and not as good as the MAGA group wishes. The far lefts and the far rights are driving the parties which is not good for America. :(

Anyway, let's hope democracy will prevail, so we, and our children will continue to live free, because history has not been kind to democratic experiments of the past. :(:(:(
How is it possible to be too negative about someone who attempted to overturn the result of a lawful election and people died and went to jail because of it. How is it possible to be too negative about a president who intentionally failed to seek senate approval of his cabinet members as required. How is it possible to be too negative about someone whose cabinet had a revolving door, and those who left said he was incompetent. How is it possible to be too negative about a president convicted by a jury of sexual abuse. How is it possible to be too negative about a president who is forever barred from serving on the board of a New York Foundation. How is it possible to be too negative about a president who did not step into protect his own vice president when an angry mob threatened to kill him. How is it possible to be too negative about a president who has been convicted of numerous felonies, and is awaiting trial on still many more charges. How is it possible to be too negative about a president who retained many top secret government documents in his personal possession after he left office, and when it was discovered he had them lied about having returned them. And on and on and on!!!
 
The airline deregulation act in 1978:
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Q: how did the Bush Jr administration make it easier to produce oil and gas domestically?
ChatGPT:
The Bush Jr. administration implemented several policies and initiatives to make it easier to produce oil and gas domestically. These actions were primarily focused on increasing access to federal lands, streamlining regulatory processes, and providing financial incentives. Here are some key measures:

  1. Energy Policy Act of 2005: This comprehensive legislation aimed to address various energy production and conservation issues. Key provisions that facilitated domestic oil and gas production included:
    • Royalty Relief: Provided incentives for oil and gas production by reducing the royalties that companies had to pay for drilling on federal lands and waters.
    • Streamlined Permitting: Simplified the permitting process for oil and gas exploration and production, reducing the time and complexity involved.
    • Hydraulic Fracturing: The Act exempted hydraulic fracturing (fracking) from the Safe Drinking Water Act, which made it easier for companies to use this technique without undergoing stringent federal water regulations.
  2. Increased Access to Federal Lands: The administration opened up more federal lands for oil and gas exploration and production, including parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This was done through:
    • Lease Sales: Accelerating the schedule of lease sales for federal lands and waters, providing more opportunities for companies to bid on and secure drilling rights.
    • Eased Restrictions: Reducing restrictions and regulatory hurdles for exploration and production on public lands.
  3. Regulatory Reforms: The administration aimed to reduce regulatory burdens on the oil and gas industry. This included:
    • NEPA Reforms: Modifying the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements to expedite environmental reviews for energy projects.
    • Resource Management Plans: Updating resource management plans to prioritize energy development in certain areas.
  4. Tax Incentives: The administration provided tax incentives to encourage domestic oil and gas production, such as:
    • Enhanced Oil Recovery Credits: Tax credits for techniques that enhance oil recovery from existing wells.
    • Expensing of Intangible Drilling Costs: Allowing companies to deduct certain drilling expenses from their taxable income, reducing the overall cost of production.
These policies and actions collectively aimed to boost domestic oil and gas production, reduce dependency on foreign oil, and support economic growth within the energy sector.


US natural gas production boom since 2005:
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Thank you. Natural gas may be the best example? The real issue here is whether these deregulation actions led to either reduced consumer prices per unit and/or a reduction in the rate of projected price increase. We naturally assume that if deregulation leads to greater production, the data suggests it did, the result should be lower prices; hence less inflation! But are we wrong and the impact of deregulation was mostly increased corporate profits per unit. I think price data of the kind needed may be more difficult to come by than we realize. There may, however, be some detailed studies connecting unit price directly to these deregulatory measures corrected for seasonality and expected inflation rate.

I believe that an awful lot of regulation results in time and money ill spent because it doesn't result in significant improvements in safety, competition, environment protection , or value to the consumer. We aught to get rid of useless regulation. Bad regulation may even harm the consumer by making regulatory capture easier (think medical care).

The ideal outcome of deregulation would be both a reduction in consumer prices and an increase in corporate profits with negligible negative environmental or safety impact. I'm suspicious, however, that deregulation of airlines may have backfired if it somehow made consolidation more likely. As you know there has been tremendous airline consolidation since deregulation. This may be more an anti-trust issue than a deregulation issue..

I expect the biggest impact on prices comes from failure to enforce the antitrust laws that are already on the books. This failure to enforce is related directly to a Court decision. I certainly could be wrong about this. In any case thank you for the data that does show quite an increase in production associated, it seems, with deregulation. We don't have here price data however.

One of the great successes, about which there is no question, is enforcement of antitrust law in the case of AT&T. That led very directly to drastic reduction in telephone and related communication costs to consumers and gave consumers many more choices.

The last few administrations, before Biden's, seem to have mostly ignored the antitrust laws. And again that was due to interference by the Court in a case years ago now. The Court acknowledged that although there was prima facie violation of antitrust legislation, the government failed to show that the consumer was harmed --- the defendant argued the consumer was helped!; thus the Court ruled against the government. Enforcement of antitrust statutes has been lax every since, until the current administration.
 
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Natty Gas is much lower than 2005. And the deregulation of the Airlines did result in more competition, for the most part, until the last few years.
 
That is the irony of the "drill baby drill" crowd. It just leads to price collapse in the end. So it looks like that EPA of 2005 was a good time to short NG futures. It was the same when Trump got elected and Oil prices eventually tanked as well. As they say "be careful what you wish for."
 
Yeah i don’t think it was ever as strong as news channels and banks kept saying it was.
But that’s markets these days.
30 odd years ago thes markets would of tanked.
But now the big banks and big hedge funds have so much capital, they support it to protect thier positions.
I always find that news can be very deceiving, and that because banks who wanna get rid of large positions like to sell uptrend and buy in a down trend.
You gotta follow the money.
It really annoys me sometimes, but that’s the way it goes.
 
That is the irony of the "drill baby drill" crowd. It just leads to price collapse in the end. So it looks like that EPA of 2005 was a good time to short NG futures. It was the same when Trump got elected and Oil prices eventually tanked as well. As they say "be careful what you wish for."
Prices tanked during TrumpyTime because of Covid - nothing he did specifically that helped (putting aside his complete gross mishandling). Transportation of all kinds collapsed, naturally so did gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, etc.
 
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