Prattling Before the Pratfall

This being Massachusetts, I have home heating oil deliveries monthly from November to March. Consumption should start tapering off soon.

I have just paid $160 more than I did in November, for the exact same amount of home heating oil. That’s a 25% increase in just four months, from $4/gallon to $5/gal.

Diesel and home heating oil track each other, so I wasn’t surprised to see $4.99/gal. posted for diesel at a gas station today. This is, of course, a direct result of Trump’s war of choice with Iran.

I’m really fed up and not wanting to follow the news. Except for my core interest, which is also everybody else’s, and that’s the economy. Until the mid-term elections, I’ll try to laugh at all of Trump’s inanity and insanity.

Tariffs are taxes on consumers that pay for the tax cuts that corporations and the ultra-rich enjoy.

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/03/04/how-trumps-tax-bill-helps-corporations-avoid-paying-taxes

In the category of unintended negative effects from Dumbald’s presidency, there’s this.

Something I said in December, 2023.

Countdown to Dictatorship

The use of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare and hospitals is the topic in this installment of Freakonomics Radio. With AI being software, the significance of market leader Epic Systems is necessarily discussed.