The Daily Chart
December 30, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Separately I am going to write about how what Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden have in common, besides the obvious of being one-term terrible presidents, is that they were transitional figures in the Democratic Party when it was lurching to the left, but unable to make enough concessions to the left to save themselves from their own party’s hostility. But for the moment, have a look at Carter’s 1976 electoral
»
December 27, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Back in October, The Economist magazine—bellwether of the Euro-establishment—ran the headline “Angela who? Merkel’s legacy looks increasingly terrible.” “[E]very month that goes by brings a reminder of how her reign propelled Germany into the mire. . . For Mrs Merkel’s part, she led Germany as if in a make-believe world, letting it enjoy an extended geopolitical and economic nap from which it still needs to wake up.” We’ve been trying
»
December 26, 2024 — Steven Hayward
There’s lots of scandal-mongering and indignation about the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Texas Republican Kay Granger, who had missed every vote in the House since July and was recently discovered to be in an assisted living facility for dementia patients. To be sure, our congressional leadership is starting to resemble the old Soviet Politburo for its decrepitude: However, everyone is missing a key point. The fact that almost
»
December 25, 2024 — Steven Hayward
In a cynical mood, when Christmas materialism comes to the fore, this strikes me as accurate (just as “Presidents Day” in February is now the occasion for nationwide mattress sales): But a few other things perhaps worth knowing: And here’s a lesson in how to mislead with statistics. On the surface it appears consumers might have spent more for clothing than electronics last year than this year, but of course
»
December 24, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Normally Kevin Drum is one lefty who is worth reading because he follows the data and thus often defects from progressive orthodoxy and cliches. But his normal good sense deserted him completely with his observation that public trust in the mainstream media hasn’t really declined—it has only declined among Republicans! Drum: In the post-Fox era, Republicans have lost trust in the mainstream media. Among Democrats, trust has actually gone up
»
December 23, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Last Friday this space featured a look at declining fertility rates around the world, while John separately reported on new Census estimates that show red states will be gaining seats in Congress after 2030 at the expense of blue states. But there’s another interesting refinement to this story you can see in today’s chart: Red counties that Trump carried have higher fertility rates than Democratic blue counties. Tells you something
»
December 22, 2024 — John Hinderaker
This one made me laugh. Funny, but entirely accurate:
»
December 20, 2024 — Steven Hayward
I’m so old I remember when everyone believed the “population bomb” nonsense, so it is with no small sense of irony that among demographers the hot topic of the moment is rapidly falling fertility rates, to sub-replacement levels in most advanced industrialized nations. As I put it in my recent article for Civitas Outlook, it is possible that the last South Korean will be born some time late in this
»
December 19, 2024 — Steven Hayward
I recently provoked some reader disagreement with the proposition that the introduction of the three-point shot has ruined the NBA—not all at once, but slowly over time. The old fast-break and half-court offenses are largely gone, once the statisticians figured out that a higher number of lower-percentage three-point shots yielded more scoring. (I believe I saw a statistic about how few times Larry Bird attempted three-point shots, for example.) And
»
December 18, 2024 — Steven Hayward
While we’re having fun bashing the media this week, let us not forget the long long list of media lies and fabrications of the last few years. Here’s a handy table, suitable for putting under a magnet on your refrigerator:
»
December 17, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Here’s your feel good headline of the day: MSNBC and CNN Fight to Dig Out of a Postelection Ratings Hole Cable news loyalists have grown a lot less loyal—to MSNBC and CNN, at least. While viewers are flocking to Fox News in the wake of Donald Trump’s election win last month, ratings for MSNBC and CNN have tumbled. The declines are far worse than what happened the last time Trump
»
December 16, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Scott notes below the astounding pardon spree Joe Biden has indulged, speculating that perhaps he is trying to set a record. Looks like he has: A large chunk of this number comes from 2022, when Biden pardoned 6500 people for being imprisoned for “smoking marijuana.” (I suspect if we delve into these individuals, we will find that a majority of them were convicted for being major dealers, not mere smokers
»
December 13, 2024 — Steven Hayward
After the acquittal of Daniel Penny, Black Lives Matter radicals took to the microphones threatening violence against whites. From their bearing, you’d think there was a wave of white-on-black violence unseen since the lynchings that took place when Democrats ran the South. In fact, the statistics about black-on-white homicide are jarring. This chart is a little hard to understand until your disaggregate its moving parts, but the bottom line is
»
December 12, 2024 — Steven Hayward
J.D. Vance’s old comment about the country being dominated by single cat ladies still has (dog) legs (heh). There is something to it, though. Sure enough, “cat ladies” voted more for Harris than Trump (while male cat owners managed to make the right choice), while female dog owners went for Trump. (As it happens, I am as allergic to cats as I am to Democrats, so this is an easy
»
December 11, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Over on my Political Questions Substack, I take up afresh the parallel between Luigi Mangione and Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, whom Mangione apparently admired. Here I want to take up the fact that many people on the left are cheering Mangione because of their hatred of health insurance companies who are said to deny coverage, because of course health care should be free, just like Taylor Swift concert tickets.
»
December 10, 2024 — Steven Hayward
France’s government is currently in chaos, with the ruling class emulating our own anti-Trump lawfare in an attempt to disqualify Marine Le Pen from being eligible to run for president since she will likely win the next race. France’s economy is also in a shambles. But I think I’ve spotted a significant factor in France’s long-running decline: Next thing you know, they’ll cut down the number of cheeses available from
»
December 9, 2024 — Steven Hayward
One of the top priorities for the next Trump Administration is rolling back regulation. Trump enjoyed some success with this task in his first administration, but the Biden Administration has been the most regulation-happy administration in the last 50 years: And here’s the growth in the Code of Federal Regulations, highlighting that the total number even increased during the anti-regulation Reagan presidency: One model for how much de-regulation is possible
»
