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U.S. consumer confidence fell steeply in June after rising for three months, due to worries about the labor market because of a recent slowdown in jobs growth, according to a private sector report released Tuesday.
The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 52.9 in June from a downwardly revised 62.7 in May.
The Recovery Summer of obama/biden begins.
Stocks slide on renewed fears of global slowdown - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stocks-slide-on-renewed-fears-apf-3481581188.html?x=0 - broken link)
Stocks tumble on global economic worries
Stocks extend slide after consumer confidence slumps; Interest rates tumble economic worries
Stocks slide on renewed fears of global slowdown - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stocks-slide-on-renewed-fears-apf-3481581188.html?x=0 - broken link)
Stocks tumble on global economic worries Stocks extend slide after consumer confidence slumps; Interest rates tumble economic worries
At this stage its all a confidence game. Structurally the government is insolvent and its the only thing proping up the economy and its trying to artifically keep the economy from making a needed 25% reduction in the nations standard of living, so that it can be compettive and increase manufacturing and production in this nation as feasable wages.
Currently people are more confident than they should be. They think that its just a matter of getting the right politician in office with the right policy. Well....the right politician or the right policy, to prevent this correction, does not exist. I think in 2011....the sh1t is really going to hit the fan when republicans gains in congress cuts off spending. Its going to force the inevitable decline now and not postpone it by forcing the correction into the future...possible making it a worse correction.
According to obama, just today, the economy is strenthening.
Obama: US economy 'strengthening' despite weak data - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100629/ts_afp/useconomyobama_20100629170100 - broken link)
Quote:
WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama, with Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke at his side, insisted the US economy was "strengthening" Tuesday despite foreboding data and a fresh stock market slump.
Obama admitted there was "great concern" about the recovery, amid increasing anxiety over indicators which may point to a slowing of the rebound, and with expectations low for the latest unemployment figures due out Friday.
According to obama, just today, the economy is strenthening.
Obama: US economy 'strengthening' despite weak data - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100629/ts_afp/useconomyobama_20100629170100 - broken link)
Can we say total and complete disconnect?
I hadn't heard anything about the jobs figures.
Actually....you have to put a positive spin on everything to keep consumer confidence from totally tanking. When Obama first took office all he did was talk about how bad things were....the mess he INHERITED. That actually added fuel to the fire. He was talking down the economy and economics is a self fullfilling prophecy. If people think things are going terrible, it will change their behavior enough to make things go terrible (or worse if they are already terrible). The opposite is true as well. It was not until Obama stopped talking about THE MESS HE INHERITED and how bad things were and how much we needed stimulus.....that the rate of decline started to slow. Also, I think that during the general election McCain was villified for saying that the economy was "structurally sound", while Obama was saying that the sky had fallen. Actually, Obama's language helped things to get worse....even though McCains language showed a lack of knowlege on how bad things were....or...he was attempting to instill confidence by saying that things were better than they actually were.
Stock and job woes take toll on Americans' mood - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100629/ap_on_bi_ge/us_consumer_confidence;_ylt=AlSCmIzO4Gn5u8IJ1shQvQ ayBhIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJuNTU5N2I2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNj I5L3VzX2NvbnN1bWVyX2NvbmZpZGVuY2UEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMy BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3N0b2NrYW5kam9idw-- - broken link)
Quote:
"We need the consumer to spend, and right now declining confidence is not the prescription for a stronger economy," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "This was a bad report, no matter how you slice it."
The Consumer Confidence Index came in at 52.9 in June, a jarring decline from 62.7 in May, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Conference Board, a private research group.
What I've been saying all along. No amount of government stimulus (increasing the debt) can alleviate the lack of consumer spending.
As long as consumers are worried about jobs and their deflating assets/investments they will not spend no matter what the WH or Bernake or the best economists tell them.
This very same thing happened between 1930-1933. Government and business spent but consumers did not. Confidence building abounded from the administration at the time but the consumers did not buy it. The US finally hit rock bottom in 1933..4 years AFTER the crash of 1929.
The boom and bust cycle...it cannot be escaped. But I will continue to watch the rah-rah crowed in DC tell us how well the recovery is going.
It will be interesting to see how the millions of unemployed vote come election time. Despite Obama not getting a jobs policy together I think many will remember who held things up.
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