Some in the media are blaming January's 8.1 point drop in consumer confidence on the increase in payroll taxes that hit last month. But that doesn't exactly explain the sharp drop the month before, or the month before that, does it? In October of 2012, consumer confidence sat at 73.1. Today it's 58.6.
Funny how October was the high-water mark -- you know, the same month the media did most of its dishonest economic cheerleading in order to pull Obama over the reelection finish line.
“Consumer confidence posted another sharp decline in January, erasing all of the gains made through 2012," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators. "Consumers are more pessimistic about the economic outlook and, in particular, their financial situation."
Consumers are also pessimistic about business conditions and jobs, two other areas that saw decreases.
While receiving less money in your check is always a bummer, especially after Obama assured everyone only the "rich" would get stuck with a higher tax bill, what consumers might also be feeling is a potentially serious economic contraction. According to the AP, "many" economists believe our economy grew at a measly 1% rate between October and December of last year.
Consumers might also be getting a stunning dose of reality now that the media flim-flam that went on all throughout the presidential campaign has come to an end. For months, the media sold America a load of lies about Obama's magical recovery. Americans everywhere were treated to non-stop nonsense about how job growth that didn’t keep up with population growth was "good news"; and how anemic GDP growth meant we are on our way!
Near the end of the campaign, the media would've had us believe the go-go eighties had returned.
But now the election's over and without the media's "Go" and "Barack" pom-poms blocking our view, a cold reality has returned for millions of Americans; a reality where jobs are scarce, economic growth is slowing, and the economy is nowhere to be found on Obama's or the media's list of priorities.
Moreover, both Obama and his media want to continue to pretend people aren’t hurting. They seem to believe that if they ignore chronic, long-term joblessness, an increase in poverty, and the rest -- the biggest story in the country (the economy) will fix itself.
In other words, the media and Obama don’t care about millions of American struggling, because if they start to care, it will acknowledge there's a problem.
People have every reason to be pessimistic, and this drop in consumer confidence shows that they know it. Dips in consumer confidence can also have a real impact on the economy. If people stop spending, the ripple effect hits everything from job growth to manufacturing to housing.
How long before we're told that pessimism is racist?
It looks like government will just need to conduct its own Consumer Confidence survey, I'm sure the Conference Board just doesn't know the correct smoothing algorithms to apply to their data.
Quote: FP123 wrote in post #2It looks like government will just need to conduct its own Consumer Confidence survey, I'm sure the Conference Board just doesn't know the correct smoothing algorithms to apply to their data.
RIGHT'S RIGHT 
Print view
Tue Jan 29, 2013 2:41 pm
reply
