On August 24 I posted "The Miserable Voter Guide To Elections". It was a short post containing the above graphic and I noted at that time the present Consumer Confidence Index was 59.5. Today that number has dropped to 44.5. "It was a slap in the face, a shock," said Bart van Ark, chief economist for The Conference Board. According to van Ark the cause of this sudden loss in confidence from its already abysmal level was the debt ceiling debate. Readers will remember the wild stock market sell off but the near hysteria went beyond the stock market to Main Street and shook the consumers' confidence in the government's ability to act when action was needed. It is similar to the sense of disappointment and betrayal voters felt after Hurricane Katrina and 9/11. The employment data released today showed a zero job gain over the previous month. Essentially, businesses have not started to lay off but they have quit hiring.
The dust up between Speaker John Boehner and the White House following Obama's crass attempt to upstage the Republican debate is not apt to engender warm feelings among consumers as far as faith in the government's ability to get things done is concerned. No matter what Obama may propose in his much hyped speech it will do nothing to improve the economy. An administration cannot just pass a jobs bill and expect prosperity but rather it must develop a philosophy of growth that is friendly to business. The average Confidence rating of the losers in the above chart is 99.7 which means Obama 55.2 below the average loser.
The dust up between Speaker John Boehner and the White House following Obama's crass attempt to upstage the Republican debate is not apt to engender warm feelings among consumers as far as faith in the government's ability to get things done is concerned. No matter what Obama may propose in his much hyped speech it will do nothing to improve the economy. An administration cannot just pass a jobs bill and expect prosperity but rather it must develop a philosophy of growth that is friendly to business. The average Confidence rating of the losers in the above chart is 99.7 which means Obama 55.2 below the average loser.
>> An administration cannot just pass a jobs bill and expect prosperity but rather it must develop a philosophy of growth that is friendly to business.
ReplyDeleteWhen business hire employees, why do they do this? Is it to be nice to people, or is it because they need to increase production?
Obviously it's the latter. Sales require more production, which in turn increases the need for workers.
So what is the best way to get more sales in the U.S. economy?
1) Give tax cuts to rich people/corporations.
2) Give more money to poor/average people so they can pay off their debts, thus making them more likely to spend again.
It's not about being a socialist or capitalist, it's about increasing sales in the economy. If you think that giving rich people more money will do this, ask yourself how much more money they will need in their bank accounts before they decide to spend?
In contrast, if you give a poor family $5000, how much of that $5000 do you think they will spend at the "job creators" stores?