Unexpectedly, Consumer Confidence Plummets More Than Expected, Down To Unexpected Levels Not Expected Since Jimmy Carter

It turns out that delegating the Stimulus to Dr. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, Ph.D., wasn't the smartest thing the Smartest Man In The World ever did.

U.S. consumer sentiment worsened sharply in early August, falling to the lowest level in more than three decades, after retail sales posted the biggest gain in four months in July.

High unemployment, stagnant wages, gridlock in Congress, and a stockmarket slump all contributed to a consumer mood that was as grim as when Jimmy Carter was President during the recession of 1980 and interest rates were more than 20 percent.

...

The preliminary August reading on the consumer sentiment index fell to 54.9 in early August, down from 63.7 in July, and the index has fallen for three straight months in the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey.

Well, you know, the public understands, as the President has recently said, that the government has almost no power to affect the economy (revising previous statements that the government was going to put everything right).

So, maybe the public just understand this is all part of the economic cycle, for which Obama can hardly be blamed.

...

"Never before in the history of the surveys have so many consumers spontaneously mentioned negative aspects of the government's role," Curtin said.

Oh. Note though that they are speaking of "the government," including the much-maligned House Republicans, who won't compromise.

Obama doesn't compromise, either -- no offers to suspend the implementation of a costly and unpopular health care bill, for example -- but the media overlooks this fact, and our own guys frankly do not make the point themselves enough.

Thanks to gg.

posted by Ace at 05:30 PM

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