Economic reports take conflicting sides

[jessy clifant]

Two reports came out on Feb. 26 that seems to reach reverse conclusions regarding consumer attitudes about the economic climate. But taken together, maybe they just reflect a very sensible doubt on the part of customers. Resource for this article:
are there any real payday loans



Consumer confidence and economic uncertainty

A consumer confidence index of 69.6 was seen in Feb., which is a big increase from the 58.64 seen in January. According to The Conference Board, the consumer confidence increase was much higher than expected.

Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, states consumers seem to have shrugged off the impact of the lower paydays they started seeing in Jan. She said, "The shock effect caused by the fiscal cliff uncertainty and payroll tax cuts seems to have abated."

But American customers are hardly out of the water as the nation faces $85 billion in possible sledgehammer-like spending cuts on the first of March unless Congress and the White House get their act together and fix the problem. Are Americans too short-sighted to not think about the doubt right around the corner?



Another report

Not everyone agrees considering a recent Pew Research report that was released showing that 62 percent of Americans think the issue will trigger very negative effects on the nation’s economic climate.

Only about 25 percent of customers are really paying any attention though.



The consumers all give different opinions

Americans feel like the issue will impact the economy adversely though consumer confidence is up. That does not make any sense.

These are crazy times. The polls might be unreliable and people uninformed, but really it just shows how insane every little thing really is right now.

The problems never get resolved and are just avoided until the deadline approaches. The economy really does depend on how these problems are resolved right at the very end.

It is an insane way to run a country. If a business handled its finances in a similar manner, it would probably be under investigation by the CFPB.



Sources

Daily Finance
ABC
Pew Research

[spellbound]

Part of the problem is that we in the US live in a society in which all citizens are seen only as consumers. A consumer is the least part of what I am. But it is all I am to the government and to the corporations that own it.

[strawberrybrick]

^ Word

[NeonKnight]

How the hell is this topic not political! Prediction: destined for the dustbin of locked threads.

[Scott Bails]

Anyone who has confidence in this economy isn't paying attention.

[Dave (in MA)]

This is related to Music & Arts exactly how?

[markowitz]

If you are interested in seeing how we as a society have been engineered to become consumers by those in power, try this award winning video documentary by Adam Curtis. Very interesting and well done with tons of BBC video footage from the archives. One cannot believe anything in the main stream press about the economy anymore.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7EwXmxpExw

[Man In The Mountain]

This is related to Music & Arts exactly how?

Maybe the effect of the economy will determine how many prog CDs we consume this year.

[Scott Bails]

It has for me, for several years now...

Not to mention concerts and festivals.

[Mikhael]

Yeah, but this isn't the place for political debates, which this will surely go into.