consumers

This post was originally published at A Fistful of Euros. Well, as we say in English, it never rains but it pours. Latvia, which has had the deepest recession of all 27 European Union member states, contracted by nearly 18 per cent in the…

In his latest post, Edward Hugh marvels at the Spanish population’s optimism that the economy will soon turn. While they correctly judge the current situation as abysmal, for whatever reason, the Spanish believe things will turn up…

This post was originally published at A Fistful of Euros. According to Spain’s Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) the ICC-ICO (consumer confidence index) went up in January by 6.1 points from its December value and is now at its highest…

I have sifted through the most recent personal income data and wanted to show you a few charts that might indicate where we’re heading. First, there is personal income.  It’s fallen off a cliff since the recession began. Looking at…

The BEA says: Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, (that is, from the…

Back in June I asked you all “When will the U.S. economy recover?.” The response was basically either “there will be no recovery to speak of” or “recovery is a long way off.” The poll results are embedded below. I asked a similar…

Cynical? Yes. Spot on? Of course. This is what happens when government stops trying to defend consumer interests for the benefit of business interests. Source 'I'm going to shop around and find a rip-off bank that works for me' –…

John Mauldin’s latest is about deleveraging and how this secular trend will drive the macro picture in 2010. The question is why? Read and find out. Also see A conversation with Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio for another good commentary…

Below is the latest from John Mauldin via his weekly newsletter. John expects a double dip recession as I do. Here he talks about what I call structurally high private sector unemployment i.e. unemployment in the private sector that cannot…

Yesterday, I linked out to a Gallup poll which detailed self-reported average daily spending by income bracket.  The poll showed wealthy Americans reporting a 14% fall in spend in November while middle- and lower-income Americans…