consumers

From all accounts, it looks like Australia is set for a wicked slowdown. Four global industrial economies have been protected by commodity prices. They are Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. This Goldilocks scenario looks…

The well-deserved euphoria over the European Championship in football has brought welcome relief to Spanish consumers, weighed down by a slow economy. However, global economies have not decoupled from the U.S. slowdown. European economies…

The news that income and spending in the U.S. economy has been resilient must be cheered as good (see news release here). It may result in our seeing a W-shaped recession as opposed to a U- or L-shaped one. The U.S. consumer is much more…

This is yet another chart from Perot Charts. I intend to highlight a number of these charts in my coming 'chart of the day' series because they present a comprehensive picture of the challenges the U.S. Federal Government faces. Also,…

Today, American Express said that consumers are increasingly falling behind on payments. This suggests that credit card charge-offs at banks are about to go much higher in the coming quarters.A story by Bloomberg News reads:American Express…

Today's economic data releases were for durable goods and new home salesDurable GoodsStrong export growth has been keeping U.S. factories busier than they would normally be during a period of falling domestic demand. Orders had fallen for…

The Times of London says that holiday tour operators in the UK are sensing a shift in consumer behaviour because of the credit crunch. Just as the holiday season is getting under way, the strains are clear. Operators are preparing for…

Hourly wages in the U.S. have not kept pace with inflation in the past 35-40 years. To the degree that U.S. households have been able to maintain higher real household earnings, it is all due to the influx of women into the workforce.…

This is what the recently released retail sales data look like over a longer time-frame.

Bloomberg News reported that German retail sales for April were disappointing for the second month in a row. Retail sales growth is negative in Germany, adjusted for inflation.The reason: inflation. Consumers in Germany are losing…