Consumer Spending Rises
I see where consumer spending rose more than forecasted last month. Apparently those who still have jobs, or income, believe the recession is over and it’s time to spend again. It is likely that much of this enthusiasm is based on the results of the stock market—which shows a near total recovery.
The stock market certainly could have been a good indicator 50 years ago—when 95% of public stock was owned by individual stockholders. Sadly, today about 75% of the stock in public companies is held by large institutional investors. These are the people who play the stock market like “high-rollers” play in Vegas…they don’t invest according to what is; they invest according to what they “feel” might happen.
On the other hand, maybe they know something we lay people don’t…but I doubt that is of much comfort to the 30 million unemployed and underemployed in the U.S.
Maybe I’ll believe the recession is over when they start putting the bulk of the unemployed back to work—at jobs other than flipping burgers or taking the Census.
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