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Consumer Confidence Plunges 7x Faster Than Expected

Economists were looking for a mild decline from 63.7 to 62.5.  Instead...

U.S. Consumer Confidence Drops to Three-Decade Low Amid Economic Headwinds

Confidence among U.S. consumers plunged in August to the lowest level since May 1980, adding to concern that weak employment gains and volatility in the stock market will prompt households to retrench.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment slumped to 54.9 from 63.7 the prior month.
...
The biggest one-week slump in stocks since 2008 and the threat of default on the nation’s debt may have exacerbated consumers’ concerns as unemployment hovers above 9 percent and companies are hesitant to hire. Rising pessimism poses a risk household spending will cool further, hindering a recovery that Federal Reserve policy makers said this week was already advancing “considerably slower” than projected.
...
Estimates of 69 economists for the confidence measure ranged from 59 to 66.5, according to the Bloomberg survey. The index averaged 89 in the five years leading up to the recession that began in December 2007.

This lowest-in-a-generation consumer confidence, we are assured, is the combined result of flawed White House messaging and trauma suffered by the fragile populace from having witnessed debt ceiling negotiations.

In light of this latest empirical Carter comparison (not to mention such parallels now being reluctantly drawn even by "Democratic strategists and commentators"), I'm struck by this guy's prescient and hilariously illustrated post from May 2008.

After all, what President in the modern era does Senator Obama's agenda most resemble?

Huge expansion of the federal government?  Check.  Letting entitlement spending run wild?  Check.  "Windfall profit" taxes on oil companies?  Strong desire to meet with dictators and state terrorism sponsors?  Big doofy grin?  Check, check, and check.

Do political fashions run in 30-year cycles?  If so, then get ready for the fabulous comeback of energy crises, stagflation, high unemployment, and national malaise.

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Consumer Confidence Plunges 7x Faster Than Expected

Economists were looking for a mild decline from 63.7 to 62.5.  Instead...

U.S. Consumer Confidence Drops to Three-Decade Low Amid Economic Headwinds

Confidence among U.S. consumers plunged in August to the lowest level since May 1980, adding to concern that weak employment gains and volatility in the stock market will prompt households to retrench.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment slumped to 54.9 from 63.7 the prior month.
...
The biggest one-week slump in stocks since 2008 and the threat of default on the nation’s debt may have exacerbated consumers’ concerns as unemployment hovers above 9 percent and companies are hesitant to hire. Rising pessimism poses a risk household spending will cool further, hindering a recovery that Federal Reserve policy makers said this week was already advancing “considerably slower” than projected.
...
Estimates of 69 economists for the confidence measure ranged from 59 to 66.5, according to the Bloomberg survey. The index averaged 89 in the five years leading up to the recession that began in December 2007.

This lowest-in-a-generation consumer confidence, we are assured, is the combined result of flawed White House messaging and trauma suffered by the fragile populace from having witnessed debt ceiling negotiations.

In light of this latest empirical Carter comparison (not to mention such parallels now being reluctantly drawn even by "Democratic strategists and commentators"), I'm struck by this guy's prescient and hilariously illustrated post from May 2008.

After all, what President in the modern era does Senator Obama's agenda most resemble?

Huge expansion of the federal government?  Check.  Letting entitlement spending run wild?  Check.  "Windfall profit" taxes on oil companies?  Strong desire to meet with dictators and state terrorism sponsors?  Big doofy grin?  Check, check, and check.

Do political fashions run in 30-year cycles?  If so, then get ready for the fabulous comeback of energy crises, stagflation, high unemployment, and national malaise.