May 15 2009
The New American Austerity: Getting By with Less Debt and Less Money. In What Sectors are Americans Spending Less Money?
The Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that for the month of April retail sales came in at $337 billion, a decrease of 0.4 percent from the month before. The market reacted to this news and headed lower. If we pry into the data beyond the headline number, we will see that retail sales are [...]
Mar 28 2009
Saving Money is Bad for the Economy: Personal Savings Rate Higher, Consumption Slightly Up, Banks get new American Express, and Markets Begging for Money.
Last month the savings rate hit the 5 percent mark. That makes two months over 4 percent and for the first time in a decade that Americans have actually saved more than 4 percent for two consecutive months. Saved 4 percent of what? Of their personal income. You would think that most people would [...]
