The American Economy operates on a specific type of smoke and mirrors known as Consumer Confidence. If Joe or Jane Average feels that the world is a stable place, they are going to spend a little extra. Maybe buy a car, or a bigger house, or have another child.
con·sum·er con·fi·dence (noun)
a statistical measure of consumers' feelings about current and future economic conditions, used as an indicator of the overall state of the economy.
"a survey of consumer confidence showed households had suddenly turned negative about buying “big ticket” items."
So it's a notable point that the month of January ENDED the 15 year run of high consumer confidence.
The perception of the safety of the future is under siege. Our Jane Average has already put a run on the longest lasting birth control she can her hands on - the IUD implant. Four million of those devices went into action in December of 2016 and are expected to last for the next 10 years. That's four million babies that won't be born for sure, maybe twice that over the next 8 years.
Computer sales in general are stagnant and so are iPad sales as consumers have decided to keep what they have over the Christmas shopping season. Car sales are down, too.
We're still here - the End of the World hasn't come yet. But Jane Average is getting more and more uneasy with the Big Bull rampaging through the world.
But at the National Prayer Breakfast - the old bull had to take a swipe at his old TV show. He asked everyone to pray for higher ratings. Arnold Schwarzenegger had one of his best lines ever "How about we trade jobs...so we can finally sleep comfortably again at night, eh?"
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