If the holiday shopping sea son gets off to a bad start today, maybe we should blame all the blessings we were thankful for yesterday.
It’s heresy to say this — what with retailers looking to sell Americans a lot of stuff this Christmas — but sometimes people just have enough things.
So, as families sat down at their Thanksgiving table yesterday, the decision-makers probably looked around the room and saw gadgets galore that were bought during better times.
And since said decision-makers are petrified about the job market — and are about to be even more scared next week and over the next few months — many of them will be thinking about cutting back.
Really, who can blame them?
Like an obese guy stranded on a desert island, we Americans can live off the fat of yesteryear — the things we acquired using borrowed money — for a long time.
I hate to be a downer during the holidays — Deck The Halls and all that — but by cutting back, Americans are behaving like the rational, mature, thoughtful beings we always hoped we’d become.
And cutting back seems to be exactly what people plan on doing.
Rutgers University put out one of many surveys that show consumers plan to spend a lot less this Christmas season.
A scientific survey of 653 folks, with a sampling error of just plus-or-minus 4 percentage points, showed that 65 percent of those asked said they would spend less for the holidays this year than in 2008.
And last year, as you’ll recall, was no great shakes.
Only 9 percent will be spending more, and 24 percent about the same. Two percent are non-spenders.
There’s no secret as to why: Americans say they already have been spending less over the past few months (59 percent) because they are worried about the economy.
Nearly as many people think the US economy has suffered a “fundamental and lasting change” as think there’s been a “temporary downturn.”
So, get off consumers’ damned backs. They’ll start spending money wastefully when they feel like it.
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Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is finding himself under increasing attack.
Here’s the deal: Geithner is a disaster. He is terrible at explaining the Treasury’s mission on the economy, and he’s an apologist for a stimulus plan that isn’t creating enough jobs.
Worst of all, he blames the prior administration of George W. Bush for the disaster (and in this he is correct), but never manages to mention that he held the critical position of president of the New York Federal Reserve while these mistakes were being made.
But we are stuck with Tim.
Dumping him would create more problems, especially in confidence around the world, than the guy could ever create by staying put.
Next time, however, let’s do better in the job search.
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I’m hearing from a good source that some Democrats, behind the scenes, are proposing that foreign investors be given incentives to purchase US real estate.
Apparently, they don’t like my idea of allowing Americans to use retirement accounts to buy real estate.
They think it’s too dangerous because US citizens might not know what they’re doing. Instead they’d rather the retirement money be in stocks and bonds — where they definitely don’t know what they are doing.
Foreigners, by the way, would already be scooping up real estate if they wanted any. The tanking dollar has certainly given them enough financial incentive.
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In its Nov. 4 minutes, the Federal Reserve expressed concern that ultra-low interest rates might be causing excessive risk-taking among those who need higher yields.
In other words, the Fed acknowledges that financial bubbles may be forming.
Heed those words!
Stocks are going up too fast and for too little reason.
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Market experts are wondering why Treasury bills went to negative interest rates for a time last week.
In other words, not only didn’t you get any inter est for putting your money into these gov ernment securities, you ended up paying for the privilege of keeping your assets safely under Wash ington’s care.
This sort of situation happened last year during the darkest days of the so- called financial crisis.
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Here’s some good news: GM is reporting that it recently hired 600 workers — in Brazil!