What do economists know? Not enough apparently.
Holy Cash for Clunkers, Batman, economists were surprised that retail sales didn’t rise last month! What planet are they living on? What are they smoking? Just because Wall Street is on a roll doesn’t mean Americans are flocking to the malls once again. Even Wal-Mart, temple of Joe Six-Pack discounts, saw its revenues decline $100 billion (yes, billion) in the last quarter. Kohl’s, another “value-priced department store” took in less money than a year ago.
In addition to more people being out of work right now and not piling on the consumer goods, American workers didn’t get a stimulus check to spend this summer. So it’s not surprising they’re skittish about buying stuff. The Wall Journal headline “Retail Sales Fell in July Despite Clunkers Program” makes you wonder what its editors are smoking, too. How many people, realistically, qualify for that program, which effectively puts you more in debt if you have to finance the car’s purchase? Unless you feel super secure in your job, going into more debt is probably not a smart move right now.
One economist plainly came out and said they need to go “back to the drawingboard” on their assessments of the economy. “Any optimism we had for a decent back-to-school selling season faded fast with today’s data. In making this assessment, we largely ignored the furniture and building materials weakness as being housing-driven, and focused on electronics, apparel, and sporting goods, the combination of which showed little in the way of positive indications,” he wrote on a Journal blog. Duh!
I know you economist guys and gals are smart, but sitting in your ivory tower crunching numbers with your PhD don’t mean a thing if you aren’t out there talking to real people with no jobs.
