by Robert Reich 'Retail sales fell in March,

[elleng]

according to today’s figures from the Commerce Department -- setting off alarms. Increases in consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, are needed when exports are still depressed by cooling global markets and U.S. manufacturing is barely emerging from a slump.

“We’re having a little bit of a soft patch here for the consumer, with no obvious rationale,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Excuse me? No obvious rationale? Wages still are flat or declining for most people, interest rates have risen, and the percent of working-age Americans in jobs is still near a 40-year low. It’s impossible to have a buoyant economy when most of the gains go to the top.'


Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall as U.S. Consumers Scrimp.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-13/retail-sales-unexpectedly-fall-as-u-s-spending-loses-momentum

[CoffeeCat]

1. This relates to consumer demand/spending, but no one seems to talk about it

The Baltic Dry Index is a measure of the price to move raw materials via major ocean freighters. If the demand for goods is up, more good move are shipped--and the price of shipping those goods increases. When the demand for goods decreases, the price to ship them decreases as well.

http://www.investmenttools.com/futures/bdi_baltic_dry_index.htm

Someone explain why the BDI is lower than it was in 2008? How does this not mean that our economy (and the world economy) is having some very serious trouble?

In 2008, when the BDI hit all-time lows, it was because consumption (especially in the US) had stalled to a crawl. People were frozen and scared to death and they hoarded their money. Countless stories were written about excess inventories and the effects could be seen! I remember at our Target store, everything was drastically reduced. They were practically giving away clothing. So many things were 70 percent off, racks and racks. This happened across retail sectors. These weren't seasonal sales; this was directly due to excess inventory and consumers scared to death and squirreling away every nickel they earned.

Now...the BDI is lower than 2008.

From Wikipedia: Because dry bulk primarily consists of materials that function as raw material inputs to the production of intermediate or finished goods, such as concrete, electricity, steel, and food; the index is also seen as an efficient economic indicator of future economic growth and production. The BDI is termed a leading economic indicator because it predicts future economic activity.[9]

[elleng]

2. I suspect serious trouble, as Reich says:

'Increases in consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, are needed when exports are still depressed by cooling global markets and U.S. manufacturing is barely emerging from a slump. . .

Wages still are flat or declining for most people, interest rates have risen, and the percent of working-age Americans in jobs is still near a 40-year low. It’s impossible to have a buoyant economy when most of the gains go to the top.'

[Binkie The Clown]

3. When I was a kid we were "citizens" with civic duties like voting and jury duty.

Now we are "consumers" and our duty is to spend money and buy everything the corporations produce.