Consumer Sentiment Drops to 16-Year Low in February

[Roland99]

Source: CNBC

U.S. consumer sentiment dropped to a 16-year low in February, hitting levels that
usually sound the alarm bells of recession, on worries about declining incomes and rising unemployment, a survey showed Friday.

Adding to the grim view, consumers' expectations for the future also hit a 16-year low while worries about their ability to makes ends meet and the overall economy were as bad as they
have been in decades, the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its main index of consumer sentiment fell to a 16-year low of 70.8 in February from 78.4 in January.

This was the final reading for February and was the lowest since February 1992. It was up slightly from the preliminary February result reported earlier in the month of 69.6, which
also would have been the lowest reading since February 1992.

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/23407668

---

And who was President?

Hmm... could it be??


Poppy??

[BlueManDude]

1. Why isn't Bush synonomous with high gas prices like Carter is?

Yesterday I overheard a converastion that touched on the late 70s and the gas prices bad eceonpomy etc and Jimmy Carter's name inevitably came up.

Amazing how Bush never seems to get tarred with the crappy economy and gas prices of today.

The GOP media myth machine just kills us every time.

[Maggie_May]

10. You know you had me thinking back to Jimmy Carter

Jimmy tried do something about our energy policy back than and no one supported him they laughed at him

In 1977 Carter had convinced the Democratic Congress to create the United States Department of Energy. Promoting the department's recommendation to conserve energy, Carter wore sweaters, had solar hot water panels installed on the roof of the White House, had a wood stove in his living quarters, ordered the General Services Administration to turn off hot water in some federal facilities, and requested that Christmas decorations remain dark in 1979 and 1980. Nationwide controls were put on thermostats in government and commercial buildings to prevent people from raising temperatures in the winter (above 65 degrees Fahrenheit) or lowering them in the summer (below 78 degrees Fahrenheit).

Jimmy Carters speech 1979

It's clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper -- deeper than gasoline lines of energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession. And I realize more than ever that as President I need your help. So, I decided to reach out and listen to the voices of America.

How can they even compare Jimmy Carter to that so call president Bush

[Orsino]

2. Let's ask rather, "Who led Congress?"

The free-market orgy of the last decade or two is ending, and our "fighting" Dems, freshly in the majority, still aren't leading us anywhere.

[Demeter]

3. The Consumer Is an Endangered Species

Its habitat is destroyed; dwindling sources of food and nesting sites are leading to its extinction. The Consumer is down to unsustainable levels, and breeding pairs are virtually non-existent.

Ecologists predict that the last Consumer will bite the dust sometime before November 2008.

[ClintonTyree]

4. The Bush "economic miracle"....

continues to impress. :sarcasm: But see, if we just made his tax cuts PERMANENT then all of this would go away and the economy would flourish once again, just like it did during the Clinton years. It's those darned obstructionist Democrats in Congress that are to blame for this tanking economy, right? ;)

[Roland99]

7. Exactly. The tax cuts he meant to be temporary, himself, and which are STILL IN EFFECT

obviously need to be made permanent beyond 2010 in order for the economy to come out of its slowdown.


:eyes:

[durablend]

5. But there's no risk of recession, mind you

Bush says so, so it must be TRUE!

[pattmarty]

6. Buh, buh, buh, our fearless leader just said yesterday .........

........ that we weren't in a recession and things are just hunky dory.

[On the Road]

8. What Surprises Me is Not That That This is Happenning

but that it's happenning now. Real estate declines, mortgage problems, and high oil prices have been in the news for ages now. It's like the shoe is falling months after everyone got tired of waiting for it to drop.

I was at a business conference last week with many industries represented and the recession came up. Everyone was bracing for it but no one actually saw it happenning in their industry yet. On the other end of the scale, my girlfriend and I are touch with a lot of people in working-class neighborhoods in Baltimore. As landlords, we would normally see the results of an increase in financial hardship, but it's been pretty much the same over the last few years.

Maybe a recession is coming late, or maybe not at all. It's hard to tell.

[AndyTiedye]

9. What Is "The Same" Around There?

As landlords, we would normally see the results of an increase in financial hardship, but it's been pretty much the same over the last few years.

So what is "the same" there? Are your tenants doing OK, or are they struggling? Renters did not benefit from the recent real estate boom, obviously (quite the opposite).

What sort of rental property is it?

[On the Road]

11. Mostly Townhouses and Shared Houses

in a working class part of South Baltimore (Brooklyn/Curtis Bay). Tenants for these properties are often struggling and usually have difficulty making enough money.

A lot of the problems of blue-collar people are represented (low hourly wages, job insecurity, inadequate education, effects of prison history and poor credit, financial trouble from large medical costs, etc). However, I don't see as much change as I would have expected from a recession.

[AndyTiedye]

12. Were They in a Recession Already?