NYT - Surprise Drop in May Orders for Durable Goods

[MikeG]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/business/24WIRE-ECON.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1088086335-NSHCKo12csJ0/VdVjLTmNA

U.S. orders for durable goods posted an unexpected drop in May, a government report showed on Thursday, as weakness in demand for autos dragged the measure lower for a second straight month

THOSE TAX CUTS ARE REALLY WORKING, AREN'T THEY?

[hadrons]

1. not a surprise to the people here .....

who aren't fooled by the corporate spin

[mhr]

2. The Great Bush Economic Engine Rolls On!

FWIW - I live in Dallas.

[SoCalDem]

3. Surprise !!!!

The economy is shit !!

[hatrack]

4. Hmm . . . record high gas prices, lower auto sales . . . hmm . . .

This is a "surprise"? WTF is so difficult to understand about record high gas prices leading to drops in auto sales?

If I were a pirate or a highwayman, I'd pick economists as my targets of choice - they're so easily surprised.

[jobycom]

7. Why? People would just buy cars with better mileage?

Gas prices won't affect car sales much. They might even spur on the sales of better mileage cars. The problem is that the jobs being created are low income, low wage jobs, people aren't getting the raises they want, and no one's job is all that secure any more. All of these factors prevent people from buying big ticket items.

The price of gas would only affect the types of cars sold; the effect on numbers sold would be fairly small. The problem is the lousy job market.

[hatrack]

8. Even so, gas prices would feed a reluctance to buy cars

. . . in combination, of course, with the factors you mention. Consumers would be particularly reluctant to buy one of the SUVs which now make up more than 50% of US car sales, and a majority of US manufacturers' offerings.

As you noted, a two- or three-month uptick in McJobs and temp agency hirings doesn't make a recovery.

[SoFlaJet]

5. what're talking about

I was told so many times that the economy is BOOMING-their word not mine.Just go to the gas station or try to buy a gallon of milk and see who gets hit hardest in this era of Bush;people like me who don't make alot of money and have kids at home.

[rfranklin]

6. My retired Republican father was shocked...

when I told him the economy was in the toilet. He was talking about how well the stock was doing. I pointed out that the "recovery" was only in the stock market and that all the people who don't have jobs and those who aren't getting raises will not be able to fuel profits after the corporations cut everything to the bone and into the marrow.

[jobycom]

10. Just like under Reagan

Reaganomics (tax cut economics) assumes the economy grows from the top down, rather than from the bottom up, as it actually does. So whenever supply-sided economics is tried, wages and employment fall, and small businesses decline, but big business and wealthy investments begin to thrive. This is why big business thinks Reaganomics work-- because it makes them richer, in the short run. In the long run, low wages hurt everyone, but in the short run it makes big business think their profits have gone up.

Thus, the stock market grows, as it did under Reagan, but the real measures of the economy fall.

The good news is that it's hard to fool people on this. You can release all kinds of stats showing them they are doing better, but they vote on their economic reality, not on what the government says it is. Ask Bush Daddy about that.

As long as the Repubs and their PR department (the media) are claiming the economy is good, we are in good shape. When we get into trouble is when they admit the economy is bad, but come up with a believable reason (war, terrorism, "cycles") that it is bad. That's harder to overcome.

[progressivebydesign]

16. Have you priced cereal lately? Over 5.00 a box! Inflation is baaack! N/T

[ewagner]

9. The "One-Trick-Poney" strikes again...

During the 2000 campaign, the economy was good so Bush* says "We need a tax cut."

Early in 2001 the economy was in a recession, so Bush* says "We need a tax cut."

The "recovery" is slow and jobless, so Bush* says, "We need MORE tax cuts."

Granted, economics is a difficult field to understand, and, it is complicated, but Bush* has been successful to distill all the nuances of economic practice to one simple premise: TAXES are the problem/answer!

We're experiencing the ugly effects of the "one-trick-poney" school of economics.

[jobycom]

11. Oh, very good

That's a good phrase.

[Neshanic]

12. No car buying because most are upside down.

They are tapped out, and are hunkering down to wait it out.

[madrchsod]

13. it`s called

no more home refiance..no confidence in job security..rising interest rates..

[Geo55]

14. Just wait until

the price of a gallon of gas approaches minimum wage.

[gasperc]

15. they manipulated the jobs report

who was the doofus that forgot to "FIX" this report