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Are we supposed to find some wisdom in this? Are we supposed to feel reassured that a poll suggests among us there are fellow citizens who have become optimistic about the economy? Is this a survey which was designed to entice consumer demand to rise as a snake oil liniment for what ails us? Along with mixed messages in financial reporting and misguided politics in the nation’s capital and at the state level the symptoms of economic recession may be prolonged by generating more of what put us here in the first place.

Consumers in the world’s biggest economy are feeling more confident and slowly starting to spend more money.

An index of consumer confidence in the United States - The Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers - jumped to its highest level in more than 15 months.

What a dichotomy the following is.

But the report also shows U.S. consumers are still wary and saving money at the highest rate in more than 15 years.

Officials say both spending and savings appear to have been boosted by the government’s economic stimulus package, which helped push incomes higher last month.

Historically American savings rates have lagged miserably behind other nations in the developed world. Is that because we live in a ‘driver’ economy which has experienced some of the greatest economic growth the world has ever seen? Or have we become complacent with our freedom, standard of living and list of personal options which provide not only extreme opportunity but a false sense that no matter what we can succeed? Spending levels and debt accumulation have exceeded our ability to select choices which protect us and provide ‘rainy day’ resources for the inevitable corrections that not only occur in the financial markets.

That the public can express optimism in this bleak economic period is great. Certainly pessimism or the extreme of hopelessness does not support recovery personally or within the economic sphere. But just as dangerous is unqualified expectations of happy days are here again. That only serves to exacerbate and extend the truth-be-damned recklessness at the core of the financial bitch slapping we have all experienced.

Politics and government along with a groping private sector appear aligned in an effort to simply rename the policies responsible for the current meltdown. For as much criticism that was aimed at the recent ‘tea party’ phenomena the irony is playing out to exonerate those supporting a return to the common sense of conservative principles especially reduced government spending and taxes. That would translate to less government interference and a needed boost to the economy from consumer spending that may actually support realistic consumer confidence. When has the government ever been responsible for that with more intervention and tax hikes?

Another government example of appalling stupidity…..

A separate report Thursday from the U.S. Commerce Department showed the economy is shrinking at a slower pace than first thought.

No, the economy is not shrinking at a slower pace. Your forecast numbers were simply incorrect. And some wonder how mistakes are being made.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Public Affairs, Money Matters, Bush, wordpress, Politics, News Media, obama, Freedom, Congress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.