Consumer Confidence Plunges To Lowest Level In Trump Era As Shutdown Grinds On

[DonViejo]

Source: Talking Points Memo



By Cameron Joseph

January 18, 2019 12:05 pm

A key index of consumer confidence dropped to its lowest point since before President Trump’s election on Friday, the latest sign that the ongoing government shutdown, market instability and Trump’s trade wars are dragging on the economy.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, a highly respected survey and monthly economic indicator, found that consumers’ confidence in the economy fell sharply in the last month amidst the partial government shutdown, which is now the longest in U.S. history. The index fell to 90.7 this month, down from 98.3 in December. Economists had been expecting this month’s measure to be above 96.

“Consumer sentiment declined in early January to its lowest level since Trump was elected. The decline was primarily focused on prospects for the domestic economy, with the year-ahead outlook for the national economy judged the worst since mid 2014,” Richard Curtin, the survey’s chief economists, said in a statement explaining the dip. “The loss was due to a host of issues including the partial government shutdown, the impact of tariffs, instabilities in financial markets, the global slowdown, and the lack of clarity about monetary policies.” The hit in consumer confidence is just the latest sign that the government shutdown is taking a toll on the economy — and the longer it lasts, the more damage it will do.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams warned in a speech Friday morning that he and other policymakers were “seeing some emerging headwinds to growth from the partial government shutdown in the United States and elevated geopolitical uncertainties abroad.”

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/consumer-confidence-plunges-to-lowest-mark-in-trump-era-as-shutdown-grinds-on

[ffr]

1. Well if shaming MAGAts doesn't yield the desired result, tRump's recession will.

Hope Red-State MAGAts can get along without their government assistance. Something tells me they're going to be pan-handling on the streets very soon.

[Lonestarblue]

2. Republicans always start a recession.

One would think that voters would have realized by now that most major recessions in modern times have been caused by Republican policies. All you have to do is compare how well California has done under Democratic governance and how well states like Kansas have done under Republican governance to see which one creates more jobs and prosperity. Kansas was nearly bankrupt until they finally raised taxes again.

But the fanatical anti-abortion, anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-people of color, anti-Muslim Trump supporters don’t really care about the economy unless they’re the ones being hurt instead of all those people they want Trump to hurt. A sad commentary on the state of our democratic republic.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. "All you have to do is compare how well California has done under Democratic governance"

And to even underscore that point with California, let's recall for folks what happened to California under the Governator! Billions in debt (the GOP loves to "borrow and spend" ). In comes Jerry Brown on his 2nd go-around as governor to clean it all up. It ain't perfect but it's like day and night.

[IronLionZion]

4. You can do a side by side comparison of Minnesota and Wisconsin

Democratic policies are investments in the people and infrastructure that we have seen returned in economic growth. Doing good for the people is also good for the economy.

And everyone knows how the economy grew under Clinton and Obama vs both Bushes and Trump.

[Lonestarblue]

5. Perfect graphic! Thanks!