Consumers' mood grim as early-80s (June 1980) in May

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer confidence tumbled to its lowest in 28 years this month, a survey showed on Friday, as short-term inflation expectations reached the highest levels since the stagflationary early 1980s.

The news heightens the dilemma for the Federal Reserve, which has bet that slowing economic growth will tame inflation pressures. The report also showed that lower-income households were the focus of the downturn in sentiment.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers' preliminary index of confidence fell to 59.5 in May, the lowest since June 1980. In April it was at 62.6.

<snip>

"Consumer confidence continued to slip in early May due to surging food and fuel prices," the Surveys of Consumers statement said. "Record numbers of consumers viewed the economy in recession and saw little hope of recovery anytime soon."

<snip>

The report fuels worries that the United States could be entering the early days of a period of stagflation like the late 1970s and early 1980s, characterized by a sluggish economy and accelerated price growth.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSN1632051720080516?sp-true

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edited to take out a wrong comment because my brain didn't work right :crazy:

[reformedrethug]

1. Reagan was not in office

until January 20, 1981, just saying lets try to be accurate is all.

[Hugin]

2. But... But... The hostages were still in Iran.

Not to imply the Republicans had anything to do with it. ;)

"The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 53 U.S. diplomats were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of students took over the American embassy in support of Iran's revolution.<2>"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis

[reformedrethug]

5. what the hell

does that have to do with the OP?

[UpInArms]

9. maybe this:

Original October Surprise (Part 3)

Did disgruntled CIA officers conspire with their former boss, George H.W. Bush, to exploit the Iranian hostage crisis in 1980 to defeat President Jimmy Carter whose policies had infuriated many CIA veterans? Did that secret CIA operation change the course of American politics, paving the way for a quarter century of Republican dominance?

On Nov. 4, 1980, after a full year of frustrating efforts to free the 52 American hostages held in Iran, Carter lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan and his running mate, George H.W. Bush. The hostages were finally freed after Reagan was sworn in on Jan. 20, 1981.

While the full story is still unclear a quarter century later, the evidence leaves little doubt that former CIA Director Bush – first as a Republican presidential candidate and then as the party’s vice presidential nominee – supervised a team of bitter ex-CIA officers whose careers had suffered under Carter.

These ex-intelligence officers were so angry with Carter that they cast off their traditional cloak of non-partisanship and anonymity in 1979 and enlisted in the Republican drive to unseat the sitting President.

During Bush’s bid for the Republican nomination, these veterans of CIA covert operations worked as his political foot soldiers. One joke about Bush’s announcement of his candidacy on May 1, 1979, was that “half the audience was wearing raincoats.”

...more...

and before you wonder who Robert Parry is - just know that he was the reporter for the AP and Newsweek who broke the Iran-Contra scandal.

[Hugin]

11. ...

"supervised a team of bitter ex-CIA officers whose careers had suffered under Carter."

I like how they worked in the word "bitter" there. Nice touch.

[reformedrethug]

13. In that election

Carter lost becuase the economy was in the tank and people wanted change. What they did not know however is the type of change they got with reagan, and we are feeling the effects of that fiasco still today.

[UpInArms]

15. Bingo!

Bonzo went to Washington and ushered in the era of out-of-control corruption and cronyism -

I don't know what will heal our country, but I do know that we need the Fairness Doctrine back, we need to stop the idea of corporation as person (who the hell wants a machine with a mandate of profit at any cost to be considered equal - something that does not breathe and cannot be killed and can suffer no conscience or moral dilemna?) - we need to have real campaign finance reform and numerous other things -

but we need them now or we, as a nation, will never be something that we want to be again.

[Hugin]

10. A whole lot...

If you can't see the parallels between events then and current events and their effect on Consumer Sentiment.
I can't help you.

High oil prices... Problems in the Gulf... etc.

Same people, same games.

[reformedrethug]

12. Ok I see your point there

but the difference is there is not a Democrat in office running for reelection, we have a lame duck (trying to be polite here LMAO) in office who by law cannot run for reelection, so to me that blurs the line you were trying to draw.

[Hugin]

14. Thanks for keeping an open mind to my argument.

:thumbsup:

[UpInArms]

3. sorry - my bad

just remembering the early 80s makes my brain hurt

:toast:

[reformedrethug]

7. no prob

I feel the same way but I just like to be accurate when I can.

I remember my dad being laid off for most of my early high school years which was during the reagan admin.

[Stuart G]

16. To coin terms that has been used before: we're screwed...nt

[ckramer]

4. And now the stock market is almost in all time high

The inflation of everything (housing, gas, healthcare, and food)!

Yet these don't count in the government statistics (CPI?).

[UpInArms]

6. nope - can't use those when figuring the CPI

'cuz they're too "volatile"

housing, gas, healthcare, and food

and then the gov would have to raise the COLA on SS

[Lorien]

8. Back then it was OPEC decisions that led to high gas prices

and similar economic pain to what we're experiencing now. Only in 1980 people actually WERE trying to conserve energy to bring down prices. Now they want to drive their Hummers from their McMansions and drill on every open pocket of land on earth to keep sustaining a lifestyle of excess while the rest of us pay for it with an uninhabitable planet.