Seriously... who comes up with this stuff????

[Jubilee on Earth]

It's just bizarre to me -- here's a new article on Reuters:

U.S. Consumer not so cash-strapped after all...

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN2251266820080523

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. consumers are strapped for cash. Guess what? They're not.

Consumers are actually sitting on a record amount of cash, although that's exactly the problem. They're just holding it, not spending or investing it, though one measure of money supply trends hints that consumers may soon let loose some of their stash.

"If you ask the person on the street they'll say the consumer is cash-strapped. But they're not! They're loaded with liquid assets," said Jim Paulsen, chief investment officer at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis.

Uh, yeah. Not really what I'm seeing. Not really people that I know. What, did they just take a survey of those who reside in Manhattan or Beverly Hills? Gimme a break...

??? :scratch ???

[penbrat]

Ummm, yeah okay. Not me or anyone I know.

[Amanda's mom]

It might appear that way to some. I know that we have money set aside that is budgeted for anticipated future expenses (taxes, heating, water, etc). We are not on any company budget plan (like the gas company has) so we have to plan for the future and set aside for the higher bill periods.

[jds6958]

LOL, consumers are sitting on cash b/c they just increased their credit debt by 67% by doing a bunch of cash advances and paid daily living expenses with credit they do not expect to pay back. Just a knee jerk theory if the article's data is correct.

We should make a thread of laughable economic articles. Economic comedy.

Check the last section of this article out for example. The title of the article is correct and it startes off decent, but then it closes with some nut case stating how the CPI may actually be OVERSTATING inflation....what?!?!?!

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-inflation-understated-due-trio/story.aspx?guid=%7bDED8CC4C-8199-40E1-93F9-43A3C5E0F0D4%7d&print=true&dist=printTop

[Anddra]

I suspect that any downward trend in spending may be related to people hitting their credit limits.

[PWOODS]

The US government actually leads the way and sets a precedent for living on credit! Jan Markell's recent guests stated that the US spends about 2 billion dollars per week on the war and if I am not mistaken they said that we get 3 billion per day!!!! from China , much of which is spent on the war effort. FROM CHINA!!!:idunno :panic READ: olivetreeministries.com May 17 Guests: Christian economists, John Terry and Jerry Robinson.

[Abiding Patience]

Oh No! They know about my penny stash.:panic
Serously, if I had money, I wouldn't be driving a 20 year old car, be in desprate need of a water heater, and a new fridge.:hehee

[dramama]

doesn't seem to match the other figures that show only a few amaericans have any savings.....they think we are dumb and can't see what's real anymore, perhaps the majority can't and buy into this junk.....

[Kerusso02]

perhaps the majority can't and buy into this junk.....

Unfortunately that statement may be right on. I know too many people who don't think for themselves and just parrot what they hear. I was talking with a friend from Houston the other day about the economy, and he just blew me off as if i were making a big deal out of nothing. :idunno