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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Real Disposable Income Has First Drop Since November 2011, Savings Rate Tumbles

There were no surprises in the August Personal Income and Spending numbers, which came at 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively, on expectations of a 0.2% and 0.5% rise. Summarized: less income, more spending. This however, did not make the consumer income statement data any better: the bottom line is that adjusted for inflation, Real Disposable Income slid 0.3% in August, after a tiny 0.1% increase in July, the first such decline since November 2011, and as Bloomberg's Joseph Brusuelas says this is "another rough report for the consumer which doesn’t bode well for household spending going forward." Which means Bernanke knew precisely what he was doing when he launched QE3, which all advocated of QE3 will now say was fully justified. There is one problem with that logic however: for QE3 to be justified, it would mean QE1 and 2 were. Well, last we checked the US is still in a major depression, and neither QE1, 2, nor Twist 1 or 2 have done anything to prevent today's ugly data. Surely, this time it will be different. Finally, and as a result of the ongoing contraction in income, as expected the savings rate dropped from 4.1% to 3.7%: the lowest since May. More

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just wait until the freshly created money goes into circulation. Hyper-inflation will be the result which spells massive reduction in spending power for the stupid Amerikans.

lmclain said...

I can't wait until the mind numbingly stupid obama supporters start wondering why bread is $8 a loaf, their tax rates go to 45%, and they have to chose between feeding their children or paying $130 for a tank of gas. Even in their old age, they will probably STILL be saying "it's Bush's fault". There is NO -- NONE, ZERO, ZILCH! -- economist on the face of the planet who can say (with a straight face) that ANOTHER "bailout" is just what we need to "turn the economy around", which is what they have said before...THIS time it should work though, huh? This president has done more damage to our country in four years than cancer. A constitutional professor that doesn't know the basics of the document, a man who apppointed criminals (tax evaders, mainly) to high position, covers up crime that resulted in the murder of a Federal agent ((Fast & Furious "executive priviledge"), hides everything he can about his past, including such simple things as college transcripts, added 5+ TRILLION in debt in just 4 yaers, can't run on his record because it is so horrible, etc. There's is so much more evidence of his total and absolute incompetence but I DO have things to do today. Soon, the only thing the dollar will be used for is starting the fire in your wood stove. Bush's fault again. You'd think HE was still president....

Anonymous said...

I work for a company that repossesses cars and major appliances for local banks. Business is booming! I get lots of overtime! I love Obama!