washingtonpost.com:
In this new era of frugality, well-to-do shoppers have gone into hiding and stowed away their splashy logos. But they may hold the key to a consumer recovery.
Affluent shoppers are the most important segment of consumer spending, which in turn drives the national economy.
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There needs to be more than a backlash. When people who barely survive on welfare break the rules, there are reimbursement bills, penalties, prosecution, and loss of benefits. If Goldman Sachs proportionately met with justice, we would have to stretch our imaginations to determine how they could pay for their astronomical crimes.
good articles 4 for slow news day: http://www.iamned.com
this is some serious old school trickle down GARBAGE.
the rich can stick their money up you know where.
the real americans are the ones who make the economy go. not them.
this is absurd.
Herbert Hoover's remedy for the depression was that wealthy would save the country. We all know how that worked out.
The wealthy are on the sidelines in anticipation of being reamed by the envious and the mob of hack politicians playing the envy card. Without the wealthy, who are sick of being the target for every random idiot, this economy goes nowhere. Of course this isn't the general take on reality that one finds here but it is nonetheless true.
We can just hit the reset button Chubby. That paper has not true value and the dollar can be replaced tomorrow and that's what the wealthy are afraid of, that and that when the masses have nothing more to lose and are starving in the streets that they will come for them.
The wealthy have destroyed this country and will soon be run out of it. I can smell the fear and hatred through my monitor. It will be epic!
The wealthy would be the last group to feel the sting of a devaluation, but you never thought about it rationally, and it shows.
get well soon
Exactly.
It seems our efforts to achieve actual results with regards to reform in the banking & finance sectors are futile. In addition, the disconnect between reality and wall street keeps widening. The situation is frustrating.
hat tip: to http://www.iamned.com
Get a clue..........When we had strong Unions, we had liveable wages, a dynamic society and economic growth.
The management class failed the workers, the middleclass and America. You have been sold out by Corporatists and your government happily gave them the tools they needed to be successful. What was good for business was not necessarily good for America, just look around.
The Captain steered the ship onto the rocks................ not the engine.
The problem in this country is not that rich people are not rich enough.
I am SO fed up with arbitrary and capricious scrubbing of posts that I know with certainty are within Huffpost's stated guidelines - which are on topic, contain no profanity, actionable slander, personal disparagement or ad hominem attacks, but are merely one man's well-informed personal opinion. One readily accepts moderation, but CENSORSHIP which undermines the very notion of a public forum subverts its putative purpose and undermines ANY credibility it claims...
Sure - post the criticism, like that proves anything. Where's the original post? Let people judge for themselves if it was justly scrubbed...
Flag as off topic
Kiss my grits - I grovel to no one, tough guy. And guess what - AFTER I called them out THREE different scrubbed posts suddenly appeared. The one on this thread is below...
"Affluent shoppers are the most important segment of consumer spending, which in turn drives the national economy. " The failed mythology of trickle-down economics continues.
The top 1% have received two-thirds of the income gains over the last 8 years. Income disparity is now on par with 1929 -- with similar economic results.
If you want to drive the national economy, strengthen and expand the middle class. That is the backbone of the economy.
This is how far we have fallen! We better make sure these affluent people have the money to spend. Why not give then another tax cut? That would do wonders for economy! ;-)
Our problems are structural while all of our "solutions" seem to be cosmetic.
LOLZ! This is stupid. A small percentage of affluent cant keep the world afloat. With proper regualtion the markets tend to make things equal -- as in create a middle class. the better the market the larger the middle class. large numbers of people keep markets afloat. I am thinking nostalgically of the first few years of Clinton.
Its the great white hope mythology spread way too thin on quilted two ply. The white affluent can save the world with a Louis Vuitton duffel.
simple case and point -- everyone buys sheets and towels. when only 2% can afford sheets and towels they aren't going buy them for the rest of the country -- so linens and things overextends its debt to create false markets for the 2% and then they end up with a bunch of overly expensive stuff and lots of debt and they go under. Bling bling.
As long as those with means feel the constant attack from the politicians currently in power, they will keep there wallets snapped shut. This is just human nature. When under attack, people protect themselves and there loved ones and the assets they have.
If the party in power wishes to see this economy grow and employment pick up, they must stop the attacks on personal initiative, personal investment risk taking and personal investment..
Ah, another call to the haves and the have mores!!
Maybe if those wealthy people would use that money to HIRE people and put capital investment back into their businesses like they were supposed to do the people at the bottom would start spending money.
What a crock. BUYING is not a way to sustain a workable economy. Producing and selling is.
It sounds like we need to find a better set of wealthy people! Take their money away and give it to someone who won't use their money as a weapon against the entire economy. If they are holding-back on spending for political reasons, their ideology is hurting the country. Therefore, tax the f#ck out of them until we can replace them. They aren't the only ones WILLING to hire people, they are just the only ones with the MEANS to hire them. Since they aren't doing their job, give it to someone who will. It's not like their job is to scrub toilets, they sit on their yacht while their underlings do their jobs for them.
Joe,
You'll always be a pauper.........You are a spoiled child blaming others for your failures. Until you are willing to do what it takes to become successful instead of blaming everyone else for your personal shortcomings, you'll always be a loser.
Your pie in the sky dreams of a “workers paradise” and a Socialist Utopia filled with rainbows and unicorns doesn’t, and will never, exist.
Grow up, get a job, pay your Mom & Dad back the money that you owe them, and live within your means……….
You must not know any truly wealthy people. I do - and the mindset you describe would be unrecognizable among them...
The "consumer economy" MUST die for the planet to survive in any recognizable form. Business as usual has brought us to the precipice of global environmental disaster - even if you take global warming out of the equation, the collapse of the worlds major fisheries, the accumulation of toxics and heavy metals throughout the food chain, the depletion of massive acreage of agricultural soils, peak oil, the choking of the oceans with millions of tons of plastic debris, etc. - we have to retreat from mindless mega-consumption of disposable crap or pay the piper. He's already pounding on the door - everything above is irrefutably documented. Any policy or practice that isn't sustainable MUST be given the heave-ho NOW, whether it's monetary, agricultural, energy - it doesn't matter. Does anyone really think that the future holds a big-screen TV and ski-doo for everyone?
"Affluent shoppers are the most important segment of consumer spending..." That's bs, when the middle class is squeezed the economy falls into recession period! The 2% do not have the buying power of the entire middle class or maybe they did under the last administration.
isn't there anything worthwhile that the US economy can be built on other that conspicuous consumption? we are disgu sting
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First Posted: 09- 9-09 08:14 AM | Updated: 09- 9-09 08:19 AM