Robert Brusca
Robert Brusca
categories clearly consumers divided good lots main money optimism results shown spending
We're getting some very good spending going into the first quarter. It's interesting that while there is spending optimism, consumers are still clearly divided into two main categories -- those with lots of money and those that are hurting. That's why these monthly results have shown so much irregularity.
boost consumers later positive sales shopping survey until year
On the positive side, one survey suggests that more consumers this year are delaying their shopping until later in the season. If that's true, sales will get another boost in December.
consumers fine future worried
Consumers are conflicted. They feel fine for now, but they are worried about the future.
fed limits slower suggest
I think we're going to have a slower recovery, ... There are other things that suggest there are limits to what the Fed can do.
challenge control danger history lessons party
I think that one of the lessons in history is that if any party has too much control, the danger is that they will go overboard. The challenge for this administration is going to be to keep control of things.
aware energy people prices
People are aware of what energy prices are doing to their pocketbooks, and their company,
consumer economy equity everybody happy housing increase negative partly people performance pull quite savings spending supported
While everybody is very happy with the performance of the economy under Greenspan, it's come at quite a price. We have a negative savings rate. The consumer has been out spending his and her income, partly supported by an increase in housing prices, where people had to pull a lot of the equity out of their home. Well they can't do that again.
bit consumer growth highly linking output spending
While consumer spending has sparked up a bit recently, linking it to better output growth is still highly speculative.
concerns continues evidence fears inflation
While concerns about inflation swirl, the evidence continues to give those fears little substance,
against maybe reason suggesting
We have a lot of things suggesting that maybe things have improved, ... I don't see any reason to go against the numbers.
affected economy economy-and-economics gives magnitude
It doesn't tell you anything about the economy at this point. It just gives you some idea of the magnitude of the displacement in the affected area.
answer educated education people simply unemployed
There are so many low-paid people who are educated that education is simply not the answer. The answer is, you will be unemployed if this is not stopped.
affect consumer effect kinds lost money people seem stock wealth
Where was wealth effect during that time? ... The consumer didn't die. People lost all kinds of money in the stock market, and it didn't seem to affect them.
continue determine economy fast federal grow limit officials reserve saying speed
We continue to see Federal Reserve officials saying they want the economy to grow as fast as it can, but they're the ones who determine where that speed limit is.