Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Consumer Confidence Down Before Holiday Shopping

The holiday shopping season is almost upon us, although here in San Francisco it started maybe a week or two ago as Market Street retailers started hanging their fake Christmas wreaths.  It is fitting to note that consumers are starting off on the wrong foot.  The Conference Board reported today that consumer confidence declined again this month.  People must be really bummed about about something despite record numbers of SNAP recipients.

Here's a thought.  Local news shows can share helpful holiday tips on making a Thanksgiving feast from the last few bucks left on an EBT card.  That will go over well with Wal-Mart.  Maybe families could get creative and wrap up some old household items as Christmas gifts and put them under the tree just for show.  On second thought, they may not be able to locate a tree.  Blame the Fed for printing so much money that live trees are priced out of reach.  If the Fed doesn't stop its quantitative easing, we'll all be priced out of everything and no amount of SNAP will feed any of us.  The short-term hit to GDP would be a Scrooge-like price to pay but it beats living through hyperinflation in an unhappy new year.