Consumer spending for December: WAY UP

Undertoad · 01-31-2003, 09:49 AM

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._ec_fi/economy

We talked about this didn't we? How those news reports on Christmas retail sales have little connection to reality? News directors all want some kind of economic report, and they want a reporter stading in the middle of a mall.

All such reports that I saw this year were decidedly negative, talking about disappointed WalMart managers not getting the numbers they hoped for, and spooked retailers cutting prices even before the holiday was over.

It takes a full month for the Commerce Department to figure out how much people were actually spending. It turns out that people were buying Christmas gifts, but also new cars. Maybe the snooty Lexus Christmas cars with the big bows on top? The Commerce Department doesn't say, and ribbon manufacturers aren't talking.

01-31-2003, 09:49 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Consumer spending for December: WAY UP http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._ec_fi/economy We talked about this didn't we? How those news reports on Christmas retail sales have little connection to reality? News directors all want some kind of economic report, and they want a reporter stading in the middle of a mall. All such reports that I saw this year were decidedly negative, talking about disappointed WalMart managers not getting the numbers they hoped for, and spooked retailers cutting prices even before the holiday was over. It takes a full month for the Commerce Department to figure out how much people were actually spending. It turns out that people were buying Christmas gifts, but also new cars. Maybe the snooty Lexus Christmas cars with the big bows on top? The Commerce Department doesn't say, and ribbon manufacturers aren't talking.

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