CNN Economists should listen to consumers
Experts have a half-glass full outlook for the economy while average Americans are far more pessimistic. Here’s why the consumer is probably right.
Consumers expecting business conditions to deteriorate outnumbered those who expected an improvement by more than three-to-one. Those expecting more job losses topped those expecting an improvement in the [...]
CNN reports Home prices post record 15.3% drop
The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index fell to a record low of 15.3% on a year-over-year basis, and was down 1.4% from March. The 10-city index was down 16.3% year-over-year and 1.6% for the month.
The 20-city index is based on data going back 19 years, while the 10-city [...]
news.com.au reports Times not as tough as you think – study
“While some consumers are indeed struggling, that is by no means the rule,” CommSec’s chief economist Craig James said.
“Living costs have certainly been rising, but so have wages.
“And in a few days time another a round of tax cuts will be delivered – the sixth [...]
msnbc reports Tip-reliant workers say slowdown cuts into tips
Cabbie: ‘I understand they just don’t have it, but that cuts into my income’
“Some people are coming in less and maybe not staying as long when they do come in,” Metz said. “And normal customers who would normally tip $5 are tipping about $2 now.”
Bartenders, waiters, hair [...]
msnbc Debt stress causing health problems, poll finds
Economic woes a pain in the neck, back and more for millions of Americans
WASHINGTON – The stress from deepening debt is becoming a major pain in the neck — and the back and the head and the stomach — for millions of Americans.
When people are dealing with mountains [...]
USATODAY reports 100 mpg? For ‘hypermilers,’ that sounds about right
ILBERT, Ariz. — After a 29-mile jaunt from his Phoenix office to his home here, Louis Hudgin proclaimed his gas mileage “pitiful.”
He averaged just 88.3 miles per gallon.
Most drivers would take a victory lap if they managed to squeeze that kind of mileage out of increasingly [...]
washingtonpost.com HOW RICH PEOPLE SPEND THEIR TIME
People invariably believe that money can make them happy — and rich people usually do report being happier than poor people do. But if this is the case, shouldn’t wealthy people spend a lot more time doing enjoyable things than poor people?
Nobel Prize-winning behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman has found, [...]
MarketWatch Golf looking for a boost from its biggest event
Tiger Woods, with his surgically-repaired knee, isn’t the only one limping into the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego this week.
The game of golf itself, along with the deep-pocketed sponsors the big tournaments have come to depend on, has a slight [...]
USATODAY reports How rising home values, easy credit put your finances at risk
At the peak of the housing boom, April Lewis-Parks’ three-bedroom house in Fort Lauderdale doubled in value. To her surprise, her credit card limits soared even more.
One card issuer more than tripled her spending limit, to $17,000. Another increased her limit 60%, to [...]
msnbc Consumers rethink whether they need $4 coffee
As go-go years give way to frugal times, cutting back is the new spending
NEW YORK – The “latte effect” of the go-go years had consumers spending $4 a day on coffee. Now the downturn is forcing them to rethink the wisdom of such habits.
As inflation squeezes budgets, [...]
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