Consumers Aren’t Confident, Yet

Author:

Russell Roberts

"I once thought that spending money was the government’s strong suit. But as of October 20, only $120 billion of the $290 billion available so far from the stimulus package has been spent. Despite the early rhetorical emphasis on shovel-ready projects, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Education accounted for two-thirds of the total spent.

The Department of Transportation, a source of spending that is likely to be rich in shovels, has $30 billion available but has only managed to spend $4 billion. So perhaps it is not surprising that construction workers and manufacturing workers (who make up half of the job losses since the beginning of the recession) are struggling to find jobs.

The good news is that third quarter G.D.P. is up. But has government spending (or the tax cuts in the stimulus package) caused the growth or would it have occurred anyway?

It’s hard to say, but there are logical reasons to be skeptical of the impact of the stimulus. If the stimulus increases spending on medical research, increasing the demand for medical researchers, the main impact will be to increase salaries rather than create new jobs..."

[Read the full blog post from Russell Roberts]

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Posted : Thursday 05 November 2009 21:17 | Managing Editor

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In today's economy, I find myself seeking for ways on how I can save money. Many people, small and big business are focusing on cost reduction. Others are looking forward on taking out payday loans just to meet ends. At this point in time everything is unsure that's why as much as possible we have to find ways in order to survive. I am glad that I can look to the UK when I need a good laugh. They're finding out that individuals do not know very much about the loans they're taking out, and they're trying to fix this issue. I find this humorous since the solutions they are coming up with are already common practice in America; and I wouldn't say Americans are any smarter with their finances. They have one idea that if they fully document the loan terms and conditions, that their customers will read and sign it thereby understanding the terms better. American lending practices already have that in play, and thousands of people do not perhaps read the conditions they just signed.

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