Consumer Confidence At All Time Low, They Say
Posted by: From Arkansas in Are You Kidding Me?, Credit and Financial stuff, My Take on Things on Oct 28 2008
Welcome back!
Having read in the news that the consumer confidence is at an all time low, I have to wonder a few things. With all that’s going on, is it any wonder that consumers have no confidence in the manufacturers that are raising prices to all time highs? Their excuse was that gas prices were so high that they had to pass that along to the consumer. Uh huh. So now that prices are dipping down, what happened to passing along the savings to the consumer also? Ah, that’s the rub. It does not appear to go in that direction. Funny how that works.
According to the “they” that say the consumer confidence is low, the fault lies in the direction of the Wall Street debacle. Those fun guys and gals who decided to put what one CBS correspondent found out was called “a side bet”. Not the business-eze word for it but describes it perfectly. That, in essence, is what the companies like Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Lehman, AIG and others did, they placed a side bet that people would not default on the mortgages. And while that was a big mistake, the bigger mistake was in that when the notes were called in, there was no money backing these side bets. HELLO!!!! If someone had gone to a bookie and did that, they would have serious health issues soon after. And so did the companies that pulled this enormous stupidity. The unfortunate thing about this is that now everyone in the world, at some point or another, is paying for all this. They are trying to bring us all down with them. But we will prevail.
And with all that going on, and the companies that are manufacturing many items that the consumers thought were American made and now find out that it’s made in China, a country that is very obviously trying to wipe us off the face of the earth by poisoning us, our children and pets to death. Personally, I believe with all my heart that we should stop trade with China altogether. They have an agenda that we do not know about and one we do know about. Getting rid of us makes them more powerful. That’s what we do know. What else is going on there? They do not allow much to be imported into their country but we are expected and DO take huge imports from them. Have you ever noticed that most toys, our children!!!, are made in China? That the very famous toy names in this country are getting their product from CHINA??? I thought we could trust names like Mattel, Playskool, Fisher Price, Hasbro but we cannot if we want toys made in the USA. Things like baby toys that we can get locally through Walmart are ALL made in China. They carry a brand called Bright Ideas. The packaging says China.
Is it any wonder that consumers MIGHT have a confidence problem in American goods? Are you kidding me? Who would want to have confidence in all that? WHO is it that measures such things? And what exactly do they measure? And if we know that, who says that it’s any different than the non-accurate polls that seem to guide the voters of this country? Any way you look at it, there is a problem here. Yes, I do believe that there is a consumer confidence question. I seriously believe that consumers are getting very wary of those who promise much but deliver little….much like most Presidents that have given out big doses of promises especially right before they get elected and then fall hard when it comes to actually following through with those promises.
This is a truth that does not seem to be handed out during elections. The reality is that even a president cannot…I said CANNOT… do what they promise as a candidate, not without a lot of help and that means that the congress MUST agree to these things. Have you heard the congress agreeing on much of anything lately? Except for the bailout, they really have been fighting a lot about anything wanted by this administration. What makes you think that they will be interested in either candidates views and visions for the future?
Regardless of what you might think about the candidates, at least put your vote where your mouth is. If you do not do that, you have nothing more to say. Period.
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4 Comments
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I wouldn’t buy anything if i could help it! especially from supermarkets, the prices are going up, which is ban enough but food is being cleverly packaged so that you don’t notice its getting smaller. The average Joe is being robbed, left right and center! And there’s nothing we can do about it, tell me if im wrong.
Oh you are absolutely right. For instance, Walmart used to sell this package of cheese. It was a 4 lb pack. We loved it since it was a pretty good price. I think at the time it was about $5.
The price did not change at that time but the amount in the package did. It went to something like 3 lbs for the same price. And then it dipped down to 2 lbs in the package. Mind you, the package looks exactly the same. It looks like you are still getting a certain amount but you are not. If you are not watching that, they can get away with it.
Now, the package has 2 lbs and it costs over $8, close to $9 I think. Not sure right now. And they are not the only ones doing this. Most of the food packages are coming out smaller or more pricey or both.
Bread is another example. They cut down on the amount, then the price went up. The idea here is to slip in a change without too much notice. In fact, only those who actually read labels are probably catching this. Not that others are stupid because most consumers are not. They are simply used to the way things were. The change is subtle at first. You get used to something, they change it slightly. Get used to that, and they do it again.
Thank you for pointing that out. It’s a whole other post I should do.
Hello,
@caring home design: I agree that packages are getting smaller; it’s false advertisement! I live in Chicago and here we have a problem with gas prices, they are the highest in the nation! The problem is that the gas stations are displaying one price and charging another. You pay the high price but don’t get the amount you paid for… really bogus. I see this as stealing, which is what places like Walmart are doing everyday, no different than highway robbery!
Yes, I had heard about such things going on. The real reality is that gas stations are doing what they want because we need the product. It’s sort of like eating, we need it. Where are you going to get the product if you don’t buy it there? Elsewhere.
We have cut down on our usage of gas and other products that have been reduced by the manufacturer and are being sold by places like Walmart. In our area, you do not have a lot of choice where to buy things. They are almost it in this county. Not good.
Thanks for your input here.