It's no wonder that consumer confidence is not what it used to be. Christmas retail sales were a little better than expected, but then that wasn't too hard since expectations were very low. Car sales went up in September because of the artifically created demand - then plummetd in October after the Clunker program ended. Home sales went up briefly - with the rebate program that essentially borrowed demand from the future.
This is impacting people's desires and abilities to make major purchases - such as homes. Unemployment, lower demand, declining values, and talks of tax increases are not helping with the consumer confidence.
We are seeing evidence of a "new consumerism" not unlike the behavior of the depression generation where extravagence and luxury purchases are out. Only the necessities and replacement items are being purchased - often with considerable research ahead of time.
Now, the President is saying that the middle class is under attack. Wow, I guess he should know since he's leading the charge. Maybe not what he meant, but the result is the same.
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