Mar 6, 2015 – Consumer spending is down, initial jobless claims are up, and Marc Cuban says we’re in a tech bubble “far worse” the the DotCom Bubble … The difference between the last two bubbles and today is, we weren’t already sitting on $18,000,000,000,000 worth of debt, interest…

Mar 17, 2015 – If you’ll recall, it was just last week I speculated that the declines in consumer spending, for three months running and despite … moderate incomes, simply do not have the resources to pay their deductibles and will either have to put off care or incur medical debt … It’s no wonder that collections for medical debt represent half of all bill collections.…

Feb 23, 2017 – “Everybody in this room knows that Social Security hasn’t added a nickel to the debt. … breaks for billionaires and the war in Iraq and an inflated military budget that in fact led to the high deficits and the national debt … insurance amount” for qualified beneficiaries starting in 2021 and “revise computation of cost-of-living adjustments to use the Consumer…

Mar 16, 2017 – Meals on Wheels America says one in six senior Americans “struggles with hunger,” and their consumer base consists of seniors who receive … We’re $20 trillion in debt. We’re going to spend money. We’re going to spend a lot of money.…

May 16, 2018 – guaranteed full employment and income, to the “equal pay” canard, to the abolition of non-government education and the erasing of all debt … (“We demand relief from crushing household, student, and consumer debt.…

Jun 15, 2022 – Related, but exclusively for our VIPs: Here Comes Stagflation Consumer spending drives more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy, … consumers are feeling the pinch of double-digit price hikes for nearly everything, higher borrowing costs, and record credit-card debt…

Jul 7, 2022 – Many are willing to put up with worker shortages now, rather than hire too many employees only to have them idle when consumer demand … Too many are still living at home, not fully employed, often in debt, hooked on social media, video games, or satisfying their appetites…

Aug 30, 2022 – House has largely been silent on the question of who is going to foot the bill for forgiving at least $500 billion in student loan debt … It’s an election year, after all, and why make a big deal out of transferring $10,000-20,000 in debt from some taxpayers to others? … Ordinarily, a consumer getting chiseled by a business like this would raise holy hell.…

Jan 27, 2009 – big-time recession, I think we are seeing the hysterical results”: After two decades of unprecedented economic growth, rampant consumer … spending, and unimaginable borrowing to satisfy our insatiable appetites, we are suddenly going into even larger debt and printing … trillions of dollars in paper money to ensure that someone else after we are gone pays the debt.…

Feb 8, 2009 – very stupid decisions are being bailed out by the population at large”: “A problem that was created by building up of too much debt … will not be solved with yet more debt,” Gov. … economy is “what you see in Russia or Venezuela or Zimbabwe or places like that where it matters not how good your product is to the consumer…

Feb 2, 2009 – Riding a bifurcated wave of prosperity and debt-fueled consumption, the industry has ballooned to outrageously unsupportable proportions … Davidowitz’s retail analysis: Narrow specialties (Sprint’s cellphones) and high prices (Starbucks’ coffee) are tough sells as the consumer…

Feb 18, 2009 – To recap: the ABC Consumer Comfort Index hit its lowest level in over 20 years this month and the Rasmussen Consumer Index also hit … If at the next Treasury auction, the U.S. government finds investors less interested in buying up more and more debt, it won’t matter … But consumer confidence indicators and the stock market are predictive of future behavior.…

Feb 23, 2009 – their stock accounts, and those who sold homes at a loss in some ways subsidized those who walked away from homes and credit card debt … debt, get out of back IRS payments—now! … (Indeed, many making over $100,000 got raises this year while the state remains nearly $40 billion in debt).…

Mar 16, 2009 – Heritage’s observation that TARP will increase government involvement in the corporate boardroom, and it “expands the program into consumer … AIG FP was supported on credit derivatives, some municipal investment agreements, and maturing debt.…

May 6, 2009 – The Congressional Budget Office predicts $9.3 trillion in new debt over the coming decade. … Some useful programs, like those designed to help finance consumer loans, won’t work because of this irresponsible hectoring.…

May 29, 2009 – a particularly nasty recession – one that, given Washington’s current fiscal strategy, is likely to leave us with both a ton of debt … market, along with those of other competitors such as AMD and Samsung – has meant that electronics manufacturers, from servers to consumer…

May 21, 2009 – inching closer as its status as a safe-haven currency fades with every uptick in stocks and commodities and its potential risks – debt … Our import-based consumer economy could sustain itself only so long before the Chinese got tired of stuffing greenbacks under the Middle … Little did I figure that the whole thing would get a last gasp — via huge run-ups in public debt, the Treasury running its presses…

Jun 9, 2009 – That’s a far cry from the consumer-friendly, customized service world which voters, especially young voters, have become used to. … Poll after poll make clear that voters are queasy about the mound of debt which is accumulating and suspect the taxes to pay for it…

Jun 7, 2009 – Treasury debt are now marching higher as nervous bond investors fret about a resurgence of inflation. Well, duh. … (Government spending having some “multiplier” effect unknown to consumer or business spending is a big, fat lie.) 2. … That extra spending means extra debt, which drives up interest rates, which chokes off growth. 3.…

Jun 29, 2009 – He goes on: Consumer choice and honest competition are indeed the foundation of a successful market system, but they are usually … efforts at beneficence are a series of violations — violations of the law, for example (ask the secured bondholders of Chrysler’s debt…

Jun 26, 2009 – What has the most potential to mire the United States in long-term debt? … Orszag writes that every other federal program’s effect on future deficits and debt is “swamped” by the effects of these two flagship … Government-run health care isn’t the ticket to innovative, dynamic, consumer-friendly care.…

Jul 15, 2009 – Consumer spending is probably about break-even, and private investment stimulates the economy dollar-for-dollar, plus the rate of return … So I honestly can’t tell you if it factors in the inflationary effects of all that debt, or if it includes the suppression of future…

Aug 26, 2009 – The pressure to find some middle ground on cap and trade, ObamaCare, financial regulation, and an uber-consumer protection agency will … behoove Republicans to return to some first principles and explain that their opposition to Obama-ism goes beyond the eye-popping debt … It turns out the hip guy wants to force them to buy health insurance, load debt and an enormous future tax burden on their backs, and…

Aug 20, 2009 – anticipation that many variations on the levels of insurance, levels of deductibles, etc., would evolve offering the consumer … The amount of federal (and state) debt that is piling up should strike fear in us all. … We will soon reach a tipping point where the only recourse will be to monetize the debt in such amounts that will create something…

Nov 24, 2009 – McArdle made the very smart point — as she is wont to do — that it doesn’t make much sense for Washington to try and inflate away our debt … lot of smart points, Megan’s point isn’t quite smart enough.* Those twelve trillion dollars we’ve already borrowed… well, that debt … But the “structural” debt? Why, Congress could repudiate that tomorrow, with or without inflation.…