Things Are Lookin’ Up: The Sky’s Still Not Falling

Economists and experts’ dire predictions of rapidly rising inflation and unemployment for the 2nd calendar quarter (due to rising oil prices) proved to be Chicken Littleish, as inflation barely edged up – and came in four to five percentage points below the Fed’s forecasts. In July, Alan Greenspan’s replacement indicated there may be no need in foreseeable future for further interest rate hikes to restrict inflation. Doom ‘n gloomers are again disappointed!

CONSUMERS APPROVE! In spite of many things that annoy us all, the majority of American consumers are generally satisfied with the way many types of businesses provide goods and services. The net percentage of surveyed consumers giving a “Good Job” ranking is: 83% to supermarkets, 67% to software providers, 61% to banks, 56% to phone companies, 51% to hospitals. (Those falling below 50% approval ratings include airlines, auto manufacturers, investment companies.) (Source: Harris Polls, harrisinteractive.com).

And, in spite of wars (now plural), at-the-pump prices, and economic news on TV at a 70% negative-to-positive ratio (Source: MediaObserver), consumer confidence rankings are in the Moderately High to High range (Consumer Modeling Institute).

Who says we don’t live in good times?