When retail foot traffic and sales were disappointing in December, the standard explanation was that people must be moving their purchases online. Obviously, they weren’t — at least, not nearly as much as analysts expected.
When retail foot traffic and sales were disappointing in December, the standard explanation was that people must be moving their purchases online. Obviously, they weren’t — at least, not nearly as much as analysts expected.
Government numbers in the US are just no longer believable, they are completely political. People are dropping out of the labor force and I expect the black (oh can I say that?) economy is doing a bit better but obviously people are not buying stuff or saving, so it can’t be that big.
Neither unemployment or inflation rates are believable, either here at home, nor in Obamaland. So many items and line entries are not included so as to make the final number as optimistic (and misleading) as possible.
People just don’t bother buying Christmas gifts anymore. Its as simple as that. Everyone I know has cut back or even eliminated this “tradition” and are focusing more on family time instead.
No raises, no promotions and no benefits since the 2008 crash.. Businesses are either folding or running with skeleton crews.. Cannibalizing the industry into a be glad for your sweatshop job..
Then they want to raise the minimum wage to remind everybody how stagnant their financial prospects are.. Give the OPP a 8% raise with the expectation that they will ticket the shit out of everything that moves..
Property tax going up up up because all those city workers are unionized you know.. A bag of milk a 7 dollars and a few good steaks is almost 40 dollars..
Where did all the Xmas shoppers go? Stupid f@#$ing question..
Your LEFT with no choice but to cut back where you can.. This is why cable and satellite subscriptions are on their way out.. The pushers of all that is green or unionized absolutely deserve to go the way of the dodo bird.. Extinct..
Who can afford to buy the frivolties of life for other people when your health care insurance is getting cancelled and you’re looking at buying useless unaffordable coverage that is going to cost many times over what you were paying before or get fined if you don’t.
The economy is booming, best recovery ever.
Or so the presstitutes were trying to sell us.
No law,void contracts, no certainty, IRS caprice,” I’ve a pen and magic phone”.
Wealth redistribution.
Wealth has to be created before it can be stolen by the state.
Wealth producers are not stupid, the effort required is weighed against the expected return.
Under current regulation and taxation, negative returns.
Better to wait, enjoy what you can, than throw your wealth into the pit.
Being poorer for a few years is often better than completely destitute and exhausted.
People don’t have the disposable income they used to have, but they will find a way to make up for it by watching for loss leaders, gasoline wars (usually where there is a Costco or Super Store), featured sales, thrift shops, flea markets, farmers markets, roadside stands, second hand shops, demo or salvage outlets, opportunities to barter goods or services, swap meets, coupon offers, online sales, Do-it-yourself projects, and consignment shops. Or they will make money on the side or under the table (sounds sleazy:) Feeling the pinch from the Tax Man is a motivator. As for me, I buy some items direct from the maker (for eg., pottery) and I *love* Amazon.
Walmart’s biggest competitor is not Target or K-Mart, rather it’s their own customers who are selling off their used stuff at yard and garage sales.