U.S. retail sales fell in June for the third straight month, the longest run of consecutive drops since 2008 when the country was mired in recession.Obama should have asked for about ½ trillion more for his stimulus.
Sales slipped 0.5 percent, with declines across a wide swath of industries from electronics and cars to building supplies, the Commerce Department said on Monday. Analysts had expected a small increase.
"Evidence is increasingly clear that the U.S. economy is slowing," said Jim Baird, an investment strategist at Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The report adds to a spate of soft economic data that is raising pressure on President Barack Obama ahead of his November re-election bid. Republican challenger Mitt Romney is focusing his campaign on the weak economy, which has plagued Obama's presidency.
Monday, July 16, 2012
More Bad Economic News
June retail sales fell:
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We are in the pushing on a string phase, where additional stimulus actually results in a DECREASE in GDP.
ReplyDeleteUmmm....No.
ReplyDeleteIn fact the slow down has corresponding with the winding down of stimulus.
We are in a liquidity trap, where monetary actions have little or no effect, because interest rates are at the zero bound but fiscal actions (i.e stimulus) have effect.
Also, there was never much of stimulus, as the increase in 2009-2010 in federal spending were largely offset by decreases in state and local spending.