To Shop Or Not To Shop

The US consumer mood brightened early this month, according to the preliminary read on the University of Michigan's sentiment gauge, released on Friday. At 73, the provisional headline for November was better than expected, an uptick from October and the best read since April. As the simple figure shows, this month's gain, if confirmed in a few weeks, will mark the fourth straight improvement, even as there's a very long way to go to reclaim pre-pandemic levels. The survey was apparently co

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5 thoughts on “To Shop Or Not To Shop

  1. Thank you for voicing what so many of us feel, H, in a way that helps us rationalize our feelings.

    On the subject of feelings: as dual US/EU citizen, I find myself continuing to fantasize about establishing a capital presence outside of the USD economy. Yes, de-dollarization is happening glacially slowly, but the events of recent years leave me convinced that it might accelerate in the medium-term future.

    Problem is, I am culturally American and quite enjoy life in the US. I’m not willing to put all of my money where my mouth is (to wit, sell my house and move to a European city) and I’m not particularly bullish on Europe’s economic prospects either.

    Nevertheless, I can’t escape the nagging feeling that I should diversify my asset base, if for no other reason than to have a tractable escape plan should things take a sudden sharp turn for the worse.

    You have increasingly spent your time writing about politics, of both the geo- and US-persuasion, and I am far more engaged by those musings than by some of your drier economic material. At the same time, I’ve appreciated guest stars like Harley Bassman, and your summaries of analysts, and the gentleman whose name escapes me who had quite a bit to say about eurodollar futures, back in the day.

    Anyhow: consider this an invitation from one of your grateful readers to include more content about de-dollarization, and more generally, about the US role in the geopolitical arena.

  2. I used to think you were too pessimistic but man, maybe you’re on to something. It’s a little too late for me as I have a wife and kids but I think not giving a damn about anyone but myself and my family is the way to go. Sonny was right, nobody cares.

    For me, that’s the most disappointing part of this election. I apologize for being off topic.

    1. While Martina and Alexandro aren’t competing for 400k houses, they most certainly are competing for 1.5k/month rentals.

      Deporting a few million renters most certainly will have an impact, perhaps not nationally but certainly locally.

      (Not saying I agree with it, proud and sad Harris voter here)

  3. I think the odds of 2 million people being deported in the next year are about the same as the odds of the southern border being sealed off with a wall in the same timeframe…very long.

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