‘Trump Bump’ MIA In Consumer Confidence Data
Consumer confidence looked a little shaky in second-tier US macro data released on Tuesday.
The headline from the Conference Board was a lackluster 104.1. Consensus wanted something closer to 106.
December's headline was revised higher but still showed a drop, which means January marks two monthly declines in a row. 104.1 counted as the worst read since September.
As the simple figure reminds you, the Conference Board gauge remains stuck in a range, and it's nowhere near levels observed pri
I suspect consumers (i.e. citizens) are going to quickly realize this is Trump 2.0 and the craziness they were warned about the first time is coming out uninhibited this time. The brakes went out and now we are barreling toward chaos. How will those folks feel when their Head Start preschool program or the local hospital is shut down because of his funding pause? How will small business owners feel when they don’t know whether they’ll be able to buy the food they need for their restaurant or their inputs get a 25% tariff slapped on them without warning?
There is no logic in Trump’s tactics. The only guiding principles are sowing fear and deporting immigrants, dismantling DEI programs that have no impact on the vast majority of people, and dismantling regulations and oversight. Trump’s “national energy emergy” doesn’t make any sense considering no one thinks we have a fossil fuel shortage and kneecapping renewable investment will raise energy prices. His national defense strategy is an “iron dome” which is useless for the US.
Tax cuts and inflation have taken a backseat in Trump’s retribution tour and I’d be willing to bet Republicans are already sweating behind closed doors. How many times have they already had to fall back on “I haven’t seen the details yet” regarding Trump’s actions?
If poor people were ever going to realize a cadre of the ultra-rich were not going to help them, it would have been obvious when Reagan cut tax on the richest in the hopes of “Starving the Beast” of Social Security and Medicare. When Trump’s policies fail, they will blame something or even better, someone else. Works every time.
Yes, thank you Pyro