Some Scottish economic analyst was just on CNBC Europe. The interviewer asked him about signs of a weakness in the trend of consumer spending in the US. The analyst replied that consumer spending in the US actually seems quite strong, it is just that the consumer is much more selective about where and how much of his money he will spend. Further he stated that people are becoming more picky about what stocks to invest in or whether to put money into the market at all. [clip] ------- In his column today, Krugman paints a picture of the situation:
"If the story of the current U.S. economy were made into a movie, it would look something like "55 Days at Peking." A ragtag group of ordinary people — America's consumers — is besieged by a rampaging horde, the forces of recession. To everyone's surprise, they have held their ground.
But they can't hold out forever. Will the rescue force — resurgent business investment — get there in time?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/02/opinion/02KRUG.html