Hilsenrath's take: a letter to stingy American Consumers

Discussion in 'Economics' started by Tsing Tao, Jun 3, 2015.

  1. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    The sheer arrogance of these Wall Street puppets.

    HILSENRATH’S TAKE: A LETTER TO STINGY AMERICAN CONSUMERS


    Dear American Consumer,

    This is The Wall Street Journal. We’re writing to ask if something is bothering you.

    The sun shined in April and you didn’t spend much money. The Commerce Department here in Washington says your spending didn’t increase at all adjusted for inflation last month compared to March. You appear to have mostly stayed home and watched television in December, January and February as well. We thought you would be out of your winter doldrums by now, but we don’t see much evidence that this is the case.

    You have been saving more too. You socked away 5.6% of your income in April after taxes, even more than in March. This saving is not like you. What’s up?

    We know you experienced a terrible shock when Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008 and your employer responded by firing you. We know stock prices collapsed and that was shocking too. We also know you shouldn’t have taken out that large second mortgage during the housing boom to fix up your kitchen with granite countertops. You’ve been working very hard to pay off this debt and we admire your fortitude. But these shocks seem like a long time ago to us in a newsroom. Is that still what’s holding you back?

    Do you know the American economy is counting on you? We can’t count on the rest of the world to spend money on our stuff. The rest of the world is in an even worse mood than you are. You should feel lucky you’re not a Greek consumer. And China, well they’re truly struggling there just to reach the very modest goal of 7% growth.

    The Federal Reserve is counting on you too. Fed officials want to start raising the cost of your borrowing because they worry they’ve been giving you a free ride for too long with zero interest rates. We listen to Fed officials all of the time here at The Wall Street Journal, and they just can’t figure you out.

    Please let us know the problem. You can reach us at any of the emails below.

    Sincerely,



    The Wall Street Journal’s Central Bank Team

    -By Jon Hilsenrath
     
  2. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    188 comments on that article so far, every one of them scathing. This was a great one:


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2015
  3. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    FED'S EVANS SAYS ECONOMY CONTINUES TO NEED SOME ACCOMMODATION. 5.4% unemployment = depression level stimulus
     
  4. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    [​IMG]
     

  5. LOL! Classic reply bait.
     
  6. piezoe

    piezoe

    It's sarcasm.
     
    trendo likes this.
  7. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    If it's sarcasm, then it is equally critical of QE and the Fed, from the Fed's mouthpiece.

    I'm not sure the Fed appreciates that.

    Troll the downtrodden middle class. That's even worse than writing it and meaning it.
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2015
  8. fhl

    fhl

    It's all pretty simple really.

    The elite are able to buy up all the productive assets in the US with money that is essentially free. No interest.

    At the same time, the rest of the citizenry are paid no interest on their savings in order to be prodded to spend their money to buy things. So the productive assets the elite own will make money.

    See how easy it is to transfer all the wealth in a country in one easy step of zero interest rates?
     
    RoadBerry likes this.