Retail Sales In Surprise Swoon

Inflation cooling, but consumer confidence is down

(NEWSER) - Personal spending—a major force in the health of the economy— rose just 0.1% in February, its smallest increase in 16 months, the Wall Street Journal reports. The increase, which actually beat analysts' estimate of a 0.1% decrease, came despite a bump in personal income and signs that inflation is easing, the Journal notes. More»

(NEWSER) - November’s retail sales confounded doomsayers, surging 1.2%, twice the 0.6% analysts predicted, Bloomberg reports. Many had worried that consumer spending would take a hit as gas rose and housing fell, but now it looks like job and income growth could cushion the fall. “The numbers should help put to rest some of the fears of sliding into recession,” said one economist. More»

Despite record growth, Wall Street has plenty of cause for concern, Business Week says

(NEWSER) - Wall Street is giddy with low unemployment, optimistic earnings predictions, and a resilient economy, but BusinessWeek lists five things for investors to worry about.

1. Volatility in earnings, especially tech companies
2. Consumer spending, as gas prices take their toll
3. Inflation, which could prompt the fed to raise interest rates
4. Subprime aftereffects, as the panic spreads to other forms of debt
5. Too much optimism, as it starts to look like irrational exhuberance

Robert Samuelson outlines the feud between the bearded economists

(NEWSER) - Call it the "battle of the beards," suggests Robert Samuelson of the Washington Post : Paul Krugman vs. Ben Bernanke. Both are prominent economists, both have facial hair aplenty, and each has called the other "reckless." Krugman has been lambasting the Fed for not doing enough to help the economy recover—even if it means boosting inflation. Inflation, he argues, isn't so scary. Rising prices would encourage people to buy now, not later, and it would reduce the "real" value of debt. More»

Paul Krugman argues that we need more inflation, not less

(NEWSER) - Ben Bernanke has become a popular punching bag for the right lately, with people like Ron Paul and Rick Perry trying "to bully the Fed into doing exactly the wrong thing," writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . "The right wants the Fed to obsess over inflation," constantly warning that it will explode any day now. They're wrong—inflation has remained stable just below 2%—but even if they weren't, Krugman thinks a little inflation would do us good. More»