Americans Can't or Won't Consume

What it means to Chrysler and may others

We are now seeing what I have been ranting about for a year. American consumption is the basis for our economy and a sustained recovery. This isn’t going to happen soon enough and the economic affairs of this nation won’t be back on track for up to decade – if we don’t corner ourselves into bankruptcy first. If you want an example watch Chrysler and the rest of the automakers. They can’t sell cars damn it! How many times do we have to sit back and watch this? No one is buying cars and shutting down deal relationships that have 44,000 cars on the lots isn’t going to help and certainly will crater a whole segment of the industry. This will for sure happen across almost every industry. Look at retail as well.

If you want bell weathers for the economy look no further. Home sales, credit card usage, investments, retail, auto – name it and its all hurt badly. Why – we are a consumption economy. Until we get that right and everyone comes to grips with this fact we will not get the real read on the damage now and to come. Manufacturers of every kind – clothes, make up, office products, tools, wood, nails etc.. can’t move their products off the shelves. Yes consumers won’t or can’t buy them. I believe we have only seen the tip of the iceberg here. This cascade will go up and down industry and back up again. The government’s growth and stepping in won’t help this any either. Unless we get consumers shored up and confident – not sporadically but with a degree of permanency we are cooked.

What are we to do? Raise taxes? Socialize industry? Borrow trillions? Can’t we see the writing on the wall? There is no end in sight for the American government to get out of its own way. There is no plan to stop borrowing, to pay down the national debt, to get consumers back to the marketplace – no plan at all. We hear all this crap on TV and are supposed to eat it up like some beauty contest. We offer extremely low income breaks and home loan restructuring on and on – but they aren’t the consumers! Middle class and the rich are.

I guess I will just throw rocks at the sun. I see no solution – end in sight for borrowing – getting consumers shored up and no way to stave off America’s bankruptcy. You all know I have some simple plans – like the 10% solution in my pocket. But instead the only plan the government is offering is more borrowing and bailing out big business. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. I will leave it at that – horrified, worried, appalled I can’t say enough – I have a sore throat from screaming.